AN: Happy Veterans Day, everyone! I'm back with another chapter. I want to thank my reviewers Rebecca, aliciathewolf45, Captain, Grey-Chan Fallen, CrimsonLove16, and Tessa the hedgehog. I appreciate the reviews left as it definitely motivates me to keep going. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's a good one...
•~•
Late into the night, the boys returned home covered in filth after the castration and burial of Ivo Robotnik. Gadget carried the dirty shovel back around the side of the house. "Let me put this away before I take a shower."
Manic followed him around the side with his own shovel in hand. "Good idea, bro."
In the meantime, Knuckles and Locke headed straight upstairs to get cleaned up, while Mephiles and Shadow remained on the front porch.
"You mind explaining what the hell all that was about back there?" Shadow inquired. "I'm pretty sure Sam gave us different orders."
"You're right, brother he did. However, I need to capitalize on whatever I can to give us benefits to our cause. That's why I did what I had to back there. Besides, the human deserved it," he justified.
"How exactly is cutting off the guy's dick going to help us out anyway? It's not like Sam paid us for this mission anyway?" he countered.
Mephiles nodded. "Correct," he replied before reaching into his leather jacket. He pulled out a clear baggie with the now bloodied blade inside it. "However, it'd be a shame if Sam didn't help out with supplying us with a new storage facility. You never know where murder weapons may show up after all…"
Shadow stared at the evidence before him in awe. "…You plan to blackmail him?" he surmised.
Mephiles grinned triumphantly. "That's right. He already broke the law by trying to involve us in his evil doings, now this blade only has his fingerprints on it. He'll be blamed directly for the murder that I committed."
Shadow scoffed and turned on his heel heading back indoors. "You're sick, you know that, right?"
Mephiles crossed his arms over his chest. "When did you become holier than thou? Last time I checked; you've made quite a few sins yourself."
"Yeah, to other terrible people who have committed their own sins. I've never fucked around with someone who was an innocent or bystander," he replied passively before departing. "Sam doesn't deserve this…"
Mephiles merely shook his head at his brother's exit.
•~•
Later that night, after most people had gone to bed, Amy walked out behind the house while everyone was asleep. After calling for the third time that day, Amy paced anxiously back and forth behind the house. With the phone still up to her ear, she waited as the ringtone droned on and on for what seemed like forever. "Come on, come on, pick up!" she urged quietly. Amy had been trying to get in contact with Cosmo multiple times earlier that day after her mysterious caller earlier. However, her efforts had stalled when Cosmo had yet to get back in contact with her.
Amy was starting to grow more and more concerned with her friend's wellbeing the longer she remained silent. After all, she knew how potentially dangerous and cunning this individual could be. She could only fathom if Cosmo was seriously injured or even worse—dead. Eventually, she came out of her paranoid thoughts as the voicemail came on for the fourth time. "The voicemail box for this recipient is full Please call back and try again."
Hearing the infamous voicemail tagline, Amy sighed and hung up. "Chaos, I've wanted you to get in touch with me all day. I have so much to tell you about…" she whispered to herself. With her cellphone and a hammer, she had smuggled out of the shop during the day, she knelt down in the dirt and placed her cell phone on the ground, and began whacking at it violently with the hammer. The phone's screen cracked and eventually broke into pieces after several strikes. Out of breath, Amy stood upright and picked up the discarded bits of the broken phone and dumped them into a plastic bag. She walked over to a nearby garbage can parked out back behind the mechanic shop and dumped the remains. Making sure no one had witnessed her destroying her phone, she quickly rushed inside as quietly as possible.
However, unbeknownst to her, Shadow had seen the whole thing go down. He kept his back pressed up against the side of the house with a lit cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth. Just what the hell was this girl hiding from their group anyway? Shadow took another long drag before exhaling a puff of smoke out of the corner of his mouth. He'd be sure to find out sooner or later, after all, he didn't trust her at all.
•~•
In town, Silver sat in his office rubbing the bit of skin between his eyes in frustration. This case was becoming increasingly difficult no thanks to the Brothers of Chaos. Silver had spent most of the night trying to search for the perpetrator Ivo Robotnik but had found no leads to his whereabouts. He heard a knock on his door and glanced up only to see Vector cracking open his door. "You have a visitor, sheriff," he announced.
He raised his head briefly, feeling exhaustion creep in. "Who is it?"
He opened the door wider. "An ATF agent," he replied.
In walked Agent Zonic dressed in his agent uniform which consisted of a red spandex full-body suit, gold shoulder pads, and knee-high green boots with gold shin pads. He wore thick black forearm gloves on both his arms and a gold belt around his waist. He took off his green and red helmet with a clear visor and braced it against his right hip. With his free hand, he whipped out his I.D badge and displayed it to Silver. "Good morning, I'm Agent Zonic, A.T.F for Tech City district 0001. You must be the deputy, Silver."
Vector eyed their new visitor suspiciously before closing the door behind him, leaving both Silver and the agent in privacy. Silver rose from his seat and nodded slowly as he took in the officer's presence. "Uh, that's right, but what brings you here? You're so far out of your district..."
Zonic tucked away his I.D in his pocket and offered out an outstretched arm for a handshake. "I'm here to investigate an outlaw M.C for possible illegal firearm distribution—they go by the name Brothers of Chaos. Are you familiar with them?"
Silver's eyes beamed at the recognition of the male's purpose. Perhaps he'd be able to help take down the club once and for all. Silver obliged by shaking his hand back in respect. "Oh, I'm quite familiar with them," he smiled victoriously. "Welcome to Mercia."
•~•
Later that morning, there was a loud knock at the front door. Rouge hustled towards it holding her morning robe clenched tightly to keep her revealing nighty from being exposed. When she opened the door, Silver stood on the other end.
"Oh, officer," Rouge gasped. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon."
Silver took off his shades and eyed the bat skeptically. "Mind if I come in?"
Rouge looked apprehensive at first but eventually moved the door, allowing the officer inside. "Please, come in. Everyone's just waking up now."
As Silver strolled inside the large house, he made sure to take mental note of his surroundings. He spotted Mephiles walking out with a newspaper and coffee mug in hand and grimaced at his sight. "Oh, deputy, what brings you back so soon?" he questioned in feigned ignorance.
Silver crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed. "Don't play dumb. I know you were at the carnival looking for our perp last night."
Mephiles put on his best acting and shot the grey hedgehog a look of befuddlement. "I have no idea what you're talking about, officer. We spent the night working on vehicles."
"Bull shit," Silver snapped. "My guys woke up with some sort of wicked hangover and swear they didn't take anything. You were all gone when they came around and I know you were up to this!" he pointed accusingly.
From all the ruckus, more of Mephiles' crew began to emerge from different parts of the house.
"We're not lying," Shadow seconded. "What proof do you have that we were there anyway?" Silver opened his mouth partly but struggled to reply. Technically, Shadow was right, he didn't have any evidence to point that they were culprits in evading the police's search for a criminal, but he had a hunch they were up to something.
Shadow cocked his head to the side and smirked triumphantly seeing him come up short with an answer. "You have no evidence to prove we were ever there because we weren't."
Seeing he was winning a losing battle, Silver backed up slowly, eying the motorcyclists down. "I swear, one of these days, I'm going to finally put you all where you deserve to be…behind bars. I've got a hunch it's going to be soon."
Mephiles smirked at his threat and watched as Silver retreat from their home. Once outside, Silver was surprised once again to run into Amy Rose running back up from the steps after a morning run. "Oh, Ms. Rose, nice to see you again," he smiled pleasantly.
Amy pulled out her earbuds after finishing a playlist from her morning run. "Good morning. I didn't expect to see you back, so soon," she smiled.
He shoved his hands into his pockets as they remained on the front porch. "Well, I'm still investigating the carnival case, and I'm pretty sure your new friends are involved somehow…"
Amy blinked a few times. "I-I don't know much about what's even going on, sir. I'm sorry I cannot be of any more help," she shrugged innocently.
Unbeknownst to them, Shadow stood nearby one of the windows inside the house by the front porch and tried to listen to their conversation. He still didn't trust their new doctor, and now she was having a rather prolonged conversation with the police officer. He couldn't decide if she'd accidentally blab to them.
Back outside, Amy reached for her left arm uncomfortably. Silver reached for his car keys in his pocket and started to head off. "I'm sure I'll see you around, goodbye, Ms. Rose."
"Wait," Amy called out, after having a thought. Silver spun around to look at her as she followed after him down the stairs.
"What is it?"
She swallowed as she kept her voice hushed. "Um, if I were to have a restraining order against someone in another city, would it still be valid if I went somewhere else?" she asked nervously.
Inside, Shadow strained to hear what the two were discussing. Whatever it was, Amy was sure to keep it discreet by keeping her voice lowered.
Outside, Silver raised a brow by her out of field question. He hadn't expected her to ask such a question at that moment. "Well, that all depends…every city is a little different. Why? Do you believe that someone may be coming here?"
She shook her head adamantly, trying not to worry or concern him. "No, no, I doubt it." She paused momentarily in thought. "But there was this guy I dated while I was in nursing school back in Tech City, and things got, well, weird—it's, uh, kind of hard to explain..."
Silver nodded comprehending her situation. "I see…well, do you want me to run his name through the system and see if—"
"—No, that's alright," she waved off. "I'm probably just being paranoid," she smiled sheepishly.
Silver crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing her carefully. "How long ago did you get the R.O?"
She tucked her arms behind her back. "About six or seven months ago."
He pulled out a pen and pad of paper to write a reminder and jotted it down. "Right, I'll make some calls and see how that plays out here."
"Thank you, officer," she replied politely. Amy watched as Silver walked over and loaded himself into his car and drove off. She waited until his car was out of sight and off the campus before heaving a sigh of relief. She turned on her heel to re-enter the house but bumped into someone directly behind her. She glanced up to see who she had run into and came face to face with Shadow himself. "Oh, sorry, I didn't-"
Shadow grabbed her arm and led her around the side of the house. Begrudgingly and quite confused by his gesture, Amy was tugged against her will in his direction. "Hey, wait a second, where are you taking me?" she prevailed.
Shadow backed her up against the side of the house as he towered in front of her, glaring down accusingly. He released his hold and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just who the hell are you?"
Amy glared up at him and seemed baffled by his sudden hard questioning. "Excuse me?" she squawked. "What are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb, princess, I know you're hiding something from us!" he pointed venomously.
Amy swatted away his pointed finger out of her face and furrowed her brows up at him. "I don't know what you're on talking about. What the hell is your problem with me, anyway?" she screamed back.
"My problem?" he rebutted in insult. "My problem is that I see you doing shady shit all the time around here. First, it was last night with destroying your phone, and now you're having little side convos with that new officer. You're working with him, aren't you?" he accused.
He had seen her destroying her phone? Well, damn. And now he thought she was some sort of plant for the police which was the least of the truth. "You're insanely paranoid, you know that right?" she cracked with a smile at his crazed theories. Although he did have a right to be paranoid about her destroying her cellphone, she was, after all, hiding some things from them.
He growled at her amused smile. "I've always been right with my instincts. Spill it."
Amy moved around him and began walking away. "I don't have to reveal any information I feel you're not privy to," she shot back confidently.
Hey, what's going on out here?" a voice called. The two looked and spotted Mighty, Rouge, and Knuckles emerge from around the side of the house. The group had come out to investigate after hearing all the commotion from the two's loud arguing.
Amy headed back indoors and passed the confused three. "He's just being a complete asshole like usual," she spat.
Shadow's eyes followed her retreating figure hearing her quip. "What'd you just say?"
Amy didn't bother to look back as she re-entered the house with a huff.
Rouge shot the V.P a scowl. "Shadow, what have we talked about? Leave the girl alone!" the bat stressed.
"For real, man. Amy's super sweet. You have nothing to worry about with her," Mighty assured.
Shadow growled in frustration. "You all make me sound psychotic. I KNOW she's hiding something."
Knuckles looked between his girlfriend and the armadillo, lost on this feud. Had Shadow already been warned about this before? "Babe, what's going on?"
Before Rouge could answer, a grey van crashed through the open gate into the compound. The whole group froze as they reacted to the strange car. It screeched to a halt right in front of them before the side door slid open. Two armed males wearing red bandanas to cover their muzzles, black hoodies, camo pants, and sunglasses whipped out automatic rifles and began to shoot rounds at them.
"Crap, scatter!" Mighty shouted as everyone diverted into different directions.
Everything happened so fast that people reacted differently. Knuckles quickly grabbed Rouge and ushered her to the nearest cover he could find to protect her from the flying bullets. Luckily, he was able to get them behind one of the trucks parked along the side of the house. The couple remained there as bullets blasted the side of the car. Rouge hid her face against Knuckle's chest as he shielded her with his broad arms, keeping her held close.
Mighty dodged oncoming bullets and hid under the opening side of the porch and laid flat on his stomach as bullets hit the dirt in front of his face. His eyes widened as they took shots at their parked bikes and managed to hit one of the gas tanks, causing it to explode. It was like a chain reaction, setting off explosions of the other parked bikes beside them. "Nooo!"
Shadow in the meantime, booked it around the side of the house, looking for cover. Bullets whizzed past the members, hitting the trees and grazing the sides of them.
After hearing the attack on their compound, Mephiles, Gadget, Locke, and Manic came out fully armed and ready for battle. Amy had already dropped down underneath a window after hearing the attack from outside.
She removed her hands from covering the top of her head. "What's going on?" she screamed.
Manic shot her a quick glance as he undid the safety mechanism on his gun. "Not sure, but stay indoors and stay put," he said before running out with the others fully armed.
Both Manic and Mephiles had their own semi-automatic rifles, and a few more to spare strapped to their backs. Locke had just an average shot gun and carefully scoped out the area as he headed down the steps behind the two. Mephiles walked down the stairs of the front porch confidently and aimed directly at the car and shot at it. Manic took his own aim, ducking behind the railing a few times but managed to take out one of the shooters in the van with a headshot. Locke ducked down himself, avoiding a bullet whizzing over his head. Seeing they were losing a battle, the assailants rounded up everyone. They slammed the car door shut and sped off out of the compound leaving a dirt cloud from their spinning wheels in their tracks.
Mephiles looked over to Gadget once the coast was clear. "Rookie, go put out the fires by our bikes before it causes further damage. Manic, Locke, and I will deal with the others."
Gadget nodded. "Yes sir!" He rushed off to grab a hose to put out the flames.
Once it was safe, Knuckles, Rouge, and Mighty exited from their hiding positions. They all ran back to the front of the house to assess the damage. "Are they gone?" Rouge questioned nervously.
Knuckles held her close. "Yeah…"
"Who the hell was that back there?" Mighty panted.
"If I had to guess, probably the Suppression Squad," Knuckles surmised. "We did steal our shit back and killed a couple of their guys only a day ago. They're probably just retaliating."
"We'll deal with them later," Mephiles mumbled before noticing a missing member. "Where's Shadow?" Mephiles questioned.
Rouge and Knuckles wandered over to where they last saw him. "Shadow!" Knuckles called out. While they walked around, Rouge spotted a pair of legs lying flat on the dirt ground. Feeling her heart sink, Rouge rushed over and came around the side of the house where she found him on his back clutching his abdomen. There was already a large amount of blood covering his lower half and his eyelids were lowered and weak. "Crap…" She looked around frantically for assistance. "Help, help! He's been shot!"
The other boys came rushing over, seeing Shadow's gruesome state. "Brother!" Mephiles screamed.
"Help me get him inside, Amy can treat him," Rouge urged.
Knuckles, Mighty, and Manic helped lift Shadow's limp body and carried him inside. Amy gasped as she watched the boys carry in Shadow's injured body. He was bleeding pretty severely, so she knew she needed to be diligent with time.
Shadow was placed inside Amy's office on top of the examination table. "Ms. Rose, what do you need?" Mephiles urged frantically. "If you need any sort of assistance we're here to help. Just don't let my brother die."
"I promise I won't," she pledged. "In the meantime, Mephiles apply pressure on the wound with this towel. Keep it held down while I get everything else ready in the meantime."
Mephiles followed her instructions and used the towel to apply pressure to his brother's wound. Shadow winced slightly but remained for the most part out of it. "Hold on, Shadow…"
Amy looked to the rest of the room as they waited anxiously for her next directive. "Alright, Mighty look in the cabinets above the sink. I'll need painkillers, coagulants, clean towels, sheets, and alcohol."
Mighty nodded as he absorbed her long list. "I'm on it," he saluted before racing off to get the supplies.
Amy looked to the red echidna. "Knuckles, go over to that cabinet and look for my surgery kit. It should be on the bottom shelf. I'll need some gloves and a mask while you're at it," she ordered.
"Got it!" The large echidna ushered over to help her prepare.
Amy looked over to Rouge next. "I'm going to need two I.V bags and an intravenous pole. They're in the spare closet."
"Two," she repeated in confusion. "What for?"
"One for Shadow and the other for a donor."
"Oh, they're over here!" Rouge scurried off into the spare closet where they had a pole at the ready. She handed Amy the two I.V bags quickly.
Amy accepted the items and looked over to Mephiles who was still helping keep the pressure on the wound. "Do you have the same blood type as your brother?"
He nodded. "Yes…"
"Good," she smiled in relief. "Manic, I'm going to need you to take over for Mephiles while I draw his blood."
"Righto." Manic walked over and placed his hands over Mephiles', applying the same type of pressure he had previously been applying. Mephiles slipped his hands out from underneath and stood staring at his brother's body. Shadow was starting to lose a lot of color in his skin.
She walked towards him and grabbed his arm. The dark hedgehog was still in shock and she walked him over to the spare seat in the corner of the room. Sitting him down, she reached into a drawer for her kit. Mephiles stared at his brother's unconscious body draped across the table. He was so out of it that he hadn't realized that Amy had just finished setting up the I.V into his left arm. "Good, then I'm going to get you set up so we can start the transfusion process. He's already lost a lot of blood and is still losing more."
"Do you need anything else from us, Amy?" Rouge inquired as the rest of them stood by the door."
Amy quickly washed her hands and slipped on her gloves, and mask. "No, I should be able to take it from here. I'm just going to need one person to assist me, but it won't be anything too drastic," she informed.
Mighty raised his hand. "I'll help out, doc."
"Thank you for volunteering. Go wash your hands, put on some gloves, and take over for Manic."
The rest of the group headed out leaving, Mephiles, Mighty, Shadow, and Amy inside.
•~•
Back at the police station, Silver returned to his office only to see Agent Zonic set up in a neighboring office they allowed him to work in for his temporary stay. The blue hedgehog typed away at his computer syncing any data Mercia's station had on the infamous M.C club. The agent looked up from his typing as the silver hedgehog entered the room. "You're back. How'd it go?"
"Terrible, they're acting completely innocent—like always," he sighed. "I'm just waiting for the right moment to be able to finally tag them with something."
"So, what's the deal with this group anyway? Why are they able to get away with so much?" Zonic pressed curiously.
"This M.C has been here for years now. Some of them had gotten their dues but most of them manage to slip through the cracks of justice and get off with a hand swat."
He leaned back in his chair casually. "When you went to speak with them this morning, I took it upon myself to ask some of the locals about the biker gang. Most folks went quiet when I questioned their thoughts on them."
Silver nodded. "Yeah, Mephiles, their president, has done a pretty good job at convincing people their method of outlaw justice keeps the bigger and scarier boogeymen away…" he explained shaking his head.
"I see," Zonic replied stroking underneath his chin. "They must be right though, because the crime rate around town is rather low, so they must be doing something right."
Silver walked over and shut the office door closed from prying eavesdroppers. "Look, they're not doing this all on their own to escape the wrath of justice. They get a lot of help from superiors in higher places. Honestly, I believe they're getting help from people even in this very building."
Zonic sighed. "Well, that's about to come to an end. With my help and your assistance, we should be able to put away these cons once and for all."
Unbeknownst to them, Vector had been eavesdropping right outside the door the whole time. He quickly hustled away and whipped out his cellphone, knowing he'd have to make a quick call.
•~•
Back at the house, Amy and Mighty were working on tending to Shadow's wounds. Amy was in the process of removing the bullet shards left in his lower abdomen. Unfortunately, without anesthesia, Shadow was feeling immense pain from her digging around for the shards. He screamed in agony and thrashed about to his best ability even as Mighty did his best to hold him down.
"Keep him still!" Amy shouted as she grabbed another shard of the bullet.
"I'm trying, Ames!" he shouted, continuing to hold down Shadow.
"GAAHHH!" Shadow bellowed.
Mephiles, on the other hand, sat off to the side and had seen enough. Watching his brother suffer in pain was hard to watch. "Stop it, you're killing him!" he screamed.
Both Amy and Mighty froze as they stared at the irate older brother. "Meph, calm down. She's trying to save him!" Mighty shot back.
Suddenly Shadow's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out. Mephiles blinked in befuddlement at his brother's limp body. "Is he, is he…dead?"
Amy placed the bloody shard she was fishing for into a metal dish with the other two she had managed to snag. She lowered her tool and felt his wrist for a pulse. "No, he just passed out. The pain drained him, but at least now it'll be easier for me to get the remainders out."
Mighty loosened his grip on Shadow's shoulders and sighed in relief. "Three down, two more to go."
The door cracked open and Knuckles stuck his head inside. "Sorry to interrupt but we got Detective Vec on the line. He needs to talk to you," he gestured towards the dark hedgehog.
Mephiles looked astounded by the interruption. "Are you fucking kidding me? My brother is severely injured, he could die."
"It's okay, Mephiles," Amy interrupted. I've got him stabilized, for now, he's in good hands," she assured.
Knuckles looked back over to his president. "He says this is pretty urgent too."
•~•
After hearing the news that an A.T.F agent was in Mercia, Mephiles called a quick meeting of their remaining members. "We've done everything we can to stay out of the A.T.F's sight, we don't necessarily know they're here for us," Mephiles began. "But it's come to my attention that they are in town and they are in the process of an investigation."
"I think it has to be about us," Manic rebutted. "Think about it, man—we crushed any hope of Silver solving that rapist case. He probably called in the feds to get to us."
"Well, according to Vector, he wasn't able to hear all the specifics, but we're definitely on this list of subjects," Knuckles chimed in.
"We still haven't found a safe house to store all our weapons. If he rolls around our place, we're looking at life in prison," Mephiles growled in irritation.
"When do you plan to use that blackmail against Sam? It could come in rather useful right now..." Manic reminded.
"True," Mephiles nodded stroking his chin in thought. "However, the construction of our new warehouse will take too long. We need to find a quick fix ASAP."
"I have a prospect," Locke suggested. "What if we call Finitevus for help? He owes us after we helped him take down the Suppression five months ago. We could ask him to stock our supply just long enough for the feds to leave our trail," he suggested.
"I like it," Mephiles concurred. "Alright, Locke, call him up and pitch our case if he says yes then I'll send you and Manic to deliver the goods to him. I'm not leaving this house until I know my brother is out of the woods."
"I'll get started right now." With that said, the meeting was dismissed.
"Um, excuse me," a voice interrupted. Everyone turned only to spot Amy standing in the entrance to the dining room where they were holding their meeting. She was covered in Shadow's dried blood, and still had on her gloves and a surgical mask. "I've managed to extract all bullet fragments and stabilize Shadow. He's out right now but he's still not out of the woods yet. I'm going to need a few more crucial supplies to make sure he remains stabilized and heals properly."
Mephiles rose from his seat and kept his eyes locked on her. "What do you need?"
"I'm going to need an oxygen tank, a mask, some more bandages to help keep his wound fresh, and some antibiotics." Mighty appeared by her side holding out a piece of paper. "I had Mighty write everything down in case you forget," she answered.
"We'll get all the necessary supplies immediately." His eyes shifted over to Gadget and Manic. "You two, head out to our old friend at the hospital and snag the items."
Gadget walked over and accepted the piece of paper from the armadillo. "We'll be back as soon as we can, sir," he pledged with a salute.
•~•
Several hours later, Shadow's eyes fluttered open. His tired ruby orbs scanned his surroundings as he tried to determine his location. His vision was a bit fuzzy at first, but after a few moments of blinking, it began to clear up. He groaned, feeling his throat as dry as the desert. He tried to move but seethed in agonizing pain and realized it was better not to move. He reached up to touch his face and noticed he had oxygen tubes going into his nostrils to supply him with more oxygen. Shadow lifted his hand and saw an I.V drip, taped on top of his hand.
Shadow heard someone enter the room and eventually a familiar pink face hovered over him. "Well, good morning, sleeping beauty," Amy smiled sarcastically down at him.
Shadow frowned at her sight and scoffed. "What happened?" he asked weakly.
She raised a brow, slightly alarmed. "You don't remember getting shot?"
Shadow thought about it for a moment before it all came back to him. "Shit, that's right…and you saved me?" he asked in surprise.
"Of course, it's why I was hired to work here after all," she smiled arrogantly while crossing her arms over her chest.
He rubbed at his eyes. "How long was I out for?"
"About six hours," she replied. "I've been keeping watch just in case anything happened, but as of now, I'd say you were very lucky."
Shadow looked away briefly as he absorbed her words. "…Thank you," he mumbled.
Amy was shocked to hear the words come out of his mouth. She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
He groaned and rolled his eyes knowing he'd have to repeat himself. It was already hard enough to say the first time. "I said thank you, alright?" he repeated bitterly.
Even Amy could tell it was difficult for him to say, so she accepted the effort. "You're welcome," she replied softly. She sat in a seat she had set up next to his bed. "So, why did those guys attack us?"
"Didn't that contract Rouge made you sign when you came on say no questions asked?" he reminded passively. "You know damn well you're living with a bunch of sketchy guys who do sketchy business—like I said, you don't belong here," he emphasized.
Amy narrowed her brows at him. "I'm well aware of what I signed up for. How come it's okay for you to get pissed off with me for keeping my secrets?" she countered.
"Because I happen to know and trust everybody else in this club, except you," he pointed. "You could be an enemy in disguise for all I know. You won't earn my trust so easily, princess."
"Enough with the degrading 'princess,' nickname," Amy rebutted. "It's extremely immature. You could be a little nicer to me, you know. I did just save your life," she reminded.
"I don't have to do shit," he scoffed.
Amy opened her mouth to interject, but a knock at the door drew their attention away. Before they knew it, Mephiles cracked open the door to Shadow's room. "Mind if I have a word with my brother for a moment?"
She huffed and rose from her seat. "Of course not, I'd rather not spend any more time than needed in here," she replied passively. "…I'll be in my room if you need me." Mephiles and Shadow watched as she left.
Once the door was closed, Mephiles took residence in the seat beside his brother's bed. "What's happening then?" Shadow inquired. "Who attacked us?"
"We don't know for certain yet," he started. "We're under the assumption that it was the Suppression, but we'll deal with them later. Right now, we have a more pressing matter on our hands."
Shadow seemed confused. What could possibly be more important than that? "What is it?"
"Vector informed us that an A.T.F agent is in town and is possibly in the process of investigating us."
Shadow plopped his head back onto his pillow. "Shiiit," he moaned.
"I know," Mephiles concurred. "If they were to get a warrant for our compound, we're looking at life in prison with all the illegal arms we're sitting on unless we find a good hiding spot. Thankfully, we have a plan, but things are going to be moving fast around here."
He sat up slightly, wincing as he did. "What do you have in mind?"
"Locke called up Finitevus to see if his charter could hold our stash for the next couple of months until this shit blows over. He agreed to hold our supply, but you know it's a couple of hours drive from here. Knuckles, Manic, and I are going to leave tonight. I'm going to leave Mighty, Locke, and Gadget here to keep watch over you and the girls in case another attack was to occur."
"But if you go, you're going to have to drive through Suppression territory…You could be ambushed."
"We know the risks, but I'll take it over being thrown in prison for life. We have far worse enemies locked away behind bars itching to get retaliation against us," he reminded gravely. "I'd rather stay out of prison."
Shadow stared sternly at him, knowing his argument was valid. "Fine but be careful out there."
Mephiles rose from his seat and started to head for his door. "I plan to come back alive as always. Now, as for you, try not to give Ms. Rose a hard time. She did save your life after all…"
"I didn't ask for her help," he huffed. "I'd rather have been taken to a hospital than have her touch me."
Mephiles opened his bedroom door and scoffed in humor. "Of course, so then we'd have to report the gunshot wound and have the authorities sniffing around here even further," he replied dryly. Before Shadow could get another quip in, Mephiles shut the bedroom door behind him.
Coming back out of her room, Mephiles spotted Amy Rose heading back towards Shadow's room. "Oh, Ms. Rose," he called.
She glanced up at him as they stopped in the middle of the hall. "Yes?"
He reached out and took her hands in his, cupping them gently taking her aback by his sudden gesture. He kept his reptilian eyes locked on her confused jade ones. "I can't thank you enough for saving my younger brother back there."
She smiled sheepishly and her ears folded back slightly. "Heh, it's what you hired me for, right?"
His other hand remained on top of hers, and softly patted the top of her hand as he sensually stroked her other hand with his thumb. His eyelids lowered seductively. "We're already paying you to do your job, but if there is any other type of way, I can show you my gratitude, I would have the utmost pleasure in showing you…"
Amy gulped nervously, feeling something rather uncomfortable with his alluding words. She recoiled her hands out of his grasp. "Oh, Mephiles. You don't have to. I know you're thankful. I love what I do, so no need to thank me further."
"Well, I hope my brother doesn't scare you off. So far, you've proven to be a great asset on our part," he noted. "He may be an ass but I assure you he's quite the softy deep down."
He watched as she moved around him and headed back for Shadow's room. "Nah, Shadow can't scare me away," she smiled sheepishly while backing away. "Thanks for the compliment, Mephiles. I got to check in on Shadow again." It seemed she'd rather be trapped in a room with Shadow than be out in the hall on her own with the creepily eerie dark hedgehog president.
•~•
Back at the police station, Agent Zonic got up from his seat and left his office heading for the nearest exit. Silver watched the retreating hedgehog and followed after him. "Agent, where are you going?"
"I need to do some more surveillance on the group before I can call in a raid. I'm going to collect more evidence by following them around for the next 24 hours," he explained grabbing a set of car keys in his pocket.
"You want me to send another officer with you for backup?" he inquired.
Zonic shook his head. "I should be fine by myself. I'm trained to handle this on my own."
"Oh, okay…" Silver watched as Zonic left the building. Meanwhile, in the background, sitting at their desks, both Espio and Vector exchanged concerned glances.
•~•
Twenty minutes later, back at the compound, Mephiles, Knuckles, and Manic were ready for their trek. Gadget ran over to their chain-linked fence and unlocked it. Grabbing ahold of it, he ran down the side of it and dragged it open for their departure.
Near the front of the house, Rouge embraced Knuckles and smooched him passionately. Knuckle's kept his hands on her hips kissing her back. Rouge pulled back and looked up at him. "Stay safe, babe."
He released his hold around her waist. "Nothing is going to happen. Make sure Shadow doesn't drive off the doc, she's worth keeping around."
She waved to him and watched as he hopped into his blue pick-up truck carrying a trailer with all their disassembled illegal arms. "I will," she laughed.
At that same time, a BMW with black windows. It parked itself off the side of the road just outside of their compound. The window rolled down slightly only to reveal Agent Zonic behind the wheel. His brows furrowed as he eyed the motorcycle group. His eyes scanned the compound and picked up on the recent damage. There were charred burn marks on the ground and up the side of one of the walls of the mechanic shop. "Recent attack perhaps or accident?" he pondered aloud to himself. He whipped out his camera and took a few shots.
Suddenly, Mephiles leading the charge ripped out of the compound with Manic following closely behind on his own bike. Behind Manic was a blue pickup truck that followed after them. Starting his engine again, Zonic decided he'd follow them to see what they were really up to.
•~•
Driving down the highway in the dead of night, Mephiles led the charge driving in front while Knuckles drove a truck behind Manic and Mephiles. Suddenly, as they rounded the corner, a group of three bikers came roaring towards them. Mephiles squinted his eyes trying to get a better look at their oncoming traffic. Were these enemies or just random bikers? As they got closer, he realized they were actually, in fact, Suppression bikers.
"What do we got?" Manic shouted over their roaring engines, eying his leader.
"Suppression Squad," Mephiles shouted back. "Be ready."
Manic scowled. "So much for trying to stay low profile," he shouted back. "It's three against four."
In the truck, Knuckles could also see they were in trouble. His hands gripped the steering wheel. "Oh great…" he mumbled.
Mephiles, Manic, and Knuckles continued to drive ahead. It'd only be a matter of time before they'd be side by side on the road alone together with the enemy. Mephiles watched as one of the other cyclists, a large and butch brown dog whipped out a pistol. However, he got it out too late and missed the opportunity to strike as Mephiles and his crew whizzed past them on the opposite side of the road.
The Suppression bikers immediately did a U-turn and raced after the group and came up behind them. Knuckles watched the group get closer in his rearview mirror. "Come on…" His eyes looked straight ahead of him where he saw Mephiles signaling him with his hand. He read his cue and nodded understanding. He slammed on the breaks just as the Suppression got near. The group of bikers was forced to quickly navigate around the halting truck.
The brown dog, leading the charge, crashed his motorcycle into a ditch off the side of the road. The large bike landed on top of him, pinning him down in the dirt. One of the other riders veered off and stopped their bike to assist him. In the meantime, Manic and Mephiles realized they wouldn't have to fight. The other bikers were too busy dealing with their wounded friend. Mephiles signaled for the others to keep moving. They continued riding off down the highway. They knew they wouldn't see the last of them.