CHAPTER 5

SAVING SHADOW

Shadow charged towards Lance with a punch and Lance began to shoot at Shadow with his handgun. Shadow ran passed his bullets until Lance was out of ammo. Shadow jumped in the air and jumped back down at Lance and kicked him in the face.

Lance fell to the ground with blood coming from his mouth.

Shadow took out a pocket knife and ran towards him and stabbed him in his left arm.

Lance yelled in pain as the knife dug deeper in his flesh. Blood rapidly came out of his arm and dripped on the ground. He held his bleeding arm in pain, "So you wanna play like that huh?" Lance took out a pocket knife as well and tackled Shadow to the ground and stabbed him in his chest. He also stabbed him in his left arm and in many other places on his body.

Shadow kicked Lance off him and he fell on the ground, but quickly got back up.

Lance was fairly close to the edge of the roof.

Shadow then got off the ground and kicked him in his stomach causing him to fall from the roof.

Lance fell from the building and landed on a car. He was for sure dead.

Espio's eyes widened, "That was so cool."

Appex gritted his teeth, "He killed Lance..."

"Lance", Zena said in sorrow.

Espio turned to the group, "Beat it or Shadow will kick all your ass's."

Maxcell and Zena looked over to Appex walking away and they started to follow him.

Espio looked over to Shadow staring at his body covered in blood, "Shadow, are you okay?"

Shadow looked up at Espio slowly, "Espio, I'm..." He then fell to the ground unconscious exhausted from the fight.

Espio ran over to him and shook him to wake him up, "Shadow! Shadow, please wake up!" No matter how many times he shouted his name, he didn't wake up. "What am I gonna do? Wait, Tonya could probably help me." He then heard police cars surrounding the building. He looked down the building and saw a swarm of cops about to come up to the rooftop. Espio had his attention on Shadow's unconscious body again, "I gotta get him out of here." He picked Shadow up and carried him in his arms. He then got off the rooftop and headed towards the Chaotix without the police spotting him.

Later at the Chaotix, Tonya was sitting at her desk filing her nails while Vector and Charmy went out. "Stupid boys", she muttered. "How dare they tell me to stay behind! If they cared about this place so much why couldn't they just lock the doors for once. Those two are funny and everything, but sometimes they just get on my nerves and piss me off." She then saw a purple chameleon panting heavily coming through the door with a bloody black hedgehog in his arms.

"Tonya, you-you have to help him!" He said out of breath.

Tonya walked over to him and examined the hedgehog. She looked up at Espio and glared, "Are you crazy? He's a Street Punk isn't he?"

"It doesn't matter what he is! He's been in a fight and he's hurt badly! Please Tonya, you have to help him! He's my friend and I care about him!"

Tonya stared at the hedgehog's bloody face then looked up at Espio. She sighed, "All right."

Espio smiled, "Thanks, Ton."

Later Shadow woke up in a white sheeted bed in a small room seeing Espio and a purple cat staring at him. He noticed bandages around his body as well.

Espio smiled at him, "You're okay!"

"You saved me. Thanks Espio, you're a true friend", he said as he slowly got out of the bed he was in.

Tonya took out a handgun from her pocket and pointed it at Shadow, "Get back, Street Punk!"

Espio stood in front of Shadow, "No! If you kill him, you'll have to kill me first!"

Tonya's finger was still on the trigger, "I don't trust Street Punks, they turn and betray others."

"Not Shadow, he's not a Street Punk anymore. He even killed his leader."

Tonya then dropped her gun to the floor, "Wait a minute, did you say his name was Shadow?"

Espio nodded slightly.

"No way! Everyone's been looking for you ever since."

"I know", Shadow said with sadness.

Tonya was deeply confused at the time, "Why are you dressed like a Street Punk?"

"The Street Punks brainwashed me and forced me to join them."

She scratched her head, still a little confused, "Uh okay. I guess I'll have to go along with that."

"Tonya, where are you?" Vector shouted from the other side of the door.

Tonya began to panic, "Oh no, it's Vector!" She opened the small window in the room. "Hurry, you can escape by using the window."

Shadow jumped out the window while Espio was still with Tonya.

"Maybe we could go out sometime. What do you say?"

Tonya somehow seemed annoyed by Espio. She slapped him hard in the face and pushed him out the window.

Espio landed on the ground by falling on his head. Shadow helped him up while he was rubbing his head, "Can't blame a guy for trying."

Shadow grabbed him by his wrist, "Come on."

When Espio and Shadow got back to Espio's apartment, Espio decided to change the way Shadow looked. Espio was digging through his closet to find an outfit for Shadow.

"I don't understand why I have to change my clothes."

"If you keep that ragged brown cloak on then people will think you're still a Street Punk."

"I guess you're right."

Espio threw a black coat and a brown belt at Shadow, "Put those on."

After when Shadow put the clothes on he looked like a middle classer other than a Street Punk.

Espio placed his hands on his hips, "Damn, at least one of us can pull that look off."

"What's next for me now? I got my revenge now what do I do."

Espio had just thought of a great idea, "Hey maybe we can get jobs."

Shadow didn't like the word job for some reason, "Jobs?"

"Yeah, I need to pay my rent and you could find yourself a nice house instead of staying with me for the rest of your life."

"That's a good idea, but where are we gonna work at?"

"The Chaotix of course, it'll be great. I'll probably pass the test this time for sure."

Shadow rose an eyebrow, "This time?"

"Uh yeah, I don't do very well on tests."

Shadow made a slight smile, "I believe in you. We better get to the Chaotix if we want those positions."

Espio nodded, "Let's go."