Author's Note: Oh my goodness! I am absolutely so sorry for the long delay. I would have posted on time like I normally do, but my laptop was incredibly damaged. My mousepad/trackpad was not working, my keyboard was not typing any longer and I wanted to be able to put in a few last corrections before I posted this chapter. Anyway, thank you to those who reached out asking about what was going on, or when I was posting again. I appreciate you guys checking in on me. Once again, the Shadamy fluff is getting stronger and stronger. So without further ado, I present you chapter 10!
A week later, Shadow took Amy to a proper gun range to get in more practice. He remained far enough back in the booth as he watched Amy practice on a paper target sheet far down the aisle. As he observed her, he had to admit, he could see she was significantly becoming more comfortable around handling a gun and getting better aim. After firing a few rounds, Amy placed her gun down on the counter and pressed a button to see her results. The button triggered a release, and the paper target came charging towards her on a rip line for better viewing. Shadow walked up behind her just as she took off her ear protection. He was also eager to see how she had done.
When the target arrived in front of them, Amy's eyes beamed as she saw she had hit most of the targets in a good range. She lifted up her protective glasses and blinked a few times in disbelief before her expression turned to excitement. "Oh my gosh, Shadow look!" she pointed ecstatically.
Shadow nodded while keeping his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You're getting better," he commended. He pointed to one of the targets in the top left corner. "Look you even got one bullseye."
Suddenly, Amy embraced the dark hedgehog and jumped up and down by her stellar results. "I did it, I did it!" she squealed in delight. Shadow's eyes blinked in surprise by her reaction, but he gave her a small smile admittedly proud by her progress. It was also rather humorous and cute to see her so excited like a proud student showing off their C+.
Realizing her excitement had gotten the better of her, Amy removed herself from embracing Shadow so suddenly. She looked up at him with a now neutral expression. "Oh…Shadow, I'm so sorry I caught you off guard like that," she excused.
"It's alright," he dismissed waving a hand. "You should be proud of your progress. Just think where you'll be in a couple of more weeks."
"Well, I couldn't have done this without your help. You've been a great teacher," she smiled sweetly.
He gave a curt nod of appreciation. "You're welcome." Shadow glanced at his wristwatch before becoming alarmed at the sight. "Crap, I've got a business run in an hour with Manic. I need to get you back home so I can get over there on time."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."
•~•
After dropping Amy off home, Shadow and Locke stood deep in the middle of a forest watching their newest clients test out some newly shipped AK-47s. The two male clients were a grey echidna in his mid 40s, and the other was a young black wolverine somewhere in his early 30s. The echidna and wolverine stood several yards away shooting rounds off on some simple silhouette targets. "You sure it's okay to sell these guys five AKs?" Shadow whispered discreetly to elder red echidna.
Locke nodded, fixating his watch on their clients. They seemed rather impressed with their weapons in the distance. Without bothering to look Shadow's way, the green hedgehog nodded. "They're just a bunch of survivalists. They spend most of their time up here deep in the woods away from most of society," he explained.
Shadow raised a brow, looking back at the bunch momentarily. He watched as one of the clients, sniffed the side of the gun. "They seem a little…out there.". Although there were only two of them out there, he knew their group was much larger.
"Trust me, Shadow we're all good with them," Locke assured. Suddenly he noticed the two guys heading back over. "So, fellas, how'd they work out? They're quite good, aren't they?"
The grey echidna nodded. "They're beautiful. Your dealer sure knows how to make a gun," he complimented.
Locke rubbed his hands together. "Well then, how many are we buying today?"
"Five," the echidna answered before looking at his partner. "Blade, pay the him." The black wolverine walked over and pulled something out of his plaid shirt pocket. He handed Shadow a thick envelope loaded with cash and walked off, not uttering another word.
Shadow peeked inside the envelope and could easily see they were a bit short on their payment. "Looks like you're about five thousand light," he remarked.
"Hold on a second," the echidna halted in offense. "I thought we were getting the family discount."
"That's right," Shadow concurred. "You are—they're ten thousand for five."
Blade marched over to Shadow, insulted at the price gauge. He got up in Shadow's face, but the ebony hedgehog remained calm. "I know damn well these things go for one grand on the street, pal."
Shadow smirked, not the least bit fazed by the wolverine's intimidation tactics. "And when was the last time you were on the street?"
Seeing this sale was about to go awry, Locke intervened. "Hey, I'm sure we can all come to a final agreement on price, isn't that right, Husk?" he segued, looking to the older echidna.
Husk reached into his coat pocket and pulled out another envelope with the right amount of money. "Here," he said handing the rest over to Shadow. He turned and extended out his hand for Locke to shake. "Thanks for doing business with me, Locke and sorry about the misunderstanding."
The two exchanged a handshake and then departed. "Take it easy, old friend," Locke waved as he watched the two get into a jeep and drive off.
•~•
Meanwhile back at the clubhouse, Knuckles finished using the toilet and was zipping up his fly. He reached over and flushed the toilet just when he heard a strange gurgling sound coming from inside the toilet bowl. He turned and gasped as he saw the toilet overflowing with water and other remnants. "Ah, fuck man!" He backed up as the water flooded and collected onto the floor making its way towards him. "Rookie, get in here!" he yelled. Knuckles reached for the doorknob to the bathroom and swung it open just as Gadget made his way into the bathroom.
"Oh my, that's quite a mess," Gadget said, grimacing at the sight.
"Wait a second…" Suddenly, Knuckles' eye noticed something pink and silky coming out of the toilet. He unsheathed a dagger clipped to his belt and made his way through the dirty toilet water and used his knife to pick something up with the tip of his knife from within the bowl. He held his knife with the unknown object and brought it closer for examination only to realize it was a pink bikini underwear. "Now who in the hell would be flushing their panties down the toilet?" he surmised eying the red wolf.
"We only have two ladies currently living with us at the moment," Gadget reminded. "Are those—"
Knuckles glared at the young red wolf and cut him off from finishing his sentence. "No, they're not," he shouted. "She is my old lady and I think I'd be the first to recognize them, besides she's more of a thong type of girl…"
Gadget shifted uncomfortably from the unconsented information. "Uh, guess we have to ask Ms. Amy then," Gadget surmised feeling his face go red.
Knuckles handed over the knife with the sopping we panties still on the tip of the knife. "Here, that can be your job, rookie."
•~•
Outside in the front yard of the clubhouse, Mephiles and Shadow walked side by side as Shadow arrived back home with Locke. "How'd it go then?" Mephiles inquired. "Any issues?"
"They seemed pretty weird if you ask me, but Locke swears they're harmless."
"Locke better be right," Mephiles replied. "You know I'm iffy with dealing with new clients on such short notice. No one followed you, right?"
"Nah," Shadow shook his head. "We doubled back a couple of times too, but no one is onto us." Suddenly the two stopped when a pick-up truck pulled into the compound holding a bunch of metal barrels with the words oil on them. "Oh, looks like the rest of the AKs are here."
Mephiles crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll make some more calls to some of our other clients. I'm sure they're looking to restock."
•~•
In the kitchen, both Amy and Rouge went about their morning routines in silence. Amy drank some coffee while she did some quick studying from one of her medical books, while Rouge finished plating up from a skillet. Gadget walked into the kitchen holding Knuckle's dagger with the soaking wet panties still dangling on the tip. "Um, Ms. Amy, these don't happen to be yours, are they?" he asked uncomfortably with a blush across his muzzle.
Amy stared at the panties in disgust, feeling a blush form across her own face from the on the spot question. "Um, no, why do you think they are?"
"I don't, but someone's been flushing used panties down the toilet and now it's backed up," he explained.
Rouge made a look of disgust as she walked over with her plate in hand. "You're going to make me lose my appetite, Rookie. Throw those nasty things away!"
Gadget obliged and tossed the dirty panties into the garbage. "My apologies Ms. Rouge, it's just, Knuckles put me on the case to determine the mysterious panty flusher."
"I don't even know how to respond to that, but it's not ours. Why don't you ask Mephiles, Mighty, or Manic? They love to bring home trashy girls who'd flush their panties down the shitter," she stated passively.
"Oh okay," He turned to start to leave but then paused. "Oh yeah, one more thing…I'm going to need that number for the plumbing company."
"Check my brown phone book in the mechanic office. It'll be in there," she instructed.
"Thank you, ma'am," he saluted before charging out of there.
•~•
Meanwhile off the outskirts of town, Espio and Vector were doing a prisoner escort along with a few other officers. With one patrol car in front of a prisoner transport and one patrol car behind, it was sure to be an easy trip. However, things were all about to change when a brown Sudan pulled up behind Espio's vehicle at a red light. The side doors opened and Husk, Blade, and two other armed echidnas surrounded Espio's vehicle. With guns aimed at both Espio and Vector, the two detectives raised their hands up realizing they were under attack. "Stay exactly where you are!" Husk ordred, holding up his newly purchased AK-47.
Espio's window was already slightly cracked to begin with, allowing him to communicate with the unstable male. "Whoa, we're obliging here, pal. No need to shoot."
Keeping his eyes on Epsio, Blade kept his gun aimed at Vector on the other side. Espio and Vector watched as the other two echidnas ran to the back of the van and yanked it open revealing a red wolverine handcuffed in the back in a prison jumpsuit. "Grab him," Blade instructed. However, they suddenly noticed the other two patrol officers from the front making their way towards Husk and Blade with their own pistols drawn. "Put the weapons down!" a young brown chimpanzee officer instructed.
Husk quickly withdrew his aim at Espio and shot a round at the chimpanzee. The bullets riddled through his chest and neck and he collapsed to the ground dead. Vector tried to act quick and swung his passenger door open, pushing the distracted wolverine down to the floor. He was startled temporarily and fell backwards from the door's force but shot off an accident round at a young couple on a mo-ped, killing the two of them. Vector reached for his own gun hoisted on his hip, but Blade swatted it away with his own AK, knocking it far off.
The two echidnas leading the prisoner to escape, rushed back over towards their getaway car that Husk and Blade had emerged from. Husk and Blade kept their guns drawn on Vector and Espio and hopped into their car and drove off. Espio quickly hopped out of his car and dialed on his phone for a paramedic to call in the attack. Vector went to rush over to see how the couple on the mo-ped was but spotted a flip phone left in the dirt. He reached down and picked up, believing it must have come from one of the assailants.
•~•
Now back to being quite busy in the mechanic shop, Mighty, Manic, and Knuckles worked diligently on some vehicles for repair. Shadow put away the new money in a wall safe they had just earned and stayed in the small accounting room. Mephiles was on a smoke break and stood on the front porch of their home puffing away on a cigarette.
Gadget stood near the front gates, washing a few cars by spraying them down with a hose, however, he stopped when three slick black BMW's with tinted windows rolled into their compound. The three cars parked and suddenly a bunch of very official looking people began to pour out of the vehicles. They easily looked like they could work for the C.I.A, F.B.I, or G.U.N. "Oh boy…" the red wolf mumbled.
Mephiles noticed the group too and lowered the cigarette from his lips. "Shit…" he grumbled. He put on his best fake smile and sauntered on over to greet the entourage of suits. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, how can I help you?"
A purple feline in her early 30s made the first move, making her way towards Mephiles. She was quite an attractive female with piercing yellow eyes. She seemed rather uptight. She wore very proper business attire of a black pantsuit, white button up, tucked in shirt, and black heels. She extended a hand for Mephiles to shake and used her other hand to reveal her I.D. "Greetings, I'm Agent Blaze, A.T.F. We're here looking for a specific member of your motorcycle crew."
Mephiles finished shaking her hand before tucking his arms behind his back. "And whom might that be, my dear?"
From inside, Shadow popped his head out after getting word that they had visitors. He leaned against the doorframe and watched as his brother dealt with the officers on his own.
Blaze reached into her jacket and pulled out a small notepad and pen. Her eyes glanced down at the paper. "I'm looking for a Shadow the Hedgehog," she said, reading off her notepad.
"That's my younger brother," Mephiles replied. "Why, what'd he do?"
"Where is he now?" Blaze inquired, intentionally ignoring his second question.
Mephiles turned to look for him, just when Blaze's two male officers on either side of her spotted the dark hedgehog near the entrance of the mechanic shop. Shadow was already making his way towards them. "Ma'am, we've located his whereabouts," a brown male feline, whispered pointing in Shadow's direction.
Blaze's eyes followed their direction, spotting the similarly looking hedgehog. "Detain him," she commanded. The brown cat along with the other officer walked over to Shadow with handcuffs at the ready. Shadow shot them bewildered looks as the two of them grabbed either side of him. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Sir, please refrain," one of the officers spoke while getting his arms behind his back.
From all the ruckus outside, Amy walked towards her bedroom window and peered out past the curtains on the second floor of the house. She looked surprised as she spotted Shadow being detained below in the front yard by two official looking officers. "Shadow…" Amy whispered in concern.
Back outside, Shadow shot his brother a "what the hell is going on?" look as he was escorted over to Blaze and Mephiles. In the meantime, Mephiles watched as they dragged him back over to their un-marked vehicles.
"Wait a second," Mephiles barked. "Are you going to inform me on the charges you're placing on my little brother?"
Blaze simply smiled pleasantly at the dark hedgehog. "No charges yet," she replied, putting her notepad back inside her jacket pocket. "We just want to know what his relationship is to Mr. Husk Echidna."
Mephiles felt his heart sink but refused to let that acknowledgment show on his expression. "Who now?" he questioned, trying to act dumb in the moment. The two officers placed Shadow in the back of the car with his hands cuffed behind his back. Shadow looked at his brother through the back window with a frown.
"Husk Echidna," Blaze repeated. "He was just involved in a raid with his survivalist group this morning. He had a few illegally purchased AK-47s and they managed to kill three people while rescuing a prisoner on a transport. One of the dead happened to be an officer," she explained. "We found a phone at the scene of the crime and the last phone call he made was to a Shadow the Hedgehog."
The rest of the M.C stood in the background looking on at Shadow's arrest. "Shit, what now?" Mighty mumbled quietly off on the sidelines.
Knuckles shrugged but made sure to keep his voice down. "I'm sure Mephiles has a plan, he usually always does."
Back with Mephiles and Blaze, the cat strode back to the car with the dark hedgehog following after her. "Hold on a second, when am I going to get my brother back?"
Blaze opened the passenger door of the car Shadow was detained in. "Once he's clear and completed his questioning," she replied nonchalantly. "Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do." Mephiles watched in awe as the three black BMW's drove out of the compound with Shadow.
The rest of the M.C came running over to find out more information after having eavesdropped on some of the conversation from afar. "Bro, what happened?" Manic questioned.
Growling, Mephiles spun around and spotted Locke looming in the background. Eying him in anger, he stormed over and grabbed Locke by the collar hoisting him off the ground. "You old fool," he shook. "Thanks to your looney friends, my brother has been taken for questioning by the A.T.F!" he shouted irately.
Knuckles tried to intervene. He placed a hand on top of the ones currently gripping his father's collar. "Watch it, Mephiles!"
Mephiles shot the younger echidna a glare and released one hand detaining Locke and used it to shove Knuckles back. "Stay out of this!"
Locke's glared back at the president. "Friends? Hold on, what are you talking about?"
Mephiles chucked him backward into the dirt, causing him to hit it with a thud. Knuckles quickly scurried to his feet. "Dad!"
Mephiles watched as Knuckles assisted his father to his feet. "Your survivalist friends killed three people with our new AK-47s and stupidly left their last call on my brother's phone tying him to the crime!" he bellowed in anger.
"Chaos…" Mighty groaned, placing a hand to his forehead.
"I don't understand, they didn't use the burner number?" Locke looked amongst the group, seeing they all were shaking their heads in disappointment. "I apologize, I didn't think they'd do something like this! Most of the time they're in the middle of the woods playing capture of the flag or practicing on targets. They're survivalists not murderers!"
Mephiles began to pace in vexation. "This is exactly why I don't do business with outsiders until I can get a good read on them!"
"Hey, you guys don't have to be so hard on him," Knuckles jumped in. "My dad was just trying to help the club with business. This could have happened in any scenario," he defended.
"But it didn't," Mephiles countered. "It happened with new clients that we didn't do enough research on. This is such a god damn mess…"
"Well, Locke, you know what this means, don't you," Manic interjected looking at the older echidna.
Locke sighed. "What?"
"You're going to have to reach out and find them before the feds do," Manic finished.
Locke looked in Manic's direction. "Fair enough, and then what?"
"Then we're going to kill them before they can ever reveal that we made a transaction with them," Mephiles answered.
Locke shook his head, horrified at the thought. "Wait, Husk would never rat us out. We've been friends for years now," he assured. "I fought in a war with him for Chaos' sake!"
"We can't risk it," Mephiles snapped.
"He's right," Mighty added. "It's just a matter of time before they connect that you and Husk have an ongoing friendship, then we're really screwed."
•~•
Once arriving back to police headquarters, Shadow was taken into an interrogation room. The ebony red striped hedgehog sat at a metal table in a metal seat and kept his fingers entwined with one another over the table as he waited for his interrogation to begin. Finally, the door opened, and Agent Blaze walked in, carrying a manila folder in hand. She plopped it down in front of Shadow and he slowly lifted his head, looking bored and indifferent to his circumstances.
"I don't believe we had a proper introduction. My name is Agent Blaze, A.T.F," the cat introduced sticking out a hand for him to shake.
Shadow merely stared at her outstretched hand and huffed in response. Seeing he wasn't as forthcoming and friendly as his brother, she retracted her hand and instead sat down across from him at the table.
"I noticed you haven't yet called a lawyer to come and represent you," she segued.
Shadow leaned back in his seat and sighed. "I don't really see the purpose. I'm innocent here. I can represent myself."
"Good, you might as well save your money because even the best lawyer wouldn't be able to get you out of here," she started rather arrogantly. "So, what do you know about the murder on one cop and two innocents thanks to Husk Echidna?"
Shadow scoffed. "I don't know who that is or what happened," he replied. "Sounds tragic though."
"Yet the last phone call was to your cell phone," Blaze countered.
"Just because some crazed gun fanatic made a call to my phone doesn't make me an accessory to a crime," he argued.
Blaze opened up the manila folder and went through it. "Yes, but your rap sheet says otherwise. You belonged to a syndicate crime organization dealing illegal arms. You've spent your fair share behind bars as well. That's why this incident flags you as a source of their weapons."
Shadow rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Brothers of Chaos is a motorcycle club," Shadow responded. "And just for your information, I haven't been charged with a crime gun related or otherwise in the last five years. I'm a mechanic and a motorcycle enthusiast, lady."
Blaze calmly shut his file and stared long and hard at Shadow not in the least feeding into his bullshit. "You are a criminal and a gun runner, and in my book, you are responsible for the death of three innocent people," she said with a serious expression.
Shadow only smirked and shrugged, not bothering to give another type of response.
Blaze stood up from her seat, taking Shadow's file with her. "Now, if you'll excuse me. In the next couple of hours, I'll have a warrant to search the premise of your compound and raid your little motorcycle buddies. Let's see how enthusiastic you are after that," she smiled sweetly in his direction.
Shadow watched as she opened the door and left. "Shit…" he muttered while dragging a hand down his face.
•~•
In the junkyard a few miles away, Mephiles met with Espio to find out any information regarding his brother and the A.T.F agents. "Chaos, Meph, I knew Sanders for fifteen years. We grew up together and now he's dead."
Mephiles kept his arms crossed over his chest. "My sympathies for your loss, dear friend."
"So, those were your AKs weren't they?" Espio questioned.
"They were," he confirmed.
He shook his head in frustration. "God damnit, Mephiles…"
"They took my brother, Espio," Mephiles continued. "They traced a call back from Husk Echidna back to Shadow. I need you to tell me how much information they have against us, what is their next move?"
"They're currently looking for those jack asses," he mumbled. "It won't be long before they find them."
Mephiles paced a few times as he contemplated their next move in silence. He stopped in place as it dawned on him what they'd have to do. "…We have to get to them first before the feds."
Espio sighed. "I'll see what I can find out."
Mephiles nodded before walking back towards his bike. "I'll be waiting for your call."
•~•
Back at the police headquarters, Blaze got off the phone with her superior back at home. She hung up and walked out of her makeshift office. She stared at her assistant Nicole, a brown lynx, coming out of the copy room. "Any news on our warrant?"
Her associate shook his head solemnly. "Sorry, ma'am a traced phone call is not enough for a warrant."
"Shit," she cursed.
"—Maybe I could be of some help," another voice piped in behind the two. Blaze turned around and spotted a handsome blue hedgehog with dazzling green eyes approaching her. He reached into his pocket and flipped out his I.D. "Agent Zonic, A.T.F," he introduced with a smile.
She refrained from returning a smile as a thought crossed her mind. "…I wasn't aware there would be another A.T.F agent here in Mercia," she said, looking at him suspiciously. "Where are you normally stationed?"
Zonic's smile dropped, and he put his I.D away calmly and poised. "I'm from Tech City, and you?" he segued.
"Soleanna," she replied continuing to eye him. "Why are you here? You're quite far from your district."
He shoved his hands into his pant pockets smoothly. "Oh, I can't really discuss the—"
"—Who's your superior then?" she abruptly cut off, eyes narrowing. "Maybe I can get in touch with them."
"Hold that thought." Zonic completely ignored her question and walked back over to his desk. "Here, let me show you what I've already gathered on the brothers." Blaze and Nicole shot each other questionable looks. There was something strange about this A.T.F agent. Zonic opened up his briefcase and pulled out a bunch of photos he had taken on his many stake outs. "I followed the Brothers on a trip out of Mercia where they met another subsection of their organization," he explained.
"Really, and what'd you find?" Blaze questioned with intrigue losing interest in her previous questioning.
Zonic handed her a photo. "Here's one with them clearly holding drawn automatic weapons. They got into a little fight with some rival biker gang."
Blaze analyzed the pictures of Mephiles, Knuckles, and Manic shooting off rounds in the photo—a clear indication of their crimes. However, something hovering in the background of the photo caught her eye. "Wait a second, this pick-up truck," she pointed. "That same truck was in their lot today…"
He shrugged. "Yeah, it has oil barrels in it, so what?"
Blaze handed the photos back, keeping her thought process to herself. "Nothing…"'
Suddenly, Silver walked over with his own file in hand. "Look what I found," he smiled triumphantly. He opened the folder and handed it to Agent Blaze. "After doing some research I found out that Locke was good friends with Husk Echidna. Look here, both Manic and Husk spent time in a war fighting together."
Blaze smiled sinisterly. They were slowly beginning to build their case. "Good job boys, I think we have a warrant on our hands." The group moved into the conference room to set up their next stage of the plan. Unbeknownst to them, Espio had been eavesdropping in on them during their whole conversation from the copy room. He made his way over to his desk and picked up his cellphone.
•~•
Back at the compound, Locke arrived in the dining room along with Mighty and Knuckles where Mephiles stared out the window with his cellphone up to his ear. He lowered it from his ear and hung up with a sigh. "Good news," Locke started. "I got a hold of Husk and the others. They're at another bunker up in the hills a few miles away from their normal station."
The dark hedgehog tucked his phone into his jacket pocket. "Yeah, well, I just got off the phone with Espio, and I've got bad news. They've got a warrant to search our compound."
Both Knuckles and Mighty groaned and shook their head, feeling the anxiety poor in. "Shit," Mighty cursed.
"God damnit," Knuckles huffed.
However, Locke wasn't as pessimistic. "Come now, it'll be alright, we'll get through this," he stated optimistically.
Mephiles gripped Locke's collar and pulled him close to his face. "They've got proof that you have a friendship and connection to Husk, you old buffoon," he bellowed. "They have photos of us with our shoot out with the Supression"
Locke glared at the darker hedgehog. "I'm getting sick of you treating me like an old man losing his mind. You're supposed to treat your elders with respect!" he snapped.
"He's right," Knuckles seconded. "He's doing the best he can! Besides, bickering amongst us will not help this situation."
Mephiles exhaled a sigh, somewhat agreeing with them. "My apologies…I'm just rather stressed at the moment. He glanced out the window, staring at the oil barrels now stationed by the entrance of the garage. "Once the A.T.F come in and raid this place, it'll be only a matter of time before they go through those barrels. Our new home will undoubtedly be Prison Island…"
Mighty stared at the sewage truck parked in front of the main garage. Gadget was assisting the plumber of clearing out the sewage from their septic tank. His eyes widened as a sudden realization hit. "Hey guys, I think I know where we can store our guns where not even the A.T.F will look, but we're going to have to move quickly."
"How can I help?" Locke questioned.
Mephiles guided Locke out towards the back door towards their garage. "You can help by getting the hell out of here for a few hours. If they bring you in for questioning, we're done."
Locke nodded, understanding the dire circumstances. "Alright, I understand."
•~•
Twenty minutes later, the feds arrived in incredible fashion. Several black SUVs rolled into the compound with S.W.A.T teams present. Mighty, Manic, and Gadget were working on fixing some automobiles when the authorities arrived. They lifted their heads acting surprised by the arrival. In the meantime, Knuckles and Rouge emerged from the front door of the house. Rouge kept her arm linked with Knuckles as she spotted the several armed officers making their way towards them with guns drawn. "Knuckles, what the hell is going on?"
"It's alright, babe. Just play it cool," he whispered and unlinked his arm from hers.
Mephiles came out from the main mechanic office with his arms raised above his head, looking unfazed.
Amy peered her head out her bedroom window after hearing all the racket once again.
Outside, Blaze, Nicole, Silver, and Zonic got out of a black BMW with black jackets on. Both Zonic and Blaze wore A.T.F jackets with bullet proof vests, while Silver wore his Mercia Patrol jacket with his own bulletproof vest on.
Blaze put on her black shades. "Alright, Officer Silver, you take upstairs in the house, I'll stay downstairs. Zonic and Nicole you take the garage. Do not leave any stone unturned and remain vigilant," she instructed.
The leading commander on the S.W.A.T team raised his carbine at the group of motorcycle crew as the stood lined up. "I need you all to keep your hands up above your head and lay flat on the ground."
The group of males obliged and kept their hands raised above their heads and knelt down before laying on their bellies. A few spare officers walked over and made sure to handcuff each one of them while they were surrendered.
Two officers came over and escorted Rouge over to do the same as they pulled her off the front porch. However, the two officers escorting her over weren't being too friendly. "Hey, ouch, you're hurting me!"
Knuckles lifted his head up to see what all the commotion was. "Hey, that's my old lady you're man-handling!" He shifted slightly to the point he was on his knees, but an officer used the butt end of their gun to jab him roughly in the back. "Keep down!"
Knuckles groaned and bared his teeth as he reeled from the pain throbbing down his backside.
It was Mighty's turn to react when he heard a familiar female struggle. Mighty lifted his head and spotted another two S.W.A.T officers carrying out Amy as she struggled in their grasp. "Let me go!" she shouted. "I didn't do anything!" They began to bring her over to where they had detained Rouge on the ground.
"Amy, relax!" Mighty shouted. "Don't fight with them," he urged.
Amy began to lose her urge to resist them as she heard Mighty's words until she caught sight of a very familiar person. Walking towards her was none other than Zonic the Hedgehog in his full A.T.F getup. Her heart sank and her adrenaline spiked. "No, no, no!" she shouted frantically. The two officers struggled to keep her detained, and finally she managed to break her right arm free and grabbed ahold of the visor covering one the other officer's face still holding her. She pulled them down, kneeing them in the face. The officer grunted and fell backward, but thankfully, the other officer was able to grab her around the waist and slam her upper body up against the hood of a vehicle and secured her arms behind her back.
"Amy!" Mighty shouted, fearing her repercussions.
Mephiles shook his head and sighed. "Oh, shit…"
Zonic calmly made his way next to the car where she was now being handcuffed. He bent down next to her head, the closest he had been to her in months. "Assault against an officer," he tsked. "That wasn't very smart now was it?" he whispered only loud enough for her to hear.
Amy glared up at him. "Fuck you," she whispered back.
His brows furrowed and his green eyes sharpened from the venom in her voice. He looked at the officer still keeping her restrained. "Put in the back of the car. We'll be bringing her in for questioning and possible charges."
Mighty watched in horror as Amy was escorted to the back seat of the car and placed inside. The car door was shut, and Amy looked out the window at the other still lying face down on the ground.
•~•
Meanwhile, inside the house and mechanic shop, the S.W.A.T team tore up their place looking for any evidence of guns. They did not hesitate to upturn parts of the house. Inside it was a complete mess, the shelves were left open and empty of contents. The fridge was emptied, with fresh food spilled all over the kitchen floor. Pictures were strewn all over the floor, as the teams searched for any type of hidden entry or hiding spots. The bedrooms were just as disastrous. Mattresses were flipped, ripped open and tossed. The closets, and drawers were completely raided, but still, no one could seem to find anything.
"Check every crevice," Blaze ordered as she remained in the dining room, watching her boys sweep the house.
Silver came downstairs after helping search in the bedrooms. He joined Blaze by her side and the cat eyed him. "Any luck upstairs?"
He shook his head solemnly. "Nothing, not even a trace."
A few moments later, Zonic arrived from the garage. "How about you? Anything?" Blaze questioned.
"Unfortunately, no," he replied.
Blaze scowled. "There hiding them somewhere…"
•~•
A little bit later, Shadow was still locked up in the interrogation room back at the police station. He sat at the table with his feet kicked up on the table and leaned back in his seat. A few seconds later, the door opened up and Officer Silver walked in holding a cup of water. "Here, I figured you might want something to drink," he offered.
Shadow removed his feet from the table and took his normal seated position as the cup of water was placed down before him. "Thanks," he mumbled.
However, his ears perked up when he heard a familiar female voice in the distance. Shadow stood upright and walked over to the opened door, but Silver made sure to block his path. Shadow remained inside the interrogation room as he peered over Silver's shoulder and watched two officers escort Amy into another holding room. His eyes widened in alarm. "What is she doing here?"
Amy heard Shadow's voice, halted her feet, and craned her neck to look in Shadow's direction. "…Shadow?"
Shadow glared in Blaze's direction as she sauntered into the office removing her black shades. "Hey, she has nothing to do with this!" Shadow shouted. Blaze did not respond and only smiled smugly in return before heading back to her office.
"She assaulted an officer, Shadow," Silver mumbled. "Now sit down," he instructed.
Shadow walked over to the large window and placed his hands against it as he looked across the room through the other large window to the holding room. In there, he watched as Amy was placed down in a seat and unhandcuffed.
•~•
Sitting inside the other holding room, Amy looked around the bleak and barren white walls of the room. All that was inside was a steel table, a couple of steel chairs, a large viewing window, and a camera in the top right corner of the ceiling. The door opened up and Agent Zonic ambled in, carrying a styrofoam cup in one hand, and a notepad and pen in the other.
Amy kept her hands braced on the edges of the table as her ex approached her. Zonic placed the cup down in front of Amy. He smiled at her before taking a seat, but Amy's response was merely a glare. "I got you your favorite. Light roast coffee with two sugars and a splash of vanilla creamer," he gestured towards the cup.
Amy didn't even bother to look at the kind gesture and kept her eyes focused on the enemy in front of her. Zonic walked over to the window and closed the blinds, giving them privacy. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair defensively. "What do you want, Zonic?"
"First of all, where were you a week ago?" he questioned.
Amy blinked a few times and furrowed her brows. "What are you talking about?"
He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. "I swung by your place and you were apparently out of town…"
She looked away sadly. "I attended Cosmo's funeral…"
His own brows furrowed at the thought, not showing an ounce of empathy. "And you just so happened to go alone with that black and red delinquent?"
Seeing the thought of her traveling with another male, grinded his gears, Amy decided to take it one step further. "That doesn't really classify as alone then, does it?" she smirked dangerously.
"Stop trying to be smug here!" Zonic clicked his pen and placed the tip down onto the notepad. "Now, for real…Why are still here in Mercia, babe?" he asked quietly. "Why have you surrounded yourself with these dangerous biker guys?"
She blinked a few times, surprised at the audacity of his claim. "You think they're dangerous?" she scoffed. "Clearly you haven't looked in the mirror lately…"
His brows furrowed at her comment. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you. I want to protect you from them. They could seriously hurt you, Amy…You have no clue what you're getting yourself involved in."
"Shut up!" she spat. "You're insane if you think you're going to protect me. You never protected me when we were together!" she pointed accusingly feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes.
Amy noticed Zonic's hands beginning to clench up, a clear sign she was getting him riled up. He wouldn't dare to make such a move in a place like a police station, would he? Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room opened up and Zonic was quick to compose himself before Blaze could pick up on the tension in the room. She was holding a manila envelope and eyed the blue hedgehog suspiciously and sauntered over to the other available seat beside him. "Good afternoon, I'm Agent Blaze, A.T.F," she introduced sticking out her hand to shake to Amy.
Amy hesitantly offered her hand out and shook the feline's hand. "Amy...Amy Rose," she mumbled.
"Agent Zonic, have you begun the questioning without me?" Blaze inquired.
"Yes ma'am, she's been rather stubborn and hasn't given much detail yet," he smoothly lied.
Blaze opened up her own folder before her. "Hmm, perhaps Ms. Rose would be more comfortable speaking female to female?"
Amy's ears perked at the suggestion. She needed a reason to get Zonic away from her. "Actually, I'd love that," she smiled passively, irking Zonic further.
He quickly hid his grimace and got up from his seat. "If you need me, I'll be at my desk," he sighed leaving the room.
Once alone, Blaze placed her focus back on the subject in front of her. "So, Ms. Rose, I've done a little digging on your background and noticed you have quite a clean record."
Amy nodded. "And why wouldn't I? I have nothing to hide."
Blaze shook her head. "I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just rather surprised to see you associating yourself with this, erm, rather rough group you're living with. Mind telling me why you decided to reside with the infamous Brothers of Chaos M.C?"
"Well, I moved away from my hometown and right now I'm working on my doctoral degree. I needed a place to live while I focused on my studies, and I saw them renting out a room," she began explaining.
Blaze took down some notes while Amy explained her story. "I see…I noticed you haven't applied to any of the local hospitals jobs around here. Is there a reason for that?"
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Well, I actually work part-time for the club."
Blaze's right ear twitched. "What exactly do you do there?"
"Housework most of the time," she lied. "They needed someone to do cleaning up and I figured I could do that on the side while I work on my online schooling," she justified.
Blaze eyed her for a moment, before jotting down more notes. "Right, well, have you by any chance seen any of the members wielding or storing A-rank weaponry?"
Amy blinked a few times, taken aback by her forward questions. "Excuse me?"
"Guns? Automatic rifles," she specified.
Amy shook her head. "No, not at all. I mostly see them working in the mechanic shops," she lied. "They do car repairs."
Blaze lowered her pen temporarily. "So, you've never seen any sort of sketchy business going down between the MC and any other clientele?"
Amy straightened up her sitting position. "No ma'am, not at all."
Blaze sighed. "Ms. Rose, girl to girl, you don't have to lie to me. I know you are lying to my face right now." Amy froze up. Was it that obvious? Amy had thought she was a much better liar, or perhaps this was a scare tactic in order to get her to confess. Blaze's yellow eyes glanced at her file. "I noticed you have an ongoing restraining order in place."
"Uh…" Amy swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes, I do…"
"I'm assuming that this person was someone you knew back in your hometown. I noticed you've moved many times in the past months before you wound up here," she continued.
She glanced down at the table. "Yeah, I was just trying to find the right place."
"Have the authorities back home been much help with keeping on top of this active R.O?"
Amy shook her head meekly. Blaze nodded, trying to look empathic. "You know, I could always assist you here, but it'll come with a deal."
Amy gulped nervously but seemed curious by the offer. "What kind of deal?"
"You provide enough incriminating evidence to prove that the Brothers M.C is harboring, mulling, and selling A-grade weapons and I'll make sure that pesky person on your restraining order disappears for good," she promised with a smile.
Amy thought about it for a moment. Perhaps Blaze could be the person who could finally help her put an end to Zonic's stalking. However, she couldn't betray the Brothers. They had been nothing but kind to her so far, and who was to say if she betrayed them that they wouldn't become her new stalker and stalk her down and end her life for ratting on them? Amy shook her head. "I can't accept that offer because the Brothers are innocent. They're just a bunch of guys that repair automobiles and ride bikes," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"I see..." Blaze calmly rose from her seat seeing Amy would be playing differently than expected. "Very well then. My offer will always be on the table in case you change your mind."
Amy watched as the cat walked towards the door. "So, does that mean I'm free to go now?"
Blaze opened the door and paused looking back at the hedgehog, eagerly awaiting an answer. "Not any time soon I'm afraid. Remember, you did assault an officer. Therefore, you'll be spending the night in jail until you receive bond."
With that said, Blaze shut the door. Amy crossed her arms over the table and laid her face across her arms and groaned.
•~•
Outside her holding room, Blaze walked back towards her office. Agent Zonic and Officer Silver joined her on either side. "What's going on? Did she say anything?" Zonic questioned, trying not to appear too eager.
"She denied any recognition of their type of business, but I think I'll manage to crack her eventually," she stated optimistically.
"So, what do we do with her now?" Silver questioned.
"Put her in a cell for overnight. I think once she spends her first few hours behind bars, she may come around on my deal…"
"Yes ma'am," Silver saluted. The grey hedgehog walked over to the holding room to get Amy.
Two other officers walked over, and Blaze glanced at them. "You two," she spoke causing them to halt. "Shadow the Hedgehog is free to go. See to it." The officers nodded curtly and walked off.
Zonic crossed his arms over his chest. "What kind of deal did you offer the girl?"
"She's having issues with a stalker despite having an active restraining order. I told her if she helps me gain evidence on the Brothers, I'd help her put away her stalker once and for all."
Zonic cleared his throat and nodded. "That sounds like something viable."
"Mhm," she mumbled before walking into her office.
Zonic exhaled a sigh of relief once she was gone. His expression remained calm, but internally, he was panicking hard.
•~•