Cyber Riders 2: The Black Market

by MadeInNowhere

The sequel to Cyber Riders, and set a year and a half after the first one. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow are now permanent freelance agents who get to run their own operations, leading them to new places. However, what happens when an old enemy resurfaces and new threats are on the horizon? Read and review, please no flames.

31. Blood For Blood

Earlier that same day, with Nack...

Gerren kept looking over to Nack the whole drive on the way to Green Hill, still noticing the purple weasel's unease. He didn't bring up any questions so as to not make the situation worse, as that was the last thing that they needed, but when he saw Nack looking back at him, he tried to turn his head away quickly.

"You know," Nack began, "if you have something on your mind, you can tell me."

"Well... I guess that I envy you for being calm in a situation like this." Gerren cleared his throat. "Your two closest guards are speaking in a language you're learning, talking about shit that you don't know about. How you didn't lash out at them before we left Westopolis is nigh on miracle work."

"It would have compromised what we're coming out here to do," said Nack. "There's no reason to jeopardise that, especially since people will likely recognise either you or me if we're not careful. The others will be fine. Except for Martin, I think Him making those fake ID cards and such took him out here more than once. And as we've established, the Westopolis police don't really care about that."

Gerren nodded. "Fair enough. But what's the plan when we get back?"

"Ask them what they know," said Nack. "Simple. I can't say what will happen if they do or don't tell me." He looked to see Lara's car break off down a different path. "All right, you're all ready for what we have to do?"

"It's robbing a bank," said Gerren. "I've never done that before, but I've stopped a couple. It'll be nice to be on the end holding the dangerous weapons and yelling the obscenities for a change."

Nack chuckled. "And stealing the money?"

"That as well, yeah," Gerren said. "We've all got to get paid somehow, and being a penitentiary guard all that time wasn't doing much for me."

"Let's go and get paid, then," Nack said.

Gerren chuckled, and their drive carried on as they moved down on the road. They had to go a further distance to their destination than Lara did to hers, and the grey tigress sighed a little bit in her own car as she idly looked around the city, her gaze fixed on the car that Nack was in as they headed to the other side of the city.

"It's such a shame how much wasted potential that this city has..." said Lara. "No matter how many drugs, women, and guns that we send down... nobody can be willing to accept a good time."

One of the guards spoke briefly in Russian to the other before speaking English again. "You did sound a bit like Nack just then."

Lara smiled. "I guess that I did miss his ambition being around. Even with the lifeline that he threw us before he got taken away... it was difficult." She looked down at a ring she was wearing and she smiled. "But now... we'll be okay. And besides, he's right anyway. I'm sure that he'd have the same thoughts." She looked back over to the guards. "I do wonder what you two are on about, though. I heard some concerns earlier from Nack, so if you two are keeping something, you should tell me. Or him."

"Nack said that we'd get it sorted when we get back to Westopolis," said the second guard. "That's when we'll talk." He looked ahead up the road. "We're here now."

Lara nodded. "You two stay here while I get the girl. I don't need as much covering out here as people don't recognise me, but you two may not have the same luxury."

"Understandable," said the first guard. As Lara got out of the car, he put a hand on his hip, his hands on the grip of his gun as he turned to the other guard. "Should we keep her around?"

"She's not done anything to cross us, and she merely shows concern for Nack," said the other guard. "There's no reason to kill her off. Especially given how lucrative her business has been."

The first one nodded at that. "Do you think that she could join our side if we're able to convince her?"

The second guard shrugged. "Who's to say? She may share Nack's ambition, but we don't exactly need someone who just sells sex. As much money as it makes, it's not the most useful skill set."

"Or it shows her saleswoman skills in a great way and it could work out for us in the long run," said the first guard. He looked up to see Lara and the girl, another Mobian, walking back. "We'll bring it up with Nack later."

The second guard nodded, sighing as Lara and her girl got in the car. "Are you two all good to go?"

Lara nodded. "Are you taking us right back or are we going to help Nack?"

"We'll put you two in a safe spot first and then we'll go help Nack," said the guard. "It's probably safer if you two don't get involved."

Lara nodded and smiled. "Much appreciated. There's a motel a few blocks from here that could work."

The guard nodded again. "Well, you're driving."

Lara chuckled a bit at that, driving herself out of where she was parked. She drove over to where the motel was, finding a place to park nearby. Lara got out of the car, her girl following her, and as they headed for the motel, the two guards behind them got into the front section of the car, turning the keys and rushing down the road to try and reach Nack and Gerren in time.

Across the street from the bank on a bench was Sally Acorn, checking her phone for updates about the court case. She wore a hoodie so that Maria wouldn't notice her where she was, and traffic was light so she had to be careful. Sally kept an open link to Rouge in case anything went down, and she moved back to the live feed of the trial, seeing the judges calling for a break to deliberate things.

"Well, that could have gone a lot rougher," said Sally. "I just hope that they go the right way with the decision..."

She spotted a couple of Anti-Light agents inside the bank as well, posing as normal bank security guards, and she turned her face back to her phone so that she wouldn't get spotted herself. But her attention was jerked away from the bank when she heard some wheels rolling along the ground, and she saw a fairly fancy looking car pull up in front of the bank. She then saw some figures get out of said car wearing face masks, one holding a handgun and the other holding a shotgun as they stormed into the bank.

Nack let out a breath in his mask as he pointed a shotgun at the tellers in the bank. "Get on the fucking ground! Everyone!" He fired a blast into the ceiling, the dust landing around him before he aimed at a security guard. "Stay the fuck back!"

Gerren held up a hand gun to said guard, walking over and beating the guard's face up with the butt of his gun until he'd knocked him unconscious. Gerren then turned to the other security guard, aiming his gun at him before he joined Nack at the counter where Maria was gulping and backing away, shaking visibly from her nervousness.

"This can be simple, you know," said Nack. He reached into his pocket and unfolded a bag. "Put the cash in there." Maria was hesitant, her eyes starting to leak tears of fear, and Nack cocked his gun and aimed it at her again. "Hey! Fucking focus! Do what you were told, and you just might walk out unscathed, okay?"

Maria nodded. "Y-Yes..."

Sally looked to see one of the Anti-Light guards she knew with his bloody face, and the other was hesitant to move. The brown squirrel got up with her hand on her hip, reaching for her small holster and getting ready to take action when she looked up to see Gerren's eyes peering back into hers, almost keeping her in place. Gerren sneered at her, shaking his head and keeping his gun trained on the other guard, and Sally took a breath as she made a move. She pulled her gun out, barging through the bank door and firing a shot next to Nack's feet.

"Hey, ass-holes!" Sally said, getting the attention of the robbers. "Get the hell out of here right now!"

Nack sighed, turning to face Sally. "Oh, look. We've got a hero." He shook his head. "You can't wait until my bag at least gets filled with some money?"

"I was never the patient type," Sally said. "Let her go now, and walk away."

"And just what are you going to do if I say no?" Nack chuckled.

Sally smirked. "The next shot I fire won't miss your ankles." She saw Gerren from the corner of her eye as he tried to shuffle along. "And you will stay right there."

Gerren chuckled. "You've got some fire for a civilian with a gun and a death wish. It's a shame that we've got to kill you."

Nack turned to give Gerren a glare. "The less blood on our hands, the better. We're just here for the money then we're off."

"I know, but we're compromised. Low security and police or not, we need to make a move," said Gerren.

Sally raised her eyebrows. "How did you know about that?"

Nack threw Gerren a dark look before turning to Sally. "That doesn't matter. Now, either you let us leave with the money as clean as it is, or the notes will be stained red with the blood of false saviours like yourself."

Sally saw Maria give a small nod, and the squirrel sighed, holding her hands up. "You're absolutely right. I'll be out of your way."

At that moment, Maria pressed a button under her desk, causing a loud alarm to blare off and red lights to flash. It also sent a small signal to any nearby police officers and a more direct one to the freelancers, but only one would be able to help if they could make it to the bank.

Nack grunted as he looked around, and he heard the sound of a patrol car nearby. "Oh, great, now the cops are here."

Gerren shook his head too. "What are we going to do, man?"

Nack sighed. "Good question."

The purple weasel then turned to Sally and fired his gun, causing the squirrel to duck and roll off to the side, dropping her gun in the process. Nack approached Sally, keeping his gun on her, and he saw a light wound on her thigh which was beginning to leak. He reached to step on it, twisting his boot on the cut and causing it to widen as Sally hissed out in pain.

"Looks like we have a plan here," said Nack, turning to Gerren. "Get the money and bring that girl with us."

"But the freelancers aren't going to move," said Gerren. "What's the point?"

"They'll jump at the chance to save someone," said Nack. "Doesn't matter who." He turned to Sally, still on the ground, and he moved his foot back. "I don't know if I should kill you or not... but you have been cooperative and agreeable. Please continue to do so by telling the cops that you lost us." He turned to the bank to call out. "That goes for all of you too. Not a fucking word to the police."

Maria struggled in Gerren's grip, and it was even more of a struggle to get her into their car. They took her to the backseat of it, finding some rope that was packed in the trunk of the car, grabbing some tape, and Nack was thankful that Manuel put that in there just in case as he and Gerren tied Maria up, putting the tape on her mouth too as they shoved her in the trunk of the car, locked it up, and drove away from the bank.

"That was way too fucking close, man!" Gerren said.

"We're alive, aren't we? And besides, we got something more valuable than cash." Nack shook his head. "Also, what the fuck is wrong with you? You almost severely compromised us in front of that girl."

"It was the heat of the moment," Gerren said. "I got caught up in it."

"That's not a damn excuse!" said Nack. "Let's get the hell out of here. Send a call out to Lara. Tell her to make a move too."

Gerren did so, pulling out his phone and calling the tigress. The phone picked up after a couple of rings. "Lara, you there?"

"Where are you two?" Lara asked on the other end. "I saw police around the bank and we had to peel away from meeting you at the bank."

"We're on the run and we kidnapped a teller," said Gerren. "Just get out of there and go back the way you came. Meet us back at Westopolis." After a sound of agreement from Lara, both of them hung up, and Gerren turned to Nack. "Fuck..."

Back at the bank itself, Sally was holding her wound, putting pressure on it to prevent any bleeding. As she'd expected, it was just the one nearby police car, and the officers who stepped out helped to calm everyone there down. Before either of them could start asking questions, Sally sneaked around the back of them, pulling her phone out and ringing up Rouge.

Rouge took a break away from where Shadow was stood, going under the stairs of one of the walkways of the freelancers' base. "Sally? Are you okay?"

"Barely," Sally said. "Got clipped and I'm bleeding, so I'll head home and get myself fixed up. And that's not the worst thing that just happened."

"Well, what is?" Rouge asked.

"The bank just got robbed," said Sally. "I'm pretty sure it was Nack and some stupid goon of his."

"Holy shit..." Rouge gasped. "Are you all right?"

"Besides the bullet wound, yeah," Sally said. "And no money was stolen. But they kidnapped someone."

"Who?"

Sally sighed. "Maria. They took her with them."

"Oh... fuck..." Rouge's eyes widened. "Okay, uh... I'll... I'll let the others know."

"I know that you will," Sally said. "Just be careful. We'll meet at Anti-Light later and chase those fuckers down, yeah?"

Rouge didn't muster up anything more than a small confirmation, and she turned to see Shadow looking over at her. She saw the light look on his face and gave a brief smile of her own to it before her own expression turned more distressed, and Shadow looked down at her, a curious look on his face.

"What happened?" he asked.

Rouge cleared her throat, taking a breath. "That... that was Sally. Something happened at the bank."

Shadow's eyes widened. "Maria..."

"We think so..." said Rouge, trying to keep her voice low. "And not just that... Sally thinks that Nack had something to do with it."

Shadow clenched his fists, turning and punching a hole through the wall behind him. "FUCK!"

The outburst got the attention of the others, and Tails immediately went to the kitchen to get some bandages and medicine for the wound as Knuckles went over to Shadow. "Dude, what the hell?" the red echidna asked, concerned.

Rouge gulped, thinking something up. "We got a call from the bank," she said, again covering for Shadow. "Maria... she got kidnapped. An eyewitness says that it was Nack."

"Nack?" Sonic asked from his seat. "When the hell did he come back?"

"I don't know if it was for anything major," said Rouge. "He was probably trying to steal some cash but something went wrong."

"And his solution was kidnapping an innocent woman?" Tails asked as he walked in, pouring some alcohol onto Shadow's wound before tying it up. "There... that should hold well."

"We can't just sit on our asses here," Shadow said. "We've got to go and save her."

"We don't have the option, man," Sonic said. "We need to wait for the trial to pass. We're just barely halfway through and shit's already going sideways, but we need to wait."

"I'm not fucking waiting any more!" Shadow shouted at Sonic. "Ever since the whole Zayd thing happened, it's just been one thing after another. I haven't been able to sleep right, I keep having flashbacks to it... so no, Sonic. Right now, leader or not, trial or not, I'm not sitting her and doing nothing. I'm going to save my friend."

"You can't!" said Sonic. "Do you realise how much shit that we're in right now?" That got Shadow to turn and face him, so he continued. "Do you know how much more shit that we'll be in if we go off and do our own thing without being given the go ahead? Hell, for all we know, that could be the decision that the judges are making. If you do this, that doesn't just fuck up our chances with implants, but we might not be able to help people ever again."

"I'm not leaving my best friend behind!" Shadow yelled. "What part of that are you not understanding?"

"Shadow, if you do this, it'll be just like what happened with Zayd," said Sonic. "If you do what I think you're going to do, if I let you do this... that's it for us. No more freelancers or anything."

Shadow shook his head. "I'd rather lose this for someone I care about than lose someone I care about by doing nothing. I'm sorry."

Sonic sighed. "Jesus... you really have been letting this build up, huh?" He shook his head. "Well, I'd say no again, but Maria... she's family to you. You always look out for family. And besides, it's not like I could stop you anyway. Or that I'd want to."

Shadow nodded. "I appreciate that. And besides, I'd kick your no-legged ass if you did try."

"Hey, My legs are fine," Sonic defended. "I mean... shit, I wish I were healthy enough to help you. I still need to recover."

"I wouldn't want you to even if you were good," Shadow admitted. "This whole mess... it wouldn't have started if I didn't do what I did. We're in this because of me."

"That might be true," Sonic said. "But we wouldn't be where we are if you, Tails, and Knuckles weren't willing to follow me all that time ago. If we could make the best out of that situation, then we can do it for this one."

"He'll be in Westopolis," Knuckles pointed out. "He won't have any help from anyone there."

"Then we'll go," said Tails.

"You can't," said Shadow. "The more of us that go, the more trouble we'll be in. It'd be better if I went it alone."

Rouge put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay."

Shadow looked to her and nodded. "You going to come with?"

Rouge shrugged. "May as well. A friend of mine got hurt too."

"Fair enough," said Shadow.

"Wait, go with him?" asked Sonic. "What for?"

Rouge nodded. "May as well get it out of the way now. I work for an anti-terrorism agency called Anti-Light. Sally also works for them."

"Wait, what?!" Amy shouted. "Sally? Acorn? The squirrel?"

"That one, yes," Rouge nodded.

"Okay, and why the hell did you not tell any of us sooner?" asked Knuckles. He looked over to Shadow. "Did you know about this?"

"He only found out recently too," said Rouge. "To give you all a short version of the story: The Anti-Light Agency helped me turn my life around and get off drugs, Sally came across them herself not long after she broke up with Sonic."

"Wait, when did she join?" Sonic asked.

"Well... it was sort of during that backpacking trip after you broke up," Rouge said. "And we have a lot of agents all around to help people," the white bat carried on. "We're not affiliated with any military or government or police force. Nobody knows about us outside of the organisation... well, apart from Shadow. And now all of you. And we'd like it kept that way."

"And why are you cropping up just now?" asked Shade.

"We've been around for a while, but we were chasing a lead on The Black Market," said Rouge. "We'd heard rumblings that they've been planning something, but we don't know exactly what. Of course, when Nack said about The Black Market to Sonic before the prison riot, that got our interest up all the more."

"Jesus..." Knuckles muttered. "So all that it took was one bad day and here we are. Sonic can barely walk, Nack's free and has kidnapped someone, we might lose our jobs... and you want Shadow to join you?"

"I haven't even thought about asking him," said Rouge. "And besides, he works for you freelancers. Anti-Light is just a bigger version of what you do that's much more under the radar."

Knuckles rose an eyebrow. "Okay... this is... quite a lot. Especially considering what's happening today."

"More to the point," said Sonic, "you mentioned a friend that got hurt. Was that Sally?"

Rouge nodded. "She was watching over Maria from afar at the bank, and she tried to rescue her, but she was shot. She sounded all right, and there's likely paramedics and police there to clear the scene too."

"Police that won't be able to chase after whoever shot Sally," said Sonic. "I swear to fucking God, if it was Nack..."

"She didn't say specifically if it was him as he was... well, wearing a mask and robbing a bank makes it hard to make out who's who," Rouge said.

Sonic growled. "Fucking shit..." He turned as he felt a hand on his shoulder, seeing Amy. "She... she lied to me... and she's hurt..."

"She never lied to you," said Rouge. "And if she did, it was for a good reason. You have to understand that."

Sonic nodded, leaning his head on Amy's shoulder. "All right... shit... okay." He took a few breaths to calm himself, turning to Shadow. "You'd better go and help her."

"We won't need to," Rouge said. "If we're lucky, another agent will have picked her up to help her already. She'll be in good hands." She turned to Sonic. "I guess that I gave you a longer version than I was expecting. But we can do this. We'll go and save Maria and bring her back. But that's all that we can do, as I doubt that arresting Nack in his own backyard will work."

"You do what you can to help who you can," Sonic nodded. "All right... just be careful out there. We'll keep you updated on the trial."

Shadow nodded. "I'm... I'm sorry. For everything. I'll make it right."

"I should hope so," Sonic said. "You've wasted enough time, though. Get moving."

Shadow turned to Rouge and nodded to her, and she followed him out of the door. He got onto his hover-board, remembering the stealth mode had been put in, and he switched it on and the white bat got on the board with him before he pulled away from the headquarters, making his move to Westopolis.

Rouge looked to her wrist and spoke into her communicator that she had. "Sally? Are you good?"

Sally responded on the other end. "I'm fine. One of the guards at the bank managed to sneak me away before police could start asking questions. I won't be able to walk for a little bit, though. The bullet hit me pretty deep... AH, FUCK!"

Rouge winced. "Yuri?"

"Yep... he just got the bullet out..." said Sally. "You sound like you're moving. Where are you?"

"We're on our way to Westopolis to save Maria," Rouge said.

"You want me to call you some backup?" Sally asked.

"Only if we need it. So... it can't hurt to think ahead. Only a couple of units, though."

"I'll get on it. Good luck out there."

"You get better soon, okay?" Rouge replied. "See you in a bit."

As she and Shadow kept speeding off on their journey to Westopolis, Nack and Gerren were still driving away from the scene of the crime, well on their way out to Westopolis. They were on the highway and still on the move, reasoning that taking any other mode of transport would just slow them down at that point.

"Talk about cutting it close," Gerren sighed. "I'm just glad that we made it back this far."

"It wasn't a total bust," said Nack. "We have our guest still."

"What exactly do you plan on doing with her, anyway?" asked Gerren.

"We're using her as bait," said Nack. "If my gamble is correct, and they usually are, then her heroes will come to rescue her and save the day."

"All as that trial is going on..." said Gerren. "Shit. That's actually pretty genius how you were able to come up with it so quickly."

"I have my moments," said Nack. "But we need to keep her on watch. She probably picked up a thing or two from the others, so we need to make sure that she doesn't try to escape."

"We could just keep her locked in the trunk of the car," Gerren suggested.

"We could, but if we're going to use her as bait, we sort of need her alive, and you don't get a lot of oxygen when your mouth is taped and you're stuck in such a tight space." He looked up ahead a way. "We're almost there. Keep going."

Gerren kept pressing on, and soon they were entering Westopolis proper. They knew their way around the city, deciding to make way for Lara's brothel. The purple weasel was relieved to see Lara's car already there, the other two guards presumably still with her as Gerren pulled Nack's car around to park behind it. The two got out, getting to the trunk of the car, unlocking it, and pulling out a kicking and albeit muffled screaming Maria.

"Glad to see that you're still all right," said Nack with no sincerity. "Stop kicking and this will be easier." After Maria let out some muffled screams, Nack chuckled. "Oh, what are we going to do to you? Why, we're going to watch the judges' trial together and we're going to see how your friends fare with the choice that'll be made for them... provided that they're at home watching and not on their way to come and help you. I wonder if they'd really be stupid enough to do such a thing?" He turned at the sound of the elevator, seeing his two guards, Lara and Manuel in tow. "Ah, there you are."

"What the hell is this?" Lara asked.

"This is what we came home with," said Nack.

"This doesn't look like money," said Manuel. "Unless Green Hill is changing up how their currency works."

Nack gave the bull a sour look. "We were compromised, but this girl here is a friend of Sonic and the other freelancers."

"Ah. And how the fuck does that help us in any way?" asked Manuel.

"We're going to draw whoever we can of theirs out here, and we'll make sure that they don't walk out," Nack said.

"You do remember what happened last time that they came out here, right?" Manuel asked. "They killed so many of our men just to save each other and get out of here. Inviting them for revenge? I don't often question your rule, but this is a very ass-backwards plan. We need money, not leverage."

"It's all that we have," said Nack. "Besides, she's a bank teller. If we're lucky, we might get her working for us to help manage our finances. Maybe even increase them." He pushed Maria over to Manuel. "Just take her to the lunch room. She's going to be watching the trial with us." One of Nack's guards stepped over to help, but the purple weasel gave a harsh whistle. "Not you two. We need to talk."

"Ah, because you heard us speak Russian," said one guard. "Is it a crime to know another language?"

"Not really. A crime would be, say, kidnapping a presumably innocent woman to use as a hostage to lure some poor idiot into a trap," Nack said. "But when you hide things from me that I should know, that is when I start to get frustrated. And considering the past couple of days I've had, frustration is the last thing that I need right now. So, why were you speaking Russian, what are you planning on, and I am going to ask for possibly the first time since I've known you... what are your names?"

"We were wondering when you would ask," said one guard. "My name is Grigori, and this is Sacha."

"Ah," Nack said. "Well, Grigori and Sacha, please, explain why you were speaking Russian earlier and what your plans were. What did you mean when you were talking about winter? A storm? Like, a snowstorm?"

Grigori nodded. "We won't mince words or lie to you. But... we recommend that you take a seat for this."

Nack nodded. "Let's go to one of the other rooms, then."

---

Back at the freelancers' base...

"He'd better get back with her safe," said Knuckles from the kitchen, waiting on a microwave burger. "This is... oh, god, this is bad."

Shade, sat next to him, reached and took his hand in hers. "Hey, they'll be fine." The microwave pinged, and Shade chuckled a bit. "You know, for someone who eats as much as you do, I'm surprised that you stay so chiselled."

"Kicking bad guy ass is a big help," Knuckles said. "And if I can't do that by the end of today, then I'll have more than enough fun trying to keep up with you when we're married."

"We really should sort out plans for that..." Shade said. "But not now. Way too stressful now."

Knuckles nodded, sliding over a burger on a plate and looking up to the TV screen as the courtroom reappeared. "It's starting back up. Come on."

The two echidnas adjourned to the couch, seeing Sonic sat on an armchair with Amy curled up on his lap. Tails was snuggled with Cosmo on the other end of the couch as well, the two holding hands as they watched the police captains and their officers file back into the room.

Judge St. Joseph cleared his throat. "We have reached a verdict. Owing to the unique circumstances of Shadow's particular situation, we have decided to reprimand the freelance agents. They will have three months of suspension. No operating missions on their own, not even in their residence of Green Hill, and no helping any police forces from any city."

Avery nodded and took a breath. "That... that is understandable."

"As for Rosemary and Amadeus," said Judge St. Joseph, continuing, "we suggest that you do what you can to crack down on the missing implants situation after your own suspension. The same length as the freelancers. No work for three months. No manufacturing or distributing implants for that time. Hopefully we'll see fewer cases of people with illegal implants and prevent future situations such as the fate that befell Zayd."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Alec.

"What do you mean?" asked Judge Robben. "You'll go about your business as you normally do, letting your officers assist the citizens of your city."

"With all due respect," Alec said, "I despise the jurisdictional divide. I don't like the fact that my own officers can't go out and help other places."

"That is a law that is in place for a reason," said Judge Ryker. "When Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow broke it, they were fully aware of what was going to happen. It was to save lives, yes, and they did chase down Nack as best as they could. But it's a line that they shouldn't have crossed. I had to punish them for it then, and if I were presiding over this trial, I'd give them the same as Judge St. Joseph has."

Back at home, Sonic was pinching the bridge of his nose. "Shit... three months. That could be a long time."

"We do have something to add to the suspension as well," said Judge Chau.

"Okay, spoke to soon there," Sonic muttered, earning a soft smile from Amy.

"What is it?" asked Dingo.

"If Sonic the hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the echidna, or Shadow the hedgehog are caught performing anything that they've been doing either as police or freelance agents, the suspension period will be longer depending upon the severity of their actions," said Judge Elmina.

"And how severe can it get?" asked Dingo again.

"Well, taking a job itself would add another month," said Judge Chau. "And also the police captain or officer who would give them said job or let them into their city to run their own operations freely would suffer docked pay as well."

"Oh, and it gets worse than that," Alec said sarcastically. "Great..."

"If any of the freelance officers set foot on ground that isn't Green Hill, that will add another month," said Judge St. Joseph. "If they run an operation of their own volition, another month. But if a life is taken at their hands, accidental or otherwise, that is up to another full year."

"What about if it's in Westopolis?" asked Commander Talbot. "Their judge isn't here, which I understand, but that land is so lawless by its own right. They only ever had one good police captain and who knows what happened to him."

"Westopolis, while barely having any laws to break, still has laws in place," said Judge Quentin. "If any of those four go out there, they'll be in as much trouble as they'd be if they went to any other city. We're not leaving anything out."

"Well, what about if another criminal with a modified implant appears?" asked Rosemary. "Just because we're being suspended doesn't mean that there aren't still thieves out there trying to take what we worked so hard to build and bastardising it to benefit only themselves."

"Then if any of the citizens in any of the cities see anything of the sort, they'll contact their respective authorities to handle it," said Judge Ryker.

"I think that you misunderstand the severity of the implants being stolen," said Amadeus. "They are powerful by their own nature, but they must work and grow like a muscle over time, much like the ones that Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and our son Tails have. The ones being stolen are changed in a way to make them work faster, more immediate. That much power going out to that many criminals that quickly would only lead to more suffering. The lives of citizens and officers alike could be lost if this isn't kept in check."

"If we didn't understand the importance of this issue, we wouldn't be holding this trial in the first place," said Judge St. Joseph. "But still, that is the sentence that I am passing down. You've made your arguments, and I have no doubt that you all have your objections, but after weighing up the options, we deem this as the best course of action. Having said that, if there are any objections, now is the time to speak up."

Rosemary looked to Amadeus, and the two silently acquiesced before the mother Prower spoke into the microphone. "We have no objections."

All of the police captains followed suit, confirming their own lack of objections, with Avery going last. "No. No objections."

"Well, as long as we're all in agreement, the rules will be set. Neither the freelancers nor Amadeus and Rosemary will be able to work for three months, the law enforcement will monitor over where implants were recently delivered to make sure nothing gets stolen." Judge St. Joseph then raised his gavel up, prepared to hit the block, when the court doors suddenly slammed open.

"Sir!" said a Green Hill officer rushing in. "Sorry to interrupt the hearing, but it's an emergency."

"What is it?" asked Judge Ryker.

"We've had reports of people spotting Shadow and a white bat on Shadow's hover-board. People caught them going past Green Hill bank where an attempted robbery happened."

"Shit..." Avery muttered under his breath. "Is there anything else?"

"Sir, uh... there was a girl kidnapped as well. A human. Nobody knows who did it, but they've surmised that it's the people who tried to steal money from the bank."

Judge St. Joseph sighed. "Well then, looks like we'll have to hold off on the decision for a bit."

"Wait, are you serious?" asked Avery. "You can't just make the ruling now?"

"Not if this is happening, no," said Judge McNeil. "Remember, if they do anything to add further to their sentence, it only gets worse for them."

Amadeus rose his hand. "Will... will it affect us also?"

"Only if you deliver an implant in that time," said Judge St. Joseph. "We will be holding off the ruling on the freelancers. Rosemary, Amadeus, you two are free to go."

Rosemary turned to her husband. "We should go and check on our son and his friends."

Amadeus nodded. "Agreed." He turned to Judge St. Joseph. "Until we meet again. Hopefully that won't be too soon."

"If you keep your nose clean, then you won't have to worry," the spider Judge said lightly, bringing his gavel to the block. "You're free to go."

Amadeus and Rosemary nodded, turning to leave the room as the officer that had rushed in walked further past them. The two Prower foxes took a deep breath of relief as they felt the double doors close off behind them, both of them resting their backs against the wall and holding hands gently.

"What are we going to do to pass the time?" asked Amadeus.

"Well, you can still build and engineer. Maybe something to do with cars?" Rosemary gasped. "You could help Green Hill's armoury group!"

"That's not a bad idea," Amadeus smiled. "But let's hold off on that for now. We need to go and check on Miles."

Rosemary nodded. "Let's get going."

As the two foxes left, Commander Avery looked over to Judge St. Joseph. "So, what's the plan?"

"Right now, the plan is to wait. We will see what Shadow does with whoever he's with. And it will affect all of them, never mind him trespassing already." Judge St. Joseph almost looked sombre. "I know that they've done a lot for a lot of people, but at this point, it's not in any of my eight hands. I can only make the last call after what happens."

"I guess that we're all staying here then," said Dingo, sighing. "Fantastic, that."

Back with the freelancers, Sonic pinched his nose in frustration. "Fuck..."

Amy rubbed his shoulder gently. "Hey... it might be all right."

"How?" Sonic asked. "Babe, it doesn't matter if they've swung the gavel yet or not. If Shadow goes too far, then that'll add to the sentence that we've already accrued."

"And he's already adding to it by going out to Westopolis in the first place," Tails added. "I'm just glad that my parents are going to be okay."

"What the hell are we going to do?" Sonic asked. "It's not like we can just go out and stop him. It'll just keep adding more to the punishment."

Amy turned to Sonic. "Why not go and do it?"

The blue hedgehog turned to her. "Um... what?"

"I'm serious," said Amy. "I know, before you say it. It would just get you into more trouble. But he's your friend and you need to help him. Him and Rouge could get hurt out there on their own."

"It's not like I'd be able to make anything better," Sonic said. "I can still barely walk. And besides, Shadow said that he doesn't want to drag us into this."

Amy giggled. "Oh, really? Because I remember a long time ago on a night out, I met a certain blue hedgehog who was hesitant to bring a group with him to save little old me. Do you want to know what happened to him?"

Sonic threw his head back, huffing. "It's not that I don't want to help. But who knows how much worse my legs could get."

"Maybe you don't have to come with us to help," Tails said. "We could just give you an open radio channel."

"Westopolis is a long ways away from here," Knuckles pointed out. "Do you have anything that could boost a signal to go that far out?"

"My phone?" Tails chuckled.

"That's not a bad plan, but if you're looking to avoid getting caught, I don't think you should take something that could be traced back to us," said Sonic.

Tails nodded. "Hmm... how about two plastic cups on a really long piece of string?" He chuckled at Sonic's look. "We'll take our communicators with us. We might not be able to reach back to you, but we'll be able to handle it on our own."

"I mean... I'll keep my phone on and stuff for you," Sonic said. "But... I have to... try..."

He reached for the edge of the couch he was sitting on, trying to get his legs under him. He hissed in pain as he tried to stand up on his own, looking to Tails and Knuckles with a smile. He then let out a grunt of pain as he felt a twinge in his leg, forcing him to sit back down and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Fuck..." He looked up to Tails and Knuckles. "I was actually trying to see if I could come with you."

"Dude, you've got to stay and recover," Knuckles said. "We'll get him back, okay? Just keep us posted."

"You do the same," said Sonic. "I just hope that Shadow does the smart thing."

"It depends on what he thinks the smart thing is," said Tails. He turned to Knuckles. "You ready, big guy?"

The red echidna nodded. "Let's go get our buddy." He went over to Shade to kiss her on the lips briefly. "See you in a bit."

Shade blushed and nodded. "Get back safe..."

Tails went over to Cosmo and gave her a more tender kiss, and she ruffled his ears gently too before pulling back from it. "You stay safe too, okay?" Cosmo said.

The two-tailed fox nodded. "I will... god, I love you..."

Cosmo smiled. "I love you too..."

"All right, can you stop being so cute all of the time?" Sonic said. "Save some adorable for the rest of us."

Tails smiled at that, kissing Cosmo on the cheek again, then another peck on the lips before turning to leave with Knuckles. As the two got outside, they got onto their hover-boards and activated the cloaking modes that were installed, making the move to reach Westopolis as fast as they could to help their friend.

In Westopolis, more specifically in a room at Lara's brothel, Nack was sat with the two men whose names he'd recently learned. Sacha and Grigori were both sat across from Nack, all three on armchairs, and the purple weasel looked between the two men, taking a deep breath before sitting back, his hands pressed together and index fingers rubbing together.

"All right, so... Grigori and Sacha." Nack nodded. "Do you have surnames?"

"We're risking much by telling your our real names," said Grigori.

"And you're risking an awful fucking lot more by not telling me what they are," Nack said tersely. "I should honestly end your lives. It's been so long since I've killed someone, and considering that I'm looking across at two men that I trusted more when I didn't know their names, you can understand why I'm a little bit irritated."

Grigori removed his hat, which Nack almost always saw him wearing, showing his slicked back, naturally blond hair. "We do apologise for the inconvenience. But to be fair, you did only ask recently."

Sacha nodded following that, removing his own hat to show a clean shaven head with some flame tattoos on the sides. "You understandably have a lot of questions. Well, we're not in a position to lie to you, so you may ask whatever you wish."

"All right," Nack nodded. "Well... are you native to Russia?"

"We are, yes," said Sacha. "We moved out here a long time ago, so we picked up the English accent easily. It took us some time to lose any Russian accent, though."

"Truth be told," Grigori said, "when you first met us, we'd been in Green Hill for about two years."

"I didn't think that you'd been there that long," said Nack.

"We had to stay massively undercover at the time," said Grigori. "You see... well, you know about The Black Market."

"I know the name, but I've got no clue what they do," Nack said. "But I'm going to guess that you two are involved."

Grigori nodded, turning to Sacha. Sacha nodded back, and the two men both stood up, rolling up the left sleeves of their jackets. They both showed what looked like a carving of sorts on the insides of their left forearms, showing a bar-code, both being slightly different in number sequence. The two rolled them back down and then took their seats back.

"We've been part of it for a long time," Sacha said. "In fact, when we found you, it was by design."

"You... wait, you were looking for me?" Nack asked. "Why?"

"We heard tell of a man who turned an entire prison into his sanctuary in the most lawless land imaginable," said Grigori. "The kind of person who would only sell over those who had earned that much scorn. Someone who had contingencies upon contingencies, a ruthless streak all of their own, and one of the most intelligent and manipulative criminal minds in all of Mobius."

Sacha spoke up afterwards. "The Black Market has wanted you to be a part of it for a very long time. In fact, we were going to ask you to join us up until you got imprisoned by the freelancers."

"And why didn't you ask me sooner?" Nack asked.

"Well, in our defence, we'd barely met you or known you for a week," said Sacha. "We had information on you, but we were testing you from afar, if you will."

"What if I won't?" Nack asked sharply. "And how were you testing me?"

"We were waiting to see how you would handle certain situations, as it's a skill that you've always seemed to have," said Grigori. "And if you were wondering, you did indeed pass the test. The biggest part of it really came down to your escape from Green Hill Penitentiary. Turning a tenured guard to your side so quickly, devising a plan that took a lot of time and just as much risk... and you survived it all with barely a scratch on you."

"While I appreciate the praise," said Nack, "I did get caught and locked up in the first place. And if you know anything about me, you'd also know that that's not the first time in my life that it's happened."

"We're aware," said Grigori. "But do you think that anyone in The Black Market hasn't done time before?"

"Usually when people get caught, they either escape, serve their time, or die," Nack said. "I'm going to guess that you two escaped."

"Russian prisons have very high security," said Sacha. "We served our time and then some. But life wasn't without its troubles when we got out. We weren't even part of the Russian mafia before that."

"How long were you a part of it before you joined The Black Market?" asked Nack.

"We had a wonderful six months with them," said Grigori. "But we were caught trying to steal, and the one who caught us worked for The Black Market. Instead of getting us arrested, he asked us to join."

"All that we had to do was cut all ties to the other mafia members," said Sacha. "Which we did. Only we had to kill our little group, and we couldn't let it get out to the media or any other branches of the mafia. We got a clean slate, new identities, and eventually we were fully settled in. The rest up until meeting you is history."

"I appreciate you keeping it quick," said Nack. He looked up to see the door opening, and in walked Beau. "And how can I help you?"

"Boss, something crazy just went down at the trial!" Beau said. "You've missed some shit, but it just got a lot more heated."

The two made it across the hallway back to the main lunch room, seeing Maria still tied up, but without anything blocking her mouth. Nack saw a police officer reporting a recent crime that happened, listening to how it could tie in to the future of the freelancers as the judge continued to speak.

"Huh... those two foxes looked familiar..." Nack said to himself as he watched an eight-limb judge talk.

"Right now, the plan is to wait. We will see what Shadow does with whoever he's with. And it will affect all of them, never mind him trespassing already," said Judge St. Joseph. "I know that they've done a lot for a lot of people, but at this point, it's not in any of my hands. I can only make the last call after what happens."

Manuel turned to see Nack, and he smiled. "You're missing a good part too." He rewound the trial, and Nack watched more intently.

"If any of the freelance officers set foot on ground that isn't Green Hill, that will add another month," said Judge St. Joseph. "If they run an operation of their own volition, another month. But if a life is taken at their hands, accidental or otherwise, that is up to another full year."

"And that's to top off the fact that they're suspended for three months already," said Lara. "Any other small things, like taking on jobs and stuff, that adds another month."

"What about the Prowers?" asked Nack.

"They get three months of no work as well," said Beau. "The judges figured that the sentence being the same would be fair, as Shadow has a Prower implant in him, and... well, we all know what happened and how it worked out when he killed Zayd."

"Huh." Nack smiled. "It's odd. I never liked Zayd, and I'm glad that he won't get in the way of our business. But this is a fallout that I didn't anticipate. I kind of love it." He turned to Maria, raising an eyebrow. "I notice that you're not saying a lot about this."

"We took the tape off of her mouth when the cop mentioned Shadow making a move up to here," said Martin. "But she hasn't said a thing. No screaming, talking, laughing, crying... nothing. She's just been staring at the screen."

Nack scratched his head, moving his hand in front of Maria's face and waving over her eyes. "Hello?" He waved for a moment more before snapping his fingers next to her ears. Despite no response again, he calmed down and listened, smiling as he heard the faint sound of her breaths. "I know that you can hear me and that you're seeing what we're seeing. I can hear you breathing."

Maria gulped, forcing herself not to look into Nack's eyes and instead looking at the trial as it closed out. Nack sighed, getting around behind her and putting his hand behind him. Silently, Martin handed the purple weasel a knife which he then put to Maria's throat, his hand on the back of her head and making her keep looking at the screen.

"You see that? That is a doomed future," Nack said. "For months, your boyfriend and his friends won't be able to save anybody." He didn't hear anything from her still, and he chuckled. "And you are going to help me make sure of that." He pulled the knife from her throat and put it behind her, cutting the ropes that were keeping her tied to the chair before quickly putting the knife back to her neck. "Don't move too quickly now... you're a very important part of this plan." He turned to Gerren. "Let's take her out to the prison. Put her somewhere where Shadow can see her plain as day."

"What about the trial?" asked Martin.

"It's not going to change any time soon," said Nack. "You keep us updated if anything's different, just in case."

Martin nodded, and Nack turned to the others. "Beau, Lara, Manuel, I need all of your help for this next part."

---

Back with Sonic...

"Man... this sucks." He sighed, absentmindedly eating a fry from a bowl next to him. "My friends are out to save one of our other friends, and I'm stuck in a house with tons of adorable women."

"One of whom you're dating," Shade reminded Sonic with a playful smile.

"Actually, could we break up?" Sonic said. "I just like Amy more than I like you."

Shade playfully thumped his arm, shaking her head. "I will aim for the parts of you that actually hurt if you keep on."

"Then keep on I shall not," said Sonic. "Still... I just... I can't believe it. My ex, part of a bad-ass spy organisation. Shadow's ex, also a part of that." He turned to Amy. "If you and I ever do split, promise me that you won't do anything so dangerous?"

Amy giggled. "Sweetie, I have to fight little kids all days. I think I can handle terrorist groups."

"I don't know," Sonic said. "Spying means you'd have to be pretty quiet. I've heard you try to sneak next to me in bed. You trip over a lot. Usually directly on top of me and waking me up."

"True, but then we get to sleep for a more fun reason," Amy whispered into her boyfriend's ear. She turned as she heard the door opening, seeing Amadeus and Rosemary walking in. "Oh, hello!"

"Hey," said Rosemary. "How is everyone here?"

"Well, me and the other guys invited them over," said Sonic. "As for how we're doing... not too great. I mean, you would know. You were there."

Amadeus nodded. "Three months for both of our businesses. We can't make an official delivery, you can't do any jobs... in fact, the restrictions are a lot harsher on you, aren't they?"

"Yep." Sonic nodded. "Especially with Shadow going off to Westopolis to stop Nack. There's no way in hell that that's going to go down clean."

"At least you're saying back to keep up your end of the deal," said Rosemary. "Good that you're taking it seriously."

"Well... this is about to get awkward..." Cosmo mumbled under her breath.

"Did you say something, dear?" Rosemary asked.

"Oh, no, Mrs. Prower," Cosmo said politely.

Rosemary giggled. "Fair enough." She looked around. "Hmm... I'm seeing Sonic and his girlfriend, Tails' girlfriend, Knuckles' girlfriend... we're a few heads short of a heroic banana bunch when it should just be one."

Amadeus looked too. "Rouge, Knuckles, and our son. Where are they?"

Sonic took in a breath, clearing his throat. "Rouge is with Shadow to help him rescue Maria. Knuckles and Tails left about five minutes before you two arrived to go and help them."

"Wait, why would Rouge go and help?" Rosemary asked.

"She's a member of a secret spy organisation that we're telling more people about as the day goes," Sonic said. "But everyone here who knows, I want you to listen. It doesn't leave this room, okay?" He turned to Amadeus and Rosemary. "That goes for you two as well."

"Sonic, our son is probably in danger right now!" said Amadeus. "You need to tell is what you know. We swear, it won't leave this place."

Sonic sighed, but Amy stepped in for him. "Rouge works for a group called Anti-Light. Sally does as well."

"They're good guys, before you ask," said Sonic. "Anti-Light are on the good side. From what I've heard, anyway. They're an anti-terrorist group."

"That doesn't give me much relief," said Amadeus. "Wait, is Sally with them as well?"

"Part of the group, yeah," Sonic said. "But she got shot during the bank robbery. I hope that she's getting help."

Amadeus sighed. "Why didn't you stop Miles and Knuckles?"

"I tried to," Sonic said. "But there's only so much that I can do. I can barely walk. I'm in no position to fight."

"But you could have tried harder to stop our son from going out there!" Rosemary half-shouted. "That's our son! Our baby boy! Going into the badlands to save someone that he cares about!"

"I did the same for him, Knuckles, and Shadow a year and a half ago," Sonic explained. "It was my choice to help them then, and it was their choice to go on their own."

Rosemary slapped him across the face. "You... you do not get to pick and choose who you do and don't want to help."

"It's not that I don't want to help," Sonic said. "I do. But... look at me. I... I can't..."

Amadeus nodded. "Maybe you could."

"And how would I do that?" Sonic asked.

"Well, much like you have sometimes bent the rules to save others," Amadeus explained, "I figured that we could do the same."

Sonic closed his eyes. "That can't work for a lot of reasons. One, my body could reject it. I need to take it easy. Two, you'll get in trouble for it."

"Well... we had time to think about it on the drive over here," said Rosemary. "They did say no manufacturing or distributing implants. They didn't say that we couldn't take someone back over to give one to them."

"And also," Amadeus added, "the implant in question was already created before the trial even started. Heck, even before Shadow's press conference."

"Well... uh..." Sonic tried to think of something reasonable. "Well... ah, you're not doctors. You're not authorised to insert implants at all. And I doubt that you brought a surgical kit to cut me open and fix me up."

"No, but we did get something in the car," said Amadeus. "I just hope that it works."

Before Sonic could speak, the fox father had already left out to his car. The blue hedgehog then turned to Rosemary, giving her a curious look. "What is this all about?"

"We want to help you," said Rosemary. "This is a project that Amadeus has been working on for some time. He was thinking about unveiling by the end of the year, and there's been some testing done for effectiveness. It works like a wonder."

"Ms. Prower," Cosmo spoke up, "I am on Sonic's side here. As much as I love Tails and we all want him and the others to be back safely, it isn't worth putting your own jobs in more jeopardy."

"She's right," Sonic said as Amadeus walked back in. "I want to help them, my current state be damned. But I feel like, even if I could... everyone would be getting into more trouble. Us, you... you provide a lot to so many people. You basically give people prosthetic limbs and organs for a good price and a longer lifespan. If you get copped with this, that's a year's worth of people that neither of us will be able to help."

Rosemary chuckled. "And here I was thinking that you'd be one to scoff at authority in this case. Seriously, it'll be okay. We have implants backlogged, and it's not like those things go out of date. There will still be prostheses to go around, and medical technology in general has gotten way more advanced." She turned to Amy. "Sadly, even that knowledge can't fix everything."

"If only," Amy said a bit sadly. She saw something in Amadeus' hand. "What is that?"

Amadeus smiled, showing off the object that he was holding. It appeared like a gun of sorts, with a long barrel and a sleek looking handle, and it was completely black all over save for a small canister on top of the barrel. There was a rounded hole about twice the width of the barrel where the muzzle would be, with a small bore in the middle and a pointed sharp end in the centre of it.

"If I may rephrase my girlfriend's question a little bit," Sonic said, "what the hell is that?"

"Ah, this is something I've been working at for a while now," said Amadeus. "We know that the main purpose of the implant is to help the user. And it's rare when an implant needs to be remove for one purpose or another, much like yours had to be."

"Wait, I'm not the first one that it's happened to?" Sonic asked.

"No, but it's not a common thing," said Amadeus. "Still, to be on the safe side, I did make this device. It doesn't have a name, but all that it does is put an implant where your old one used to be. Each implant leaves a code when it's put in, and this gun copies that, giving the user the same abilities that they had with their old implant before they lost it. The only downside is that the user has to relearn what they already knew, so while this would make you fast again, you'd still be above your average running speed at first." He did pause for a moment. "Obviously, this is only if you want them. And I will need a sample of your blood to make it work."

Sonic nodded. "I want to help the others, so... let's go."

Amadeus nodded. "Then let's not hesitate. Amy, would you mind moving? We need to get Sonic laid back on the couch. It's just easier that way."

"Oh, uh, right," Amy said, getting off of the couch.

She helped Sonic to lay on his back, and Amadeus got the gun ready. He put it against Sonic's arm and broke the skin, pulling the plunger and filling the small canister on the barrel with a few drops of blood. The gun then made several bleeping sounds, recognising Sonic's DNA and matching it perfectly. As Rosemary provided a plaster to Sonic's arm, Amadeus lifted Sonic's jeans up, finding the surgery scars on his legs with ease. He put the injection gun to the left leg first, the needle pushing through as he pulled the trigger. A hiss of gas came from the gun, and Sonic let out a small, sharp gasp as well, the same noise escaping his lips as the other leg was injected.

"Okay... all done," said Amadeus. "Try to stand up, see how it feels."

Sonic swung his lower body off of the couch, his feet landing on the floor as he was still seated. He wiggled his toes a bit to test the waters, and then he fully stood up. He didn't wobble much, his left hand staying behind in case he fell back down to the couch, but when he was stood up for a few seconds, he took a few steps forward. He let out a sigh of relief, happy to have his own feet back under him.

"Works like a charm," said Sonic. "But... you might take a hit for this. It's still technically giving a new implant out."

"If we have to take one on the chin," said Rosemary, "we will. But as for you, well, I suggest that you get to Westopolis and find your friends."

Sonic nodded, leaning to kiss Amy on the cheek before heading out to the front of the building. He hopped onto his hover-board, briefly contemplating sending a quick message to his friends to let them know. He decided against it, and he activated the cloaking on his board before taking off for Westopolis.

---

In Westopolis...

Shadow, uncloaked, had made it to the city in question, staying on his board as he looked around. It had been a long time since he'd last been there, and if he remembered anything about the last time that he was there, it was to go straight to Nack's prison. But as he got close to it, he heard his phone ringing. He looked around for a place to keep his head down before answering the phone, not checking who was on the other end.

"Hello?" he said.

"Shadow!" Tails said on the other end. "Where are you?"

"Uh... I just reached Westopolis. Why are you asking?"

"Okay, but how far in are you?" Knuckles asked.

"I literally just entered the city," said Shadow.

"Stay put!" said Knuckles. "We're right behind you!"

"I can't wait!" said Shadow. "I'm going to rescue Maria. When you get up here, keep your heads down in case of bullets flying back and forth."

"Wait, what are you going to do?" asked Tails.

Shadow turned on his nano-suit, letting out a breath. "I'm going radio silent." He then hung up before Tails or Knuckles could react, folding his board up under him and attaching it to his back too. "I'm sorry... but I need to do this..."

He was snapped out of his line of thinking when a car stopped in front of him, the doors on the left side bursting open as several masked men with weapons aimed said weapons at Shadow. They began opening fire, and Shadow ducked under where the bullets were flying before rolling out of the way to the nearest cover. But as soon as he did, the gunfire immediately stopped, and a voice spoke up among it all.

"Hey, hero!" the voice called mockingly. "If you want to save your girlfriend, I suggest you tag with us! She's at the brothel!"

"Probably on her knees servicing someone right now!" said another voice, causing Shadow to get angrier. "Better get a move on!"

They fired some more warning shots, and Shadow snarled as the car turned to peel out and leave. The black and red hedgehog looked at where the car was heading, and he remembered that he didn't have to follow them as he was at the brothel before when Sonic had to rescue Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles. But Shadow still teleported up close to the car anyway, landing on the roof of it.

"I guess he followed us along!" said one of the thugs inside it.

"Shoot up but don't waste him!" said the driver of the vehicle. "We want him to suffer, remember? Nack's paying us good cash to do so!"

'Boys, today is not the fucking day...' Shadow said in his mind.

He heard the guns clicking inside of the car, the tyres screeching and engine roaring becoming background noises, and the guns started to fire up immediately. He let them hit his nano-suit to absorb some of the damage, and after a few more good shots got off, the car stumbled over something in the road.

"Speed bump?" asked one of the gangsters. "I thought that we didn't even have those!"

"Just shut up and check on him!" said another one.

The first one shook his head, peeking it out of the window of the car and looking on the roof for Shadow. But he saw nothing except for the hover-board floating freely, and then the car came to a sudden halt, causing the gangster to get back inside of the car quickly. He was about to ask what the commotion was until he saw Shadow on the hood of the car.

"Shake him off!" said another gangster.

The driver tried to do just that, still driving forwards, his hand pushing on the gas. He looked down to make sure that his feet were on the pedals, and when he looked back up, Shadow was again gone. That was the last thing that he saw before his car door was yanked open and he was thrown out of the car, rolling down the side of the car and getting crushed under the wheels before being left behind as a pile of gore and twisted bones.

Shadow quickly reached his hand over to the steering wheel, pushing it to roll it all of the way to the left. The thug in the front passenger seat reached to grab the wheel back, but Shadow fired his pistol quickly, putting a bullet through the thug's hand and causing it to spurt blood as the car turned heavily on its side. Shadow hopped off of it, grabbing his hover-board as well as the car kept turning before slamming topside first against a lamppost.

Shadow then walked over to the wreckage of the car, looking inside of it to see two more dead bodies and the thug in the front passenger seat still breathing. Shadow harshly reached through the driver's side door to pull him out, slamming him hard on the ground behind him. Shadow then slowly walked over, putting his gun to the thug's head and leaning down to him.

"You know," the hedgehog started, "if this were any other day of the week in any other city, I'd just knock you out, let the authorities pick you up, and then go about my day. But the thing is, I'm about to lose my job anyway, I'm in a city that doesn't give a shit one way or the other, and also, the man that has you in his pocket kidnapped my friend. I swear to god, if Maria is in Lara's brothel and doing what you alluded to earlier, you won't live long enough to see me kill you."

"She's... she's in there..." said the thug, spitting out more blood. "It's not far... she's... tied up..."

Shadow stepped on the man's bleeding hand. "Please elaborate what you mean by tied up."

"As in, tied to a chair... they made her watch the trial..."

Shadow let out a breath, stamping hard on the gangster's hand before gathering his hover-board back up. He then picked the thug up, looking over to the building. He noticed that it wasn't that far away, and he dragged the thug along with him, dragging him along on his feet and looking in the windows of the brothel. He didn't see a lot in there, and he noticed that the front door was closed as well.

On the inside of the brothel, the doorbell was heard. The secretary behind the desk looked to one of the guards, who went to open the front door. After seeing nothing for a few seconds, they turned to close the door again before hearing a sudden scream cut short with a sickening, wet thud. The guard opened the door back up to see a human with his eyes wide open, but no breath leaving his mouth as blood poured from a large wound in his head.

Shadow then appeared before the guard for a brief second, quickly teleporting forward and sweeping his leg under the guard to trip him up, kicking the gun out of his hand as he reached for it too. Shadow then stood over the guard, pointing his gun right at the guard's head and cocking it.

"Where is Maria?" Shadow snarled.

The guard got a hand up to point to the kitchen. "Through there... she was watching the trial..."

Shadow rushed off, stepping over the guard to reach the kitchen. He saw a figure sat on a chair, although the lighting was far from agreeable. Still, he saw some blonde hair, and he saw some rope tying a body to the chair as well as hearing the sounds of muffled protests, probably due to a gag or some tape.

"Maria?" Shadow stepped closer. "It's okay, I'm here to get you out of here."

He moved closer still, but all of the lights in the room started to go down, and the TV turned off too, the only thing in the room being a light on the chair. Shadow moved to grab the chair and turn it around, but as he did, the lights surrounding that shut off too. Before he could question what was happening, he saw a red bead of light on the figure's body, pushing it out of the way as a shot whizzed past his ear.

Shadow stayed down for a second before he turned to Maria. "Okay, we'll get out of this. Just stay down and stay quiet."

Without getting a response, Shadow listened closely for the shooter in the dark. His nano-suit did afford him some night vision as well, but it also exposed him a bit due to the glowing light. He peeked his head up again and saw the red bead once more, ducking under quickly as he anticipated a shot... which the shooter didn't take. Shadow then slipped and ducked under his cover, sliding to what he assumed to be a table as a shot sounded next to him, creating a small spark on the chair leg next to him.

Shadow took a deep breath, slipping closer to the edge of the cover. He then activated his nano-suit again and stuck his arm out of the cover, and sure enough, the shooter fired. Shadow took minor damage to his arm, the armour protecting him, and he got a good look at the laser sight leading to where the shooter was, seeing him in the farthest end of the room.

'I got this guy... I just need to play it safe...'

The black and red hedgehog made another move, slipping past the cover and being surprised at not hearing another shot being taken. He kept moving down the line as best as he could, keeping his nano-suit deactivated to make it harder for the shooter to detect him... while also making it harder on himself should he get shot as he didn't have a protective layer to absorb the damage.

Still, Shadow moved more down the cover, and he listened closely. With no light or other sound in the room, he could hear the shooter's breaths growing faster, and he listened as said shooter was adjusting the grip on his gun, hastily removing the magazine to check how many bullets that he had left. When he tried to put it back in, he dropped it on the floor, and Shadow heard a male voice letting out a hushed obscenity.

Which meant that it was time to move. Shadow brought up his nano-suit again, being able to see the shooter holding a semiautomatic rifle with a scope equipped, alongside a laser sight. Shadow fired a shot from his pistol at the scope, causing the glass inside of it to shatter, and as the shooter backed up, Shadow moved closer, seeing that the shooter had some night vision goggles of his own. Eventually, Shadow reached the man, removing the goggles and throwing them away.

"You can't see me, and you can't shoot me... what's next?"

The shooter let out a few breaths before letting out a high-pitched laugh and showing his hand to Shadow. The lights then came back on, and Shadow saw that the man had a device in his hand with a red button attached, his thumb hovering to press it. Shadow went to shoot at the man, but then he saw him push his thumb on the button, holding it tightly in his grip.

"Dead man's switch..." the shooter said. "If you kill me, this goes off, and you and your girlfriend go down with this part of the building..."

Shadow shook his head. "You're nothing to me either way. I don't care if you do it... that's another prick off of the face of this earth..."

"Well... before you leave... you should really go check on your girl..."

Shadow looked back over to the chair where Maria was, teleporting quickly over to her. As he went to untie her from the chair, he saw that her clothes were there, but they were on the body of a mannequin. Shadow then saw the shooter bring a knife to his own throat and slit it, the blood spurting out as he dropped the dead man's switch. Shadow quickly saw a bomb attached to the chair as well, turning to throw it as far from himself as he could before shooting a hole in the window. He rushed to charge through it, the glass shattering around him as the kitchen exploded behind him, a plume of flame and smoke chasing him out of the building.

He landed into a roll and dashed forwards, teleporting to the nearest cover that he could find behind a car as he waited for the explosion to die down. When it did, he saw the flames starting to calm down some as well, looking to see some other guards coming out of the door and searching for him. Shadow stayed hidden, and as he did, he failed to notice Tails and Knuckles on either side of him uncloaking and staying in cover next to him.

Shadow damn near jumped out of his skin. "Jesus... you almost gave me a heart attack..."

"Didn't mean to scare you," said Knuckles. "We just figured that this would be the easiest way to reach you without getting a bunch of new holes put in us."

Tails looked around. "Wait, where's Maria?"

"She's not here," said Shadow. "I was told that she was in the brothel, but it was a trap. Hence me almost getting blown up."

"So Nack knew that we were coming..." said Tails.

"Or at least he knew about me," said Shadow. "I don't know if he knows about you two. It wouldn't surprise me if he did, though."

"That aside," Knuckles said, "what's the plan now?"

Shadow nodded. "Simple. We go over and ask politely where Maria is."

"You look like you already tried that and it didn't work," said Knuckles.

"In that case, just follow my lead," said Shadow.

Knuckles and Tails nodded, waiting for their friend's next move. The black and red hedgehog put a silencer on his pistol and got his board ready, cloaking himself as the others followed suit and also went invisible. The trio of freelancers rode over to the front doors of the brothel, seeing the guards getting more spread out as they were searching for Shadow, and they quickly made their move in taking the guards out one by one.

Tails would start it off, choking a guard out from behind and firing a shot at another one's head to kill him as well. Another guard turned to see some of them having fallen, and as he went to notify another, he saw their body drop, blood pouring from a wound in their neck. The guard fired a blind shot into the wind until he felt a pair of hands slip under his armpits, and he was suddenly lifted into the air, letting out a panicked sound.

He looked up and saw Tails above him, carrying him. He attempted to let a shot into the air, but Tails quickly grabbed his wrist and shook to make the guard lose the gun. The weapon clattered to the ground, and the guard kicked and struggled as he looked to see the ground below him start to get further away as Tails hiked further into the air, still holding the guard and loosening his grip somewhat before clearing his throat.

"If you'll remain still, my friends want to talk to you," Tails said.

Shadow spoke up. "Where is Maria?!"

"I ain't telling you shit!" the guard said.

Shadow snarled and teleported up to the guard, catching him from Tails' grip and then zipping back to the ground, slamming the back of the guard's head onto the concrete. Shadow raised his fist to land some shots onto his face, hitting him with hard punches before grabbing the collar of his shirt and sneering down at him.

"I do not have the time or the patience for lies!" Shadow said. "Tell me where they're holding her!"

"More guards are coming," said Knuckles. "We've got to be quick."

"We will be," Shadow said. "Where is she?" He landed another hard punch. "Answer me!"

The guard spat some blood to the side, seeing his gun close by. Shadow saw it too and quickly reached for it, shooting the guard in the hand, and then the shoulder, pushing the muzzle of the weapon to the guard's neck next. The guard winced from the heat, letting out a loud grunt of pain from the wounds in his left arm oozing blood onto the pavement as he looked back up at Shadow.

"She's... she's at Nack's prison..." the guard said.

"Is she really?" Shadow asked. "Or is there another trap waiting for me?"

"I... I swear!" said the guard. "Nack has a plan... and he's doing it where he operates from... I swear... he didn't tell us anything else..."

"So he could be preparing something... fair enough..." Shadow pulled his fist up, swinging it down hard to knock the guard out. "All right... we really should be more careful from this point."

"Nack's got to have something planned out," said Knuckles. "I didn't see any of his heavy hitters on our way over here either. They're probably all with him."

"Well, we don't have time to come up with a plan to counter his," Shadow said. "I know where my friend is, and I'm going to save her."

"Nack's prison is quite a ways from here," said Tails. "We need to move fast."

The others nodded in agreement, getting on their boards and cloaking themselves once more as they made their way to Nack's main base of operations.

A few miles outside of Westopolis, out on the motorway leading up to it, Sonic was riding his hover-board, still staying cloaked. He did have a brush with some patrolling forces, but he didn't get seen. He kept speeding down as he got a message on his communicator, and he leaned down to speak softly into it.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey, babe," Amy said. "It's... it's Amy."

"I knew from when you called me babe, babe," said Sonic. "But I do appreciate you clarifying. Rosy has played that prank on me before."

"That was an awkward Valentine's Day to say the least," Amy said. "But I just wanted to see how far up you are."

"I'm almost there," said Sonic. "Do you think it was the right choice to not let them know that I was coming?"

"They'll be pleasantly surprised, I think," said Amy. "Why?"

Sonic sighed. "It just feels weird to me. I said I couldn't go, I tried to ward off the other three because of how much more trouble that we could get into... and now I'm out here doing the same shit that I told all of them not to do."

"You feel like a hero who's coming to the rescue at the last minute even though you didn't earn it?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, that," Sonic said. "It's not like last time when we set up that plan and I did actually save the others. This is more serious than that, not to mention the information that we still don't have."

"Well, what's your plan for that?" Amy asked.

"Try and keep Nack alive," Sonic said. "I mean, not without beating the piss out of him. That's always nice to do. But I can't let Shadow kill him. If Nack knows anything about The Black Market, or if anyone he knows knows about it, then we need that information. Who knows, we could even get our jobs back quicker, same for the Prower family."

"That is a really long shot," Amy said. "Do you think that it's one worth taking?"

"The more that I think about it, the less sure that I feel," Sonic admitted. "I just have to hope that they haven't reached him already." He looked far up ahead to what passed for Westopolis' security gate, seeing a toll officer there drinking. "All right, I'm just about at the city. I'll see you when I get back."

"I know," Amy said. "And... I love you."

The blue hedgehog smiled. "I love you too, Amy."

The two then ended their call, Sonic slipping past the security guard with ease thanks to being cloaked, and he headed into the city proper. Considering that he knew his way around before, he didn't have a lot of trouble finding Nack's prison base. But it had been a year and a half since then, and neither he nor the others had really been back to the city since for anything.

'Maybe that was out fault...' Sonic thought. 'This place is a hellhole and a half, but not everyone here is horrible... right? There are good people here that aren't just mindless followers of Nack's doctrine, aren't there?'

As Sonic continued this train of thought, he came to a road crossing, turning left to head more where he needed to go. He managed to move forwards without much issue, and he managed to remember some of the steps that he took to navigate the city last time. What was new was some thugs nearby stealing a car, which Sonic almost ignored... until he got off of his board to go over to them. There were two men and a woman clad with tattoos, the last of whom was holding a much smaller woman in her grasp.

"Come on," said the tattooed woman, who Sonic presumed to be a leader of sorts. "We need to get this little bitch in the car and get out of here fast."

"What's with the hurry?" said one of the male thugs. "We're in Westopolis. There's probably someone somewhere else here doing the same shit on the other side of the city."

"Yeah, but if we don't move quickly, we could get into some trouble," said the woman. "I heard a rumour that the fuckin' freelancers are up here, huntin' for Nack."

"Wait, is Nack even back in the city?" asked the other male thug, trying to jimmy the car door open. "I heard about the prison breakout, but I didn't know that he got back here."

"Yeah," said the woman. "Rumour has it that he's got himself a new boy as well. Brought him over from Green Hill. Trusts him a lot."

"You sure do like your rumours," said the thug, managing to pop the lock of the door. "Fucking finally. We're in."

"Where are we going?" asked the other thug.

"We're going to try and get into Lara's good graces," said the tattooed woman. "See if we can't return some lost property and get paid for it."

"Um... we didn't steal her from Lara..." said the thug.

"I know that, and we all know that, but nobody else does. And hey, we could get a cut of the money by handing this whore over to her."

"Stealing a car in broad daylight, kidnapping a person, and doing it all in front of a freelance officer," Sonic said loudly. He uncloaked from his board, shaking his head. "If this were a city that gave a shit about what goes on, I'd be more disappointed. But this is just an average weekend for Westopolis, isn't it."

"And who are you?" asked the leader. "Are you some kind of cop?"

"Some kind, yeah," Sonic said. "I mean, I don't wear a uniform. But I do have a gun. And I'm not afraid to use it. I mean, I don't have to. I'd prefer not to. But I will."

"Whatever, wannabe," said one of the thugs. "Let's just waste this idiot and get out-"

Sonic sighed, setting his pistol to its stun function and firing shots at each of the three bad guys. They all dropped unconscious to the ground, and the blue hedgehog walked over to them, shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't have time to waste." He turned to the girl they were trying to kidnap. "Are you all right?"

"I'm... okay..." she said.

"Are you... what they said you are? Are you a prostitute?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not... I was just trying to find my way back home... I came out here for vacation with a friend, but he had to head back to the south end of the city because of a family emergency, leaving me the money and the free hotel time..." She sniffled. "I'm dressed like this because I was having a night out, just some drinks with friends... I came out here to try and get a cab and..."

"Hey, it'll be all right," said Sonic. "Just... find a place to hide out for now. You can't keep your head up for long in Westopolis."

"I'm learning that more as I go," said the girl, turning to look behind Sonic. "Uh... friends of yours?"

Sonic rose an eyebrow, turning around to see Shadow, Knuckles, and Tails. "That's one way of saying it."

"Sonic!" said Tails. "How and when did you get up here?"

"You can thank your dad for both," Sonic said. "He invented a thing that copies implant DNA in case they get damaged. It just rewrites what was their back to the start, so... I can move again. Completely fine."

"Wait, did it look like some kind of alien gun?" Tails asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

Tails snapped his fingers. "So that's what that blueprint was. I found something about it when I was copying the cloaking to our boards, but dang... way to go, mum and dad."

Sonic kicked his leg back and forth, stretching it. "It's almost like I wasn't poisoned and at risk of death at all." He turned to the others. "How about you? How are you doing?"

Shadow sighed. "We got led astray. We were told that Maria was at Lara's brothel, but it was just an ambush for me. They blew up part of the building to try and kill me."

"Huh," Sonic said. "Lara must have gotten her girls moved out quickly. I know that she does what she can to look out for them. Giving them less of a place to live must have been a last ditch effort." He then widened his eyes. "Oh, shit, sorry. Uh, glad you're okay, man. It sucks that Maria wasn't there... unless she... wait, was she? Did she..."

"No, she wasn't there," Shadow confirmed. "And there's only one place that she could be at."

"Fucking Nack..." Sonic sighed, turning to Knuckles and Tails. "And you two?"

"We met back up with Shadow outside of the brothel," said Knuckles. "We even got to kick the asses of some of Nack's guards. There... there were some deaths."

Sonic shrugged. "We're out of a job for a while anyway. We haven't killed anyone of importance. But when it comes to Nack... he has to know something."

"Sonic-" Shadow started.

"I know," said the blue hedgehog. "If he says anything, we won't pull the plug. But if you jump the gun too early, if he knows anything about The Black Market... that's it. That's our last good chance to get our jobs back quicker out the window." He paused, looking his friend up and down. "I'm not going to ask if you think that it's worth the risk, because I know what your answer is going to be already."

"Then you know that I have to do it when the time comes," Shadow said.

"Only when the time is right. You have to promise me, yeah?" Sonic put his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you can do that."

Shadow's red eyes looked into Sonic's green ones, and he sighed. "I... I can't. This has been building for way too long... I'm not waiting any more. You can ask him as many questions as you want, but if I have to step in, I will."

Sonic gave a small smile. "As long as you're sure." He broke away from Shadow, turning to Tails and Knuckles. "Do you two have any objections to that?"

"Whatever you think is right, we'll follow," said Tails.

Knuckles nodded too, smiling. "We're brothers. This is what we do."

Inside of Nack's prison, the purple weasel was watching his security cameras as he awaited the arrival of whichever freelancer came up first. In the room with him were all of his lieutenants and closest associates, and Grigori and Sacha had explained to the others what they were, with Gerren being the first to talk.

"Wait... so you're actually part of The Black Market..." said the former Green Hill guard.

"We have been for a long time, yes," said Sacha. "And we want Nack to be a part of it."

"What about the rest of us?" said Manuel. "Unless Nack would have to cut off ties with us by killing us all just to join you."

"No, we'd never ask him to do that," said Grigori. "You've all proved useful to him and his cause. Even Martin and Gerren have been big helps."

"Gee, thanks," Martin said sarcastically.

"We only ask that you keep this knowledge a secret," said Grigori, ignoring the dirty cop.

Nack, still watching over the cameras, spoke up after. "If you just want me, why even tell the others? I never told you to do that. And I don't know if an extra six recruits in one day is going to do well by you."

"Not to mention, we all have our own shit to run," said Beau. "I don't even know what we'll have to do if we're considered. I'm fine with just pushing drugs around."

"True, but with us, you could more more product," said Sacha. "You could get paid more. All of our accounts are anonymous, as would yours be."

"And to address what Nack said," said Grigori, "we could add all six of you, Nack included, if we wanted to."

Manuel shook his head. "I can't. I've got kids to look after. They barely even know that I move guns around. If I move more, that's more time away from them."

"We could arrange to send them away," said Sacha. "Get them into a college in a different area. I don't even think that there is a college in Westopolis."

"There is, actually," said Beau. "I graduated from there. But then I got too into drugs, and... well, everyone knows the ending to that story."

"Which overdose was it when I found you?" Nack asked.

"I'd lost count," said Beau. "But I do side with Manuel. We've got more outside of this."

"I know that Manuel does," said Lara. "And I love my girls a lot and I want them to be safe. Oh, by the way Nack, thanks for letting them hide out here."

"No problem," said Nack. "They're important to you, and we wouldn't want them hurt. And I'm sorry that your brothel had to lose some of itself in the process."

"It was a necessity," Lara sighed. "Unfortunately, it's not just prostitution, but it's technically human trafficking. That's a tough thing to cover up, even with Martin giving us the fake IDs and Nack stashing that money away for us."

"Honestly, I'm just glad that you used it in the right way," Nack said. "I never had to cut any of you off from it. Mostly because I was in a high security penitentiary and I couldn't do that if I wanted to, but still." He chuckled to himself. "Lara did her place up nicely, Beau and Manuel hired more workers together, more Fokus got made, more guns are getting moved... but I do agree with Sacha and Grigori. With the help of The Black Market, we could go much higher. We could take so much more. And... we should."

He then looked into one of the security cameras, a slightly grainy video showing Maria on her knees just inside of a door on the second floor. Her hands were tied behind her back, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and although she was kidnapped and crying, she was unharmed, not a blemish on her save for some of her makeup running from her tears.

"To think," said Nack, "Maria... such an innocent woman. We never had to kidnap her. And we only want her for the money, after all." He turned to Manuel. "Those are your men out there. Your guns. I don't want to see a bullet on her by the end of this."

"I can't keep that promise," said Manuel. "They couldn't hit the four freelancers when they got here last time."

Nack grunted. "Tell your men that if they hurt or kill her, they'll be out of a job with me and they'll be out of Westopolis."

Manuel grunted back, reaching for his phone and talking to one of his men to relay the information. When he was finished, he turned back to Nack. "They know. If they kill her or hurt her, they're done."

Nack turned to the rest. "As for everyone here, what Sacha and Grigori told you does not leave this room. They will find out about it one way or another, and for all that I know, they could have eyes even in Westopolis."

"We do," Sacha confirmed. "And not just us two."

"We won't say a word," said Beau. "Nobody knows a lot about The Black Market anyway, and we just know that they're an actual thing and we've met two of the people who work for them."

"Well, if I can put my trust in them all of this time, then I think that you two can as well," Nack said to his two guards. "And remember, you two still work for me besides that."

Sacha smiled. "That's good. In The Black Market, there are no higher-ups. We're all equals."

"Communists, you mean," said Beau. "Wait... is that racist since you're both Russian?"

"Equals in terms of mindset, not pay," said Sacha. "But a lot of people did make that joke at first. You wouldn't be the first people we're trying to get to join us."

"Of course," said Grigori, "that depends on if Nack says yes."

Nack, walking back to the cameras, put his hands behind him. "I won't know yet..." He spots some blurs in a couple of the screens' videos. "I think that I might know soon, though."

"Are they here?" asked Grigori.

"I saw something... not sure what," said Nack. "Manuel, keep your men on guard. Keep them ready. And remember, don't hurt the girl."

Manuel nodded, speaking into an earpiece that he had in. "Keep an eye out. They'll be here soon. And don't shoot the girl if you can help it."

Nack kept watching the cameras, seeing one which showed a view outside the front of his prison. He saw some blurs again, and those blurs started to take shape. To Nack's surprise, there was only three of them forming, and he looked at another screen to see a pair of tails attached to a figure. The figure gave a friendly wave to the camera before pulling on a cable, and the cameras completely shut off.

"Dammit..." Nack said.

"What happened?" asked Martin.

"They're all here," Nack said. "And they cut off power to the cameras. We can't see them coming now."

"How did they get around the back?" asked Gerren. "I set guys up around the perimeter. They must have sneaked past them."

"True, this place never did have the best security," Nack said. As he did, the lights around them went off to. "Nor the best power..."

Gerren grunted, speaking into his earpiece. "All right, all men on the perimeter, go around the back and find the little shit that's cutting off our power. Take him out."

Out the back of the building, Tails looked at the cables that he'd pulled out. He spoke into his wrist communicator. "All right, sights and lights are off. Going for doors next."

"Hurry it up," said Sonic. "We're running low on power."

"Better to run low than not have any at all," Tails said. He reached for another cable in the circuit breaker. "All right... this should be good..."

As he went to remove it, he heard some ruffling sounds close to him. He looked back and forth, quickly getting on his board and cloaking himself again. He knew that his board didn't have a lot of power in it, so he hid behind some bushes near to him, making himself visible but keeping himself as low to the ground as he could. Through the lines of the bushes, he saw several grunts with guns looking around, shouting orders at each other. One of them even attempted to put the cables back in the circuit breaker, but he was stopped by another and told to focus up.

"Tails?" Shadow asked through the communicator. "Are the doors out?"

"I ran into a little problem..." Tails looked around at all of the thugs who came outside. "Or about five to be more exact. Very angry men with very fast guns. My board's low on power, so I can't cloak past them like last time."

"Can you fly over the building?" asked Shadow.

Tails looked up at the prison, gulping a bit. "I don't have a fear of heights, but there's probably guards posted all around the windows. I'll definitely get caught."

"Well, you can't go around them or over them, and there's no way of going under," said Knuckles. "You might have to go through them."

Tails let out a breath. "Let's hope that all of those training lessons pay off. Going radio silent. I'll be back with you when it's over."

He turned off his communicator, and as he did, he saw a pair of boots getting closer to his position. Tails sneaked and lowered further under the bush, wrapping his tails around him so that he wouldn't get spotted when an idea came to him. He grabbed a pebble next to him, throwing it at the grating behind him, creating a desired clanging sound. The guard close to him went to look further when Tails used his namesake to trip the guard up, causing his head to crash hard on the ground and his gun to slide away. While he was dizzy, Tails slipped up behind him and wrapped his arms around his head in a sleeper hold. The guard struggled to fight back, and eventually he would go to sleep under Tails' grip, being left on the ground.

"Huh," Tails said, looking at his arms. "Guess I'm stronger than I thought."

"Hey, did you hear that?" asked another guard. "I think it came from those bushes!"

"What are the odds..." Tails muttered under his breath. He looked to the rifle that the guard he'd taken out was holding, and he smiled. "Not my usual style, but I think that I've got something..."

He grabbed the rifle, laying on his side and aiming it up to the sky. He saw that there was no muzzle on it, which worked for him. He fired several loud shots in the air, getting the guards to panic... and panic they indeed did. They each searched for some semblance of cover, and Tails could only hope that the gunfire was heard around the front of the prison too to signal his friends. Still, he stayed silent on his end, not wanting to jeopardise his current position.

He knew that he couldn't wait forever, though, so he made his mouth. He threw his gun away to the guards nearest to him, and to capitalise on their distraction, he readied his Stunner pistol, ready to fire when needed. He aimed at one of the guards, only to see said guard drop a moment later. The thug next to him was confused as to what happened, so Tails fired a stun shot at him, causing him to shake and collapse to the ground unconscious.

Around the corner of the building, Tails saw more guards walking around, having heard some of the gunfire. Tails gulped in a breath and stayed low to the ground, putting his own gun away just in case. He tried to hold his breath as several guards got closer to him... and then other thugs behind those started to drop to the floor. The guards in front of Tails turned to fire at the source, but they were soon dropped as well, and the other freelancers uncloaked themselves in front of their friend.

"That was way too close..." Tails said, being helped up to his feet.

"Yeah, we figured something was wrong when we heard gunshots," said Sonic. "Glad to see that we were right."

Tails nodded, looking back to the circuit breaker. "Well, I'm almost done here. Lights and cameras are out. Next is... huh... security systems..."

"Do you think that it'll be worth the trouble?" Knuckles asked.

Tails shrugged, walking over to the breaker and pulling the cable out... then removing all of the other cables that he could find, flipping switches here and there and eventually shutting the breaker again. He stood back and went over to the others, who had very confused looks on their faces, with Knuckles even pointing at the breaker.

"What?" the yellow fox asked.

"Was that not a bit much?" asked Sonic.

"The best way to make sure that they don't have power is to take all of it away," Tails said. "A lot of the cables and switches didn't link properly, which meant that Nack must have had something done to customise it to work for him. Thankfully, circumventing that is pretty easy as you can just rip out all of the things that make it work."

"Then I guess we're good to go," said Sonic. "Good timing. We can't rely on our boards much longer. There's not a place nearby to recharge them, though."

"We'll just need to let them rest," said Shadow. "Sling them on our backs and such. The nanobots should be able to fix it, right?"

"They will indeed," Tails said. "Good thinking."

"All right, let's get moving."

The four freelancers made their way back to the front of the building, thankful that daylight was getting low, making it easier to sneak in. They put on their nano-suits, using the enhanced sight granted to look around different corners for any gunmen, but they didn't see any around them. Shadow peeked around a corner, aiming his pistol, but he didn't see anything there either, looking to the others.

"Do any of you see anything?" he asked.

Sonic shook his head. "All empty on my end. That's not good. They've probably got more men waiting further up."

"There's only three more floors," said Knuckles. "It shouldn't take long."

They all grouped together, looking to the stairs that led up to the first floor. They took them up slowly and carefully, keeping their heads on a swivel for a possible ambush when Sonic, who was leading the four up the stairs, came to a stop as he saw something glow faintly. He blew out a breath which appeared cold due to the lack of heating, and he saw a red light go low across the ground at the top of the stairs.

"All right... looks like it might take a while after all..." Knuckles said as he saw it too. "How do we play this one?"

"It's probably just a simple laser trip mine," Tails said, looking to the left end of the stairs. "It's not straight across... it's more diagonal... curious."

"Would you mind taking care of it?" asked Knuckles.

"It's a two man job," said Tails. "I'd need someone to get to the other end to shut it down. And I get the feeling that it's not the only one."

"I should be able to get past them," said Shadow. He followed the line of the laser and teleported over to the other end, seeing the second half of the trip mine as he'd suspected. "And here it is," he said through his communicator. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"All right, open the hatch first," Tails said, seeing Shadow follow suit. "All right... this is a pretty advanced model... but I think we dealt with these before..." He looked through the wires, seeing two blue ones and three green ones. "All right... we'll have to pull wires since I didn't bring my toolkit with me."

"I did tell you to grab it on the way up here," Knuckles said.

"I should have listened," Tails said. "All right... Shadow, grab the first blue wire, and the second green wire. You need to pull them both at the same time to shut the mine down."

"The same time as you?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah," the yellow fox nodded. "It needs to be in sync or goodbye first floor. All right, you ready?"

"And waiting."

"On my count," Tails said. "3... 2... 1... pull."

The two of them pulled at the same time, both closing their eyes and bracing themselves. After a few seconds, Shadow let out a breath of relief, thankful that the trip mine had been disable successfully. But when he went to give a thumbs up for confirmation to Tails, he kept turning his head to see another red line going across the wall. Copying what Sonic did with breathing on it, he kept following it and sighed.

"Looks like we got more work to do," Shadow said.

Tails turned to Knuckles and Sonic. "You can get off of your asses and help, you know."

The blue hedgehog and the red echidna both moved up the stairs, carefully stepping over the red line as they saw it. They disabled the mine with Shadow and Tails' help, and they followed the line of sight to take care of a few more of them, clearing their path to the second floor. Sonic again led the group up the stairs, keeping his pistol at the ready as they got on the move.

To their surprise, they made it up the stairs with little other trouble. They looked around for any traps or guards, and they were again surprised to find that no trap had been waiting for them. But as they kept searching, they heard some muffled crying from their left. Shadow looked to see a door leading to a row of cells, and he looked down the end of it to see a figure crouched over.

"Maria?" he asked gently. The figure at the end struggled a bit, letting out a muffled cry. Shadow teleported over, removing the cloth gag from her mouth. "Maria? Speak to me. Are you okay?"

The figure let out some coughing, looking up at Shadow and igniting a lighter. She brought it to her face, showing that it was instead Lara. Shadow stood back from her, keeping his hand on his holster as he looked across the row of cells to the woman he briefly worked with all of that time ago, shaking his head.

"Where is Maria?" Shadow asked.

"She's one floor up," said Lara. "You just missed her, actually."

The black and red hedgehog shook his head. "You can't stand in our way. There's a lot more of us than there are of you."

"I'm so glad that you said that," Lara said. "I do get lonely sometimes, you know. Just one man isn't enough to satisfy me." She shut off her lighter and smiled darkly. "And it's always much better in the dark, don't you agree?"

She let out a lingering laugh as she left the room, and the freelancers turned at the sounds of rusty doors opening. They all put their nano-suits on and used the night vision that came with it to see the cell doors that they were stood in front of wide open and several guards aiming their guns and firing at the freelancers. Their nano-suits did absorb some of the damage, but the four of them still had to make it out of the nearest door, the guards staying close behind.

Sonic looked around with his night vision to see more guards posted around, also aiming at them, and starting to rain down fire. He did spot Lara among the crowd firing, along with Manuel, and the four of them scrambled to find some form of cover until Knuckles slid his board from his back, putting it on the ground. He dared to hop onto it, activating the force-field to bounce some of the bullets away.

"This won't hold forever!" said Knuckles.

Shadow nodded. "I'll even out the field! Try and keep it up for as long as you can!"

The black and red hedgehog then started to teleport, trying to redirect the enemy's fire towards him. He kept his Stunner pistol on nonlethal mode, using his ability and his natural accuracy to fire at some of the guards. Several of them dropped to the ground, often with a single shot. Eventually the enemy noticed Shadow zipping around, starting to focus their fire on him.

As they did, Sonic took his cue and used his implants to increase his speed. Although he wasn't near the level that he was previously, he was still fast enough to get behind another segment of the enemies, and he started firing shots at them, helping Shadow to cut down the field. However, Manuel turned as he noticed a missed shot go past him, and he turned to see the blue hedgehog in a shooting stance.

"Focus fire on him!" Manuel said.

Several other gunmen followed his lead, turning to fire several shots at Sonic, who rolled behind a nearby doorway for cover. Despite the fact that the fire was focused on him, some of the guards were still keeping aim on Shadow as well, forcing him to start backing away back to Tails and Knuckles. He ducked behind the force-field again, a bullet pinging off of it and bouncing to the left.

"This isn't going to hold out for much longer!" said Knuckles. "We need a plan!"

Shadow looked at his gun. "I'm curious..." He rolled back a bit, firing a stun shot at the force bubble, and it bounced off. "Huh... just like normal..."

"Why did you shoot at him?" Tails asked.

"I had to test something," Shadow said. "Knuckles, can you keep the shield up even if you're not on it?"

"I don't know if I can!" Knuckles said. "I also don't know if this is the right time to ask!"

Shadow grunted. "Tails? I need you to get on your board. I have an idea."

Tails looked over to Shadow. "What is the plan, exactly?"

"Just trust me! We don't have time to argue about it!"

The yellow fox got his board ready, hopping onto it. "What next?"

"Put your shield up! Knuckles, take yours down!"

Knuckles did so. "And now what?"

"Follow my lead!"

Shadow pulled the red echidna down with him, bracing himself against the side of the wall and placing his feet against the bottom of Tails' board. Knuckles did the same, an admittedly confused look on his face, but he did it all the same. He braced his feet on the board, and he reared his legs back as he saw Shadow do the same, when the black and red hedgehog looked over to him.

"All right, we push on 3," Shadow said. "1!"

"This better work!" Tails said.

"2! 3!"

The two of them both pushed the board hard with their legs, Knuckles bringing his arms up as a way of bracing himself as he tried to keep his balance as well. He felt miniature vibrations from the force-field reflecting the bullets, and he felt himself staying in place for a time until he felt an impact that caused his board to spin around, making the bullets start to reflect more wildly and uncertainly.

He could only hope that his friends were finding better cover, and he dared to open his eyes from all of the firing going on, seeing that the plan had worked. Several of the enemy guards had dropped to the floor, either dead or unconscious, and it did a good job of levelling out the field. As the board slowed its spin, Knuckles saw Manuel and Lara breaking away, heading to the staircase to move up to the third and final floor.

"They're making a move up!" said Shadow.

"Let's finish up down here and follow them!" said Knuckles. Suddenly, he noticed the force-field break to pieces around him, and he felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. He fell forward off of the board, and he looked to the ground to see some blood fall down next to him. "Fuck... that hurt a lot..."

"Knuckles!" Tails cried out.

He used his board to make another protective bubble around Knuckles, pulling the red echidna into some better cover as Sonic and Shadow took the opening to get to work. They used their respective abilities to fell the rest of the remaining guards, taking little time to clear out the rest of the room, and Shadow was about to take out the last one, but he switched his gun to lethal and grabbed the guard by his collar.

"You're the one, aren't you? You just shot my friend in the back?" Shadow grunted.

"He... he didn't have that armour up... the shield was down... so yeah... could have been me, could have been someone else..." The guard chuckled. "You going to kill me for it?"

"I'm very fucking tempted," said Shadow. "Was there a blonde girl here?"

"A human?" The guard nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what they did with her, though... I think she's up on the top floor..."

"Ah. I see." Shadow put the gun to the guard's head and pulled the hammer back, but he threw the guard to the ground and started to punch him repeatedly in the face.

"Shadow!" Sonic called, throwing himself at Shadow to pull him off of the guard. Shadow, however, counted with a quick teleport, going back to what he was doing really quickly. "Shadow, stop it!"

"What difference does it make?" Shadow snarled. "We've lost our fucking jobs anyway! These sons of bitches hurt one of my friends already, and now they hurt another!" He landed several more rough blows onto the guard. "I'm not taking this lying down again!"

Sonic put his arms around Shadow's neck, attempted to lock him in a choke-hold, but Shadow flipped it over and reversed it. Sonic shook his head, looking at the guard that Shadow was just beating on, and firing a stun shot at the guard to make him go unconscious before aiming it at Shadow, who scoffed at the blue hedgehog.

"You can't be serious," Shadow said.

"Shadow, if you compromise this mission any further, I will do what I have to to calm you down," Sonic said. "We're here to save Maria, that I understand. And I know that you've been fucked up ever since what happened-"

"Don't you dare say his name. Not while I'm listening."

Sonic nodded. "Oh, you're listening now? Then keep those ears open when I say this: We are going upstairs, we're going to stop Nack and whatever the hell he's got planned, and we're getting Maria out of here and back home. Is that understood?"

The black and red hedgehog remained silent, but gave a nod. "Yeah." He looked down to the ground after that, seeing a trail of blood. "Huh..."

Sonic looked down too. "That shot must have hit Knuckles harder than we thought..."

"I'm fine, by the way," Knuckles said with a weak wave.

Tails nodded. "The paste is healing the wound up. But that trail is interesting..." He turned to Knuckles. "Why did your suit go off, anyway?"

"I don't know," Knuckles said. "Might have been the stress of all of those bullets flying at me. Maybe the vibrations had an effect?"

"You can look into it when we get out of here," Shadow said. He looked over to the wall near them and saw some blood smeared on the wall. "Shit... I think that force-field made either Manuel or Lara get shot."

"They looked all right when they were leaving," said Sonic. "But we should get after them. We're going to bring them in, nothing else, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it the first time that you told me," said Shadow.

"Let's just move," Sonic said, giving a sharp glare to Shadow.

The two of them got back on the move, followed by Tails and Knuckles, the latter of whom rotated his shoulder a bit to get the feeling back into it. They all packed their boards up, their nano-suits staying on them again as they headed up the stairs to the third floor. They had their guns remaining ready, but they didn't see any guards posted at all, instead seeing a small door open on the right side.

Sonic sighed. "That's Nack's office." He took a look at the structuring of it. "Looks like he expanded a little bit. Or the others did it for him."

"We've got to be careful going in," said Tails. "Keep your guard up."

"Do you remember which door it is?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic looked over to the leftmost door, nodding. "I do. Come on."

As the blue hedgehog started to move, Shadow put a hand on his shoulder. "Look." He pointed to the blood trail on the ground going near the walls, and some was smeared on a door to the right. "There. Must be one of the new rooms that they added."

Sonic nodded, keeping his gun low and staying close to the side of the door, the other three following his lead. Sonic was tempted to breach through the door, but he saw that it was still partially open, so he pushed against it, flinching preemptively in case there was a creaking sound. There wasn't, thankfully, but he did listen to the voices talking inside of the room.

"Is she okay?" Beau asked.

Manuel shook his head. "I don't know. She took a bad hit. She lost a lot of blood, even with the pressure on it."

"Who did it?" asked Nack.

"Not one of theirs," said Manuel. "A bullet got deflected. It was an accidental hit. If it was from them, it would have just knocked her unconscious."

Sacha and Grigori turned to each other in conversation in their native Russian, sounding doubtful as they spoke and causing Nack to interrupt them. "What are you two talking about?" he asked them.

"We were discussing fitting her with an implant to prevent it," said Grigori. "But... well, we don't have any. And it takes a long time to rework them."

"Wait, so that shit was you two?" Beau asked. "You were the ones putting those implants into random people?"

Nack shook his head. "Hell of a time to get that revealed to us." He looked back to Lara. "Does anyone have any medical training?"

"Why not call an ambulance?" asked Gerren.

"Because we're wanted criminals in Westopolis," said Nack. "We'd have a better chance of arranging a funeral."

Gerren nodded, looking over to the door far off that was now wide open. "I think we got visitors."

Nack turned to where Gerren was looking, pulling a gun out from his back pocket and aiming it. "Show yourselves, freelancers!"

Sonic was the first to stand, keeping his gun focused, and Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow all followed as Sonic spoke. "Well, look at that! The gang's all here!"

Nack grunted. "Not quite all of us..." He turned to Martin, who nodded. The dirty cop went to a small side room bringing Maria out and kneeling her next to Nack, who turned his gun to Maria. "There... now we're all here."

"Look," said Sonic, "we're sorry about Lara... that was out of our control-"

"Are you certain?" asked Nack. "Because it sounds like you came up with that plan yourself. Manuel told me what was done. As far as I'm concerned, a bullet bounced off of one of your shields. It was redirected to hit Lara. Therefore, it's your fault."

"We didn't think that would happen!" said Shadow. "We... we can keep her alive. We'll take her out to the closest city to patch her up there."

"Who can do that?" asked Manuel. "We're criminals, and you're freelancers on the run out here to stop us. We're all fucked. We've got no way to help her..." He looked down at the tigress' eyes as they started to glaze over, and he felt a tear start to fall. "We're... we're losing her..."

Lara looked up at Manuel. "You... you're bleeding too, you know..." She rubbed his arm where he was wounded. "See? W-Worry... about yourself..."

Manuel sniffled, leaning down to kiss Lara gently. She weakly kissed back, smiling gently as the kiss broke before closing her eyes, her head tilting off to the side limply. Manuel held her arm up, his hand on her wrist and feeling her pulse wane for a few moments before it stopped completely.

"Nack..." Manuel said. "Do I have permission to leave with Lara's body and find a place to bury her?"

"You do," Nack said.

The bull picked up Lara's body, looking to the freelancers. "If you don't step aside... I'll run through all of you."

Sonic stepped to the side. "We'll get you another time..." He sighed. "And... I'm sorry..."

"Don't. It doesn't mean shit coming from a cop."

Manuel barged past them and left the room eventually leaving the prison, tears threatening his eyes. Back inside of the room, everyone still had their guns up, with Gerren and Martin looking to each other and giving a nod, changing their aim to Maria, who was still crying and shuddering on the ground.

"I... I don't know what to make of this..." Nack admitted after a long pause. "I just don't. If I pull this trigger... I'm no better than you. If I kill this woman, I'm just like you. And... and the ironic thing is, Sonic... I remember you saying that you'd never stoop to my level. And you've killed several of my men... and you killed one of my closest companions..."

"It was an accident," Sonic said. "But if you don't give us the girl back, there won't be any more mistakes. Everything will be intentional."

Nack nodded, looking to see Shadow tensed up. "Hmm... I suppose that it wouldn't matter if I told you what I knew. If I did, you can't do anything about it for... was it a year that the judges said?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Knuckles.

The purple weasel smiled. "My two guards? They're former Russian mafia members. They currently work for The Black Market. In fact, they're the ones who have been putting those street implants into people. I don't know why, as I just found this out myself. But they did tell me valuable information. Just imagine... imagine what that could mean for you if you were able to bring me back. Imagine what that would mean for your reputations, for your jobs. For your futures."

Knuckles gave some pause there, thinking about his future with Shade. "Why should we listen to you?" he asked.

"Because I know things. Things that I could tell your fellow officers of the law. I'll tell you everything. I'll tell them everything. You can take me in, and I'll talk. I'll say whatever needs to be said."

"What's the cost?" asked Shadow. "What's the price? What do you get out of this?"

"You let my other friends here keep Maria. She will be my personal accountant to keep track of my money and help me make more. Nothing more, nothing less."

Shadow looked over to Maria. "Is that what you want to do?"

Maria shook her head, sniffling. "N-No... I... I want to go home... w-with you..."

Shadow nodded. "I know." He looked over to Nack. "I've had a really, really bad week. We're not making a deal with you."

Nack nodded back. "I expected as much. But we can't just end things like this, now, can we?" He stood slowly. "Especially not after you killed my friend. And in Westopolis, there is a reaction that needs to be made. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Blood... for... blood."

He turned and fired quickly, putting a bullet right through Maria's chest. Shadow let out a loud yell, firing one at Nack and sailing it right through his head, causing the purple weasel's limp body to drop to the floor next to Maria's, blood pooling underneath both of them. Shadow cried out loudly, standing still and firing wildly, missing each shot as he felt his nano-suit start to chip away from everyone else's hits on him.

Knuckles quickly pulled Shadow into some cover as Sonic used his speed to duck under the bullets. He took some pot shots to send Nack's remaining lieutenants unconscious, making them fall to the ground quickly as well. Soon after, the red echidna lost his grip of Shadow, who crawled over to Maria, kneeling down. He lifted her body as best as he could, burying his face into the crook of her neck and not hearing a single pulse pass through it, causing his crying to get even louder.

Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic all felt tears on their own faces as well at the loss of their friend. Wiping off the tears and blinking through them, they did see that Nack's two guards had disappeared, but that wasn't the main thing on their minds right now. Shadow picked up Maria's body, and the four of them made it back out of the prison, surprised to see Rouge waiting for them outside near a black car.

"I heard from some agents nearby of what happened," said Rouge, seeing Maria. "Shadow... I'm sorry..."

"Just see to it that she gets a proper burial." Shadow let more tears fall out.

"We will," Rouge nodded. "What are you going to do now?"

Shadow didn't reply, instead getting into the car, holding Maria's body close to him. The others got in as well, and the car began the drive back to Green Hill. There was no conversation on the way there, and the car pulled up close to the now former freelancers' headquarters. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails left, but they looked to see Shadow still in the car.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked. "Are you going to come with us?"

Shadow shook his head. "No. I... I don't think that I can." He looked down at Maria again. "I want to... be on my own... for a little bit..."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. We'll... we'll tell the others you went home." He petted Shadow's shoulder gently before leaving the car, watching it depart from them.

Back inside of the headquarters, their friends and families waited. They explained Shadow being back home first, then when asked why, they told them of Maria's demise. Several of them began crying and weeping, inviting Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to do the same once again.

Time would pass by and Sonic would contact Avery about what happened, confirming Nack's death but not saying who did it, instead sharing the blame amongst all of them and causing them all to get punished. Said information was shared with the others still there, and the judges passed the ruling of the freelancers having a year and a half. Exhausted, Sonic turned off the TV, laying back and sighing.

"Babe?" Amy asked him. "Do you think that we should check on Shadow? Let him know?"

"I don't think that now's the best time," Sonic said. "Let's just let him be alone. We'll... we'll tell him when the time's right."

With Shadow, he was dropped off at his house, leaving the car and looking up at where he lived. He felt the presence of Rouge next to him, and he looked back over to her to try and speak, but he was having trouble formulating words that didn't lead to more crying or sadness, so he stayed silent.

"You know," Rouge said, "this isn't the right time, and I don't expect an answer right away. But... if you want a chance to join Anti-Light... if you want a chance to keep fighting... just let me know. Don't tell me just yet. You need time to-"

"Yes." Shadow cut her off. "I'll... I'll join."

"Everything that you do will be under the radar. You'll be doing work like what you used to, but with not as many restrictions. You will still operate your own way." Rouge turned to him and took his hand in hers. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

Shadow nodded. "I do. I just... I... I want some time alone first. I don't know how much."

"Just make sure that it's not too much," said Rouge. "I'll get Avery to set up a funeral for Maria."

"Thank you," Shadow said. "For... for a lot."

Rouge leaned to kiss his cheek. "It's why I'm here for you. I'll check up on you, okay?"

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."

The white bat gave another nod, leaning to kiss his lips softly before going back into the car and driving off. Shadow wiped his eyes some more and unlocked his door, walking in. He felt the sudden emptiness of the lack of Maria's presence at the house more than usual now, and he stumbled to the bedroom, falling onto the mattress. He looked to his side to see a framed picture of Maria and him smiling, one of the few times he'd done so, and he brought the picture closer to himself. He rubbed it over with his thumb before placing it back on the nightstand, getting under the covers, and falling into sleep.

---

And... there it is. The last chapter of the story. There will be an epilogue to follow this because there will be a third story in the series called Zero Hour. After that epilogue, I'll be cross-posting my stuff from here to AO3. I'll see you soon for the epilogue. I hope that you all enjoyed this one. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.