Author's Note: Heeeey, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter for you all. This one is yet another great chapter that I hope you'll all enjoy. Before we jump into it, I must thank my very lovely and kind reviewers who always take the time to leave me comments, predications, or theories. I always enjoy hearing back from my readers, aliciathewolf45, yannvx, Rebecca, Pirilaxa, Grey-Chan-Fallen, CrimsonLove16, and Tessa the Hedgehog.
***Also, yannvx, on deviantART is actually drawing my story in comic book form. They've only done one page so far, but it's super cool. Definitely go check it out.
Eventually, everyone returned home, and a house meeting was called. Amy sat on one of the sofas in the living room in between Rouge and Mighty, while Shadow and Mephiles sat across from her. Knuckles, Locke, and Manic sat at the dining table in the background and Gadget stood in the corner with his arms crossed. Shadow cleared his throat. "So, I'm sure most of you are wondering what importance this meeting has, but I believe it's going to help us understand our A.T.F issue more," he clarified.
"What exactly brought this all on in the first place, brother?" Mephiles probed, raising a brow.
"When I bailed the doctor out from jail and we returned home, she confessed some pivotal information regarding her relations to the A.T.F," he explained.
Manic turned to eye Amy and cocked his head to the side. "You tellin' me she is a rat after all?"
Shadow shook his head. "Actually, it's the complete opposite. I'll let her explain." His eyes returned to Amy who sat there nervously with her hands cupped together between her legs. "Go on, doctor."
Rouge placed a hand on Amy's shoulder reassuringly. "Go on, hon. We hold no judgment here."
"Well…" Amy exhaled a deep breath and began. "I-I was telling Shadow earlier that one of the A.T.F agents that have stationed themselves here in Mercia is not really here investigating you guys. I believe they're using your past history with illegal activity as a ruse and explanation for their stationing here. They're not here for you guys, they're here for me."
Everyone around the room glanced at one another a bit alarmed. No one would have guessed she had some connection to one of the A.T.F agents. Mephiles was the first one to speak up for further understanding. "Which A.T.F agent are we talking about here, the feline or the hedgehog?"
"The hedgehog," she answered rubbing her hands together. "His name is Zonic and, you see, he's my ex-fiancé…" Everyone in the room looked aghast at the reveal. No one in their right mind had even fathomed their connection.
"So, why do you think this guy is here for you and not us?" Knuckles questioned, becoming more curious. "He seems to have done a lot of research on us to not be here to put us away."
"As you guys already know, I grew up in Tech City. I met Zonic when I was in college and we fell in love—or what I thought was love…Anyway, as the years went by, I began to realize the way Zonic treated me was not normal in a healthy relationship. When I finally grew the courage to leave him, things got even more violent with him. I went out and got a restraining order placed against him, but it did anything but keep me safe."
"If you don't mind me asking, what was the last straw for you?" Mighty asked.
Amy looked up at the ceiling in thought. "When he forced himself on me at work…"
•~•
~Flashback: One Year Ago~
In Tech City, Amy Rose, dressed in her blue work scrubs, worked diligently during her shift at Tech Hospital located in the downtown south area. On the third floor of the hospital Children's cancer wing, Amy and the rest of the staff were hard at work. Doctors in white lab coats walked up and down the halls and in and out of rooms. Behind the main counter on that floor, three female nurses typed away at the computers, answered phone incoming calls, or directed visiting guests.
Amy came out of one of her patient's rooms with a clipboard in hand. Jotting down an important vital for her patient on their form, she nearly bumped into another nurse walking towards her. "Whoa there!" Another female voice exclaimed.
Halting in her tracks, Amy glanced up only to spot Cosmo, wearing identical blue scrubs to her own. Amy shot her co-worker an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Cos. I guess I can't walk and write as I thought," she cracked lightly.
Cosmo stifled a giggle. "Your double shift is nearly over, I'm sure you're looking forward to getting some shut-eye."
Amy hugged the clipboard against her chest. "You bet," she sighed. "With work, school, my sleep schedule, and my fiancé, things are getting harder to balance…"
"Oh, my!" Cosmo gasped in realization. "Speaking of fiancé, I saw him waiting by the front desk. He came here to speak with you about something. It seemed rather important," she notified.
Amy glanced at her wristwatch. It was nearly 3 PM now. Usually, her fiancé was heading back to work after finishing his lunch break at this time. What exactly was going on that he needed to come here so urgently? "Oh…thanks for the message, Cos. I'll see you around," she waved before walking in the opposite direction back towards the front desk.
Once getting back to the main desk, Amy's eyes scanned the perimeter searching for her beau. She spotted him with his back facing towards her as he leaned his arms onto the counter and her heart dropped down to the pit of her stomach. Why was he here? "…Zonic?"
The handsome blue hedgehog turned his head only to spot Amy standing a few feet behind him. He was in his work attire as well and wore his standard one-piece spandex bodysuit, leather jacket, and bright, gold, patrol badge holstered to his right hip glistening proudly in the hospital artificial light. In his right arm, he clutched his slick, green, yellow, and red, biker helmet with a clear visor for his motorbike. "Babe," he gleamed, seeing her in person after hours of being apart. "I was wondering if they were going to have to send out a search party," he joked. "We've been looking for you everywhere."
She cautiously approached him, still baffled at his random appearance. It was quite rare for him to show up at her workplace unless it was to give her a ride home. His tone seemed to be upbeat and not dour in the least, which was all the more confusing. "I didn't hear the notice initially, and besides, I was finishing some paperwork with a patient…" She placed the clipboard on top of the counter he waited at, and one of the nurses behind it took the filled paperwork. She looked up at him with concern. "Why are you here? Did something happen?" she questioned quietly.
Zonic placed his helmet on top of the counter and looked at the white bunny nurse behind it. "Mind if I leave this here with you for five minutes?"
"No problem, sir. "I'll watch it for you in your absence," she smiled sweetly.
"Thanks," he winked. With that said, Zonic wrapped his free arm around Amy's shoulder and gently guided her down the hall past other guests, nurses, doctors, and patients going about their routines. "Let's talk somewhere private about this, huh?" he whispered.
Amy blinked a few times. Still feeling uneasy about the whole thing. "Uh, okay."
As they walked further down the hall, he noticed a door that read: "Authorized Personnel Only" and quickly led her towards it. Looking down both ways in the hall they were in, he waited for the coast to be clear. He reached for the door handle and opened it and shoved her inside, quickly following behind her before anyone else could see. Amy stumbled inside by his rather urgent and sudden push. They were in the surgical supply room, where only doctors and nurses were allowed inside.
She spun around, looking displeased with his motives. "Zonic, you can't be in here. I could get in serious trouble if anyone finds—"
She was silenced when Zonic walked over and smashed his lips against hers and slowly backed her up against one of the aisle's shelves. He moved them further behind it, in case anyone was to walk in on them. Amy's mind buzzed with confusion. Her fiancé's hands were all over, feeling her up too as he forcefully made out with her. Amy placed her hands against his shoulders, trying to pry him off to get answers. Eventually, she managed to pull her mouth away from his ravenous one and glanced up at him out of breath.
Her face was red but not necessarily from being turned on. She was at work and in a potentially public setting. "Zonic, what the hell is going on? I thought you had some news or something?" she gasped for breath.
He kept his hands on her hips as he kept his body close to hers. "You can't figure it out, babe?" He smirked and his eyelids lowered suggestively. "I've been thinking about you all day…I could barely keep you out of my thoughts."
Suddenly, Amy's nose twitched as she picked up on a familiar scent. "Have you been drinking?"
"What? Are you crazy? I'm still clocked in," he grinned mischievously. He dove in for another kiss, capturing her lips with his. Amy gasped at his forwardness and clenched her legs together as his right hand sunk down her scrub pants and dove into her panties. He fingered her against her will, despite her writhing in his grasp. Once again, Amy shoved him back and wiped her lips with the back of her left arm. He shot her a glare as he was denied once again. "You're lying. I can taste the alcohol on your lips," she snapped.
Zonic slammed both of his hands up against the shelf on either side of her head behind her, successfully pinning her. Amy flinched from his gesture momentarily and stayed still as she looked up at him. He inched his face near hers, looking at her in a deadly serious manner. "Amy, listen to me. I need this, okay? Don't argue with me."
She frowned as she stared at her fiance' in pity, who now seemed like a complete monster to her. "You know I'm more willing at home. Why are you trying to do this here?"
He gripped her by the throat making her gasp in surprise. "Shut your mouth. It'll only last longer…" He spun her around violently, pressing her face against the cabinets. Amy froze as felt him yank her pants and panties down before grinding his hardened member against her ass. His hands gripped her hips roughly making her cry out. "Ouch, Zonic, that-"
Suddenly one of his hands grabbed the back of her head and pressed her face further into the cabinet. "Shut up," he hissed.
Amy began to squirm and resist until she felt him force himself inside her. Zonic began to pump himself in and out of her, relishing at the moment. Amy felt tears well up in her eyes but allowed her mind to go blank as he had his way with her.
~End Flashback~
•~•
Everyone seemed pretty shocked by her story. Most people stared at her in silence, others fumed silently on the sidelines by her treatment. Rouge embraced Amy as she sat next to her. "It was when he'd come to work to harass me was when it finally drew the line. The hospital was my one oasis. I was always safe there. No one had an inkling about this, but I began to hear whispers here and thereafter a while."
"What happened once you left him?" Manic asked.
"He continued stalking me. He'd show up at my workplace, he'd follow me on my errands, he'd break into my apartment and do whatever he could to scare me back into his arms," she elaborated. "He did whatever he could to convince me that he was all I had…"
"Why didn't you go to the police? He was breaking the law, hon," Rouge asked.
"Trust me, I tried! Stalking is an incredibly hard crime to pin down and prove. Zonic is intelligent, manipulative, and knows how to work the laws and system to his advantage. He was always a few steps ahead of me and every time I'd go to the authorities for help, they couldn't help me because I had no evidence to prove he was going against the R.O."
Rouge frowned. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry…"
Amy nodded. "After several moves in an attempt to flee from him, I found your ad online and moved here," she continued. "I did a little bit of research on you guys myself and from what I could see I knew you had a dangerous reputation. I figured I'd risk the chance of placing myself within a group of even more notoriously dangerous people if it'd keep me safe."
"So, we acted almost like a shield for you," Gadget noted stroking his chin in thought. "Quite ingenious I must commend, Ms. Amy."
"Yeah, thanks." Amy smiled weakly. "That was my thought process."
"And all the training you've been recently acquiring, like the self-defense?" Mighty added. "It was so you could protect yourself?" he assumed aloud.
She nodded sheepishly. "Yep."
"And how to shoot a gun?" Shadow added in thought as things began to come together.
"Mhm…" She looked at all the faces staring back at her. "I honestly didn't mean to bring any more trouble your way. I just figured if he ever did find me, he wouldn't want to mess with you guys. I thought with this last move I'd lost him for good." She bowed her head. "If you want to kick me out, I'd completely understand at this point. I'm probably just painting a bigger target on you guys."
"There's no way in hell we're doing that," Mighty spoke up. "You're a part of this family now. You've earned your spot and you're not going anywhere," he pledged.
"I agree with Mighty," Locke added. "You've earned your spot here, lass."
The motorcycle president rose from his seat. "I know we're not at our normal voting table, but let's have a vote," Mephiles began. "All in favor of keeping Ms. Rose in our residence and under our protection, say aye."
"Aye," Knuckles chimed in raising a hand.
"Aye," Locke replied.
"Aye," Manic mimicked Knuckles, raising his own hand.
"Aye," Mighty said next.
"Aye," Mephiles added.
Everyone looked to Shadow for the final vote. Shadow raised his own hand. "Aye."
"Then that settles it. Ms. Rose will remain in our company and will be under our guard and protection," Mephiles declared.
Amy placed her face in her hands, feeling overwhelmed by the vote. There was no hesitation on the group of motorcyclists to keeping her. They truly cared about her wellbeing. She felt her eyes well up with tears. Mighty wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, no more tears here, kid. We've got your back in this just like you proved you had our backs," he grinned.
Amy lifted her face from her hands and wiped at the tears that pricked her eyes. She looked around the room at her new family. "Thank you…all of you."
Shadow rose from his seat and made his exit towards the front door. Mephiles watched as his brother fled the room. "Shadow, where are you going?"
Shadow opened the front door and paused for a moment. "To pay a visit to the police and deal with that prick. I won't be long," he stated.
•~•
A little bit later, Shadow headed downtown to the police station. The ebony red stripped hedgehog walked into the police station straight for Silver's office. Thankfully his door was open, and he marched inside. The silver hedgehog was busy doing paperwork but glanced up and looked surprised to see Shadow return so soon after picking up Amy.
Silver lowered his pen down momentarily. "Can I help you?"
Shadow remained standing as he stood before the deputy's desk. "You need to reel in that A.T.F boyfriend of yours," he started. "He's pushing his limits around these parts."
Silver shot him a look, confused by his accusation, and continued to sort through some paperwork on his desk before shaking his head in amusement. "I can't exactly control him like that, Shadow. He's not even on our payroll. I don't keep tabs on the guy," he scoffed.
Shadow placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "Well, maybe you should because he's not here to take us down as you think, he's here for Amy," he stated.
Silver leaned back in his seat, stunned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"He's stalking her. He's been stalking her since both of them lived in Tech City. She came here trying to escape him. This guy is nuts and he's going to hurt her…"
Silver slowly rose from his seat as he processed the information. A lightbulb went off in his head and he placed a hand to his temple. "Chaos…so that's who she had a restraining order against…"
Shadow cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me, you knew?"
"Not exactly." Silver blinked a few times coming out of his thoughts. "Amy…she pulled me aside one of the times I came to your place. She asked me about the rules regarding an R.O, but she didn't tell me who she had it placed against. I had no idea it was Agent Zonic. If I had known sooner, I would've put a stop to this," he clarified. "Don't worry about it anymore, Shadow. I'll deal with Zonic now," he pledged. Shadow watched as he picked up his phone and began dialing in a number. "I'm going to call him and question him over this right now."
"Good because if you don't, I will." With that said, Silver watched Shadow saunter out of his office.
•~•
Later that evening, the group of motorcyclists went out to celebrate Amy's new beginning with the club. They ventured into town at one of the most popular bars and got a large table where they ate and drank wings, fries, burgers, draft beers, and other assorted bar foods. At their table, the group of bikers at the large table and each held up a beer bottle for a toast.
"I say we give a toast to this new beginning for Amy, and we want to officially welcome you to the family," Knuckles introduced. "It's been an amazing few months having you around as our doc. You've done one hell of a job and you've earned your place here."
Amy couldn't help but smile at the thoughtful words coming from the echidna. With that said, everyone said, "Cheers!" in unison and clinked their glasses together. Once the toast was done everyone threw their heads back and took a chug of their drink.
Mighty slung his arm behind Amy's neck, bringing her in close. "How're you feeling, Ames?"
Amy smiled sheepishly from his flirtatious nature. "It feels like a weight's been lifted honestly, and I have to once again thank you guys for taking me in. I really appreciate it," she spoke sincerely looking at each and every one of them around the table.
"Alright, let's enjoy the rest of our night before heading back," Mephiles stated. "I'll be treating you all to dinner tonight, so please eat, drink, and be merry!"
Manic and Mighty were stoked and reached across the table to high-five each other. Rouge and Gadget clapped their hands giddily and Knuckles rubbed his hands together as he eyed more wings coming to the table. Locke began chugging beer. Shadow seemed the most neutral as he sat across from Amy next to his brother and quietly stared at her across the table. He wasn't sure why but tonight he just couldn't keep his eyes off her. She looked quite beautiful and— Shadow shook his head coming out of his thoughts. He reached for his beer on the table and took another swig.
Later on, after the group had finished eating, different members separated and did their own things in the bar. Knuckles, Rouge, and Mighty played pool together in one section of the busy bar, Gadget and Locke played darts with Manic, and Mephiles sat at the bar with an attractive female hedgehog and flirted the night away. Shadow came out of the men's room when he spotted Amy sat at the other end of the bar with two male birds, one of them a grey hawk, and the other a black crow surrounding her in conversation. Shadow could see they were also wearing motorcycle jackets of their own with their bird insignia symbol on their backs, reading: "Babylon Rogues." He scoffed under his breath seeing the notorious jewel thieve crew members. Shadow couldn't quite tell from afar if Amy was happily engaged in this conversation or wished to depart from it civilly. Shadow calmly sauntered back over in her direction to investigate the scene. As he got closer, he eavesdropped in on their conversation.
"So, why you with these guys anyway?" the black crow asked her, encroaching even closer in her personal space.
"They're my friends and co-workers," she answered truthfully but didn't really want to give them much more attention.
"Heh," the grey hawk to her left chuckled. "Those guys are losers," he gestured with a thumb point. "We're the ones you wanna hang with, sweetheart," he smirked, leaning in closer towards her face. "Now come and dance with me."
Amy uncomfortably brushed one of her loose bangs out of her face. "I'm sorry, I can't…"
The hawk raised a brow. "Why not?" he questioned.
"—Because she already promised me a dance," Shadow smoothly lied as walked up behind them. Shadow extended out his offered hand to Amy, ignoring the two seething birds next to him. He nodded his head slightly, signaling her to play along.
Feeling relieved, Amy smiled sheepishly and placed her hand in Shadow's and hopped off the barstool, and followed his lead. "It's about time," she played along.
The two males watched as Shadow led Amy off to the center of the dance floor. "Stupid punk…" the crow spat.
"Thanks for that back there, Shadow," Amy whispered while they walked together.
"No problem," he chuckled lowly.
The two hedgehogs faced one another and Shadow placed one hand on her hip and held her other hand out. Amy felt her body react in such a way she had not experienced before. She felt butterflies suddenly from his touch but shook it off before he could notice the effect. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and the two began to move slowly in a circle while the other couples danced around them. While the two swayed together to the slow music, both Amy and Shadow stared into each other's eyes.
It was once again that Amy was reminded of how attractive Shadow was. He was quite handsome, yet, she had always thought he was attractive with her first introduction. That is, he was very attractive until Amy witnessed how cold and detached his treatment was towards her. At that point, his attractiveness had gone greatly down in her eyes. Yet, now, their relationship was starting to change. Shadow had really begun to drop his tough act around her and showed a softer side to her that she appreciated.
Realizing that Amy had been staring at his facial features for a long period of time while they remained silent, Shadow decided to whip up some conversation. "So, what do you think you'll do from this point on?" he asked trying to make conversation.
Coming out of her daydream, Amy blinked a few times. "Huh, what do you mean?"
"You know, now that Zonic's been exposed and is being tracked down this very moment. Do you plan to stay in Mercia or move back to Tech City?" he clarified.
"I'd rather stay with you," she said before realizing how it sounded. "I mean, you guys," she quickly corrected. Shadow caught the error and chuckled lightly causing her to smile sheepishly. "I like working for you guys."
"So, you're happy working for us?" he inquired as they swayed together.
"Definitely. It's been different, I'll say that, but I like different."
"I know I call you doctor, even though technically you're not one yet. But once you get that degree, I know you'll be a wonderful physician. After all, you're intelligent, attentive, patient, kind-hearted, beautiful," he listed, without realizing what he was saying.
Amy froze by his list of adjectives—one in particular that she hadn't expected to hear him admit to. "You…you really think that highly of me?"
It suddenly dawned on him with what he had said. "Well, I think that-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Amy felt a sharp jab in her upper back from an elbow. She was shoved forward slightly but Shadow stabilized her before she could topple over. "Hey!" Both of them looked to see who had caused the disturbance and were met by another couple that had been dancing behind them. The couple was two birds—more of the Babylon Rogue members. This time it was a red robin and a blue sparrow. The female blue sparrow wore tight white skinny jeans, a grey crop top, and gold bangles on her wrists. Her boyfriend or partner wore a black hoodie, baggy grey jeans, and black and white sneakers.
The female placed a hand to her mouth and feigned an apologetic stare. "Oops, my bad, girly," she said before snickering lowly under her breath. The boyfriend blew some kisses Shadow's way, clearly trying to initiate some sort of fight as he smirked in his direction.
Amy just rolled her eyes and didn't utter a response to the two. It wasn't worth the effort. On the other hand, Shadow did not have any patience to let them get away with the clear disrespect. "Hey, you owe her a proper apology," he demanded.
Amy placed a hand on Shadow's chest and patted it lightly. "No, it's okay, Shadow. I'm fine, don't get riled up," she assured quietly.
"Listen to the girly girl, bud," the boyfriend smirked. "You guys ain't as tough as you think."
Shadow's fists tightened by his side. He was itching to show this guy a lesson but did not want to cause a scene unless necessary. "Shadow," Amy whispered, trying to keep him under control. Suddenly more voices began to join in on the commentary from the bar not too far behind them. More assorted avians in street clothes began to hoot and holler in Shadow and Amy's direction.
Not only did this get their attention, but the rest of the Brothers of Chaos also took notice, stopping what they were currently doing. Mighty, in particular, was getting more and more triggered watching the group of birds surround Shadow and Amy. Some of the other random bar-goers also glanced at the rowdy bunch of birds—clearly drunk and wanting confrontation. You could feel the tension building in the room, and the other bar-goers began to disperse moving away from the two feuding groups, some even leaving.
The red robin began sarcastically blowing kisses Shadow's way, trying to provoke him. However, Shadow was remaining unfazed but kept his eyes locked on the group surrounding him. Mighty stormed through the crowd and stepped in front of Shadow and Amy. He had had enough watching the provoking and came face to face with the bird. They were practically nose-to-nose at this point, but both males refused to show intimidation.
"You think you're big and bad, huh? If you wanted to dance so bad all you had to do was ask." Mighty barked.
"Mighty, don't…" Out of nowhere, Amy felt a splash hit her in the back of the head. She spun around in anger only to see the blue sparrow holding an empty glass that used to contain beer. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Amy shouted, squeezing the beer out of her soaked quills. Knuckles lowered his pool stick and began to make his way towards the dance floor sensing shit about to kick off. The other members like, Rouge, Gadget, Manic, Locke, and Mephiles, did the same, moving in slowly towards the dance floor.
The female sparrow dropped the glass allowing it to shatter and put up both her hands in a fighting stance, gesturing for Amy to come at her. "Come on, girly-girl. I wanna see what you've got!"
Amy glared at the blue avian. "I'm not fighting you. I only fight in self-defense."
"Fine, you leave me no choice but to force yah into it." The blue sparrow charged in towards Amy with a raised fist, and it was as if that was the signal for everyone else to jump in because they did. The bird's friends leaped from their chairs and came running in to get into their own brawl, and the rest of the brothers did the same. The whole bar erupted into true chaos and riot.
"Doctor!" Shadow tried to move towards Amy to assist her in her battle, but the grey hawk and black crow from earlier swooped in and tackled him to the floor. Bodies were being thrown around, falling to the floor, knocking into other people, or crashing across tabletops.
Back with Amy, she did her best to avoid being hit. She backed up, avoiding every swing or kick the female bird brought her way. However, Amy wasn't used to having other fights happening around her while trying to avoid her own confrontation and missed a body on the floor and fell backward. The blue sparrow took this as her opportunity and dove in, tackling Amy mid-fall and landing on top of her in a straddled position. Amy kneed the girl in the crotch with a rough push making her fall back. Amy rolled over and got on her knees to crawl away but felt a rough yank on her quills dragging her backward. She cried out and used her left arm to elbow the sparrow in the face. "Get off of me!" Amy screamed.
The sparrow backed up and held her face where Amy's elbow had collided. She moved her hands away only to see blood dripping from her beak. "You bitch!"
Back with Mighty and the red robin. The two wrestled on the floor together, throwing punches and kicks each other's way. Rouge was in her own battle with another female bird herself, but she appeared to be winning and she did a spin kick and made the other female bird fly across the room and crash into a vending machine. "Stupid bitch…"
Amy managed to divert herself away from the resentful bird and navigated through the chaos of fights around her. However, she wasn't aware that the other girl still hadn't finished with Amy and pushed through the rowdy crowd to get to her with a wielded knife. Amy desperately looked around for some sort of area to take shelter until this settled down but wasn't aware of the sparrow nearly feet away from her. The bluebird raised her arm with her knife wielded above her head, ready to strike the unsuspecting hedgehog, but as she brought it down a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist firmly.
The sparrow cried out from the strong grasp around her wrist and dropped the weapon. Amy spun around hearing the altercation behind her and was happy to see Shadow at her defense. "Sneak attacks are low blows and pussy moves," Shadow spoke glaring down at the other female.
The sparrow narrowed her eyes at him. "Let go of me, you piece of shit!" Unbeknownst to Shadow, another male bird crept up on Shadow with his fist raised ready to fight for one of his own gang members. Shadow was so preoccupied with the girl; he wasn't aware of the charging ostrich coming up from behind.
Thinking quickly, Amy grabbed a nearby barstool and swung it full force into the oncoming bird, making him scream out in agony and knocked him to the ground unconscious. The stool shattered into pieces when it collided with the other guy from her mighty swing. "Get away from him!" she shouted.
Shadow looked surprised at Amy's sudden move but was also rather impressed, to say the least. "…Thanks, doctor."
"Just returning the favor," she shrugged.
"I said let go of me!" the bird shouted again reminding him he still had her in his grasp.
Shadow released her wrist allowing her to crumble to the floor. "Get out of here!" he barked.
The girl quickly got to her feet and scurried off. Shadow turned to Amy who still stood there in shock as fights continued to erupt around them. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm—"
BANG. BANG.
Two loud shots erupted within the small bar. Everyone stopped their fighting and looked towards where the sound had come from. Shadow instinctively wrapped his arms around Amy and lowered them down to a crouching position, shielding her body from any possible harm. The owner along with his wife and the rest of the waiters and bartenders all had shotguns in hand. The owner, a brown boar, snorted out a huff. "I want all of you out of my bar this instant before I call the cops!"
Everyone quickly scurried out of the nearest exits. Members of both gangs picked up their wounded and booked it out of there. Shadow looked to Amy with seriousness. "Time to bail." Shadow and Amy rose upright, and he grabbed Amy's hand and quickly escorted her out of there.
•~•
Once returning home, Amy and Shadow walked back towards the house together. Most of the group had a few battle wounds, but nothing too much to worry over. However, Gadget and Manic helped carry Mighty to the nearby couch downstairs since he was the worst wounded. "He's pretty beat, Amy. Mind taking a look over him?" Manic asked.
"Yeah sure, just set him on the living room couch and I'll get my things," she gestured.
The two males nodded and carried Mighty over towards the couch. In the meantime, Shadow followed Amy into her office. "You kicked ass back there," Shadow complimented. "I'm glad to see Mighty's training has paid off."
"I guess it was good practice," she laughed lightly. "However, I really-"
"—Amy!" Rouge screamed from upstairs.
The two of them glanced at each other before heading out the door and rushing upstairs to where Rouge desperately called for her. Once they got to the second floor, they spotted Rouge standing in front of Amy's open wide bedroom door.
The white bat turned to look at the two coming towards her down the hall. "Shadow, don't come any closer," she suggested putting one hand out towards him.
Shadow halted in his tracks, baffled by her comment. "Why not?"
"I don't think Amy is going to want you to see this or any guy for that matter…" Her eyes turned to Amy who suddenly felt a gut-sinking feeling. "Amy…"
The pink hedgehog slowly made her way towards the doorway and felt her heart sink when she saw what had been done to the inside of her room. Inside her bedroom on her left wall was the word "WHORE" spray-painted in red. Meanwhile, her belongings had been thrown all over the room in a fit of rage. Her clothes were strewn all over the floor, her laptop was smashed to bits, and her books were tossed all over the place with pages ripped out. However, that was not the worst offense. On her bedroom window were hundreds of printed-out pictures of Amy doing lewd things that Zonic had forced her to take while in a relationship with him. There were photos of her nude body, photos of her being forced to give oral sex, and photos of her having sex with Zonic.
Amy placed her hands over her mouth as she walked towards the photos, humiliated by the sight of them. She began to choke back tears.
In the hall, Shadow was eager to burst into her room to see what exactly had been done. He could hear Amy choking back sobs only making him more anxious to see inside her room. "What's going on?" he growled, becoming irritated.
Amy came out of her bedroom and closed the door behind her to conceal the destruction. She pressed her back against her shut door and closed her eyes. "H-he was here," she explained in a shaky voice.
Shadow's eyes widened knowing exactly who he was. "What? How do you know?"
Amy bowed her head looked to the floor feeling shame. "Because he wrote 'whore' on my wall and put all the disgusting photographs he forced me to take while we were dating," she answered in embarrassment. "He destroyed my personal belongings…"
Rouge wrapped her arms around Amy to console her as she broke further down. "Don't worry sweetheart. We're going to report this to the police. They'll come to take the evidence and then I'll help you clean up your room," she assured.
Shadow's fists tightened at his sides hearing the news. That bastard had broken into their place again? And done this? "That fucking piece of-"
"Shadow, what's going on up here?" Knuckles asked as he spotted Amy sobbing in front of her bedroom door with Rouge tending to her.
"That A.T.F agent broke in again and fucked around with her room," Shadow explained, heading past him and down the stairs.
The echidna watched the pissed-off dark hedgehog charge past him. "Hey, where are you going, man?"
"I'm going to deal with him one last time," he stated heading down the stairs.
Knuckles followed after him. "Bro, you don't have to do that. We can just call Silver to deal with him!" He got down to the bottom of the stairs by the time Shadow was opening the front door.
"No, he needs to get the message personally." With that, Shadow slammed the door behind him.
Mephiles and Manic came out of the living room after hearing all the chaos. The two looked confused towards the red echidna at the bottom of the stairs. "Where did my brother run off to now?" Mephiles inquired.
"…To make a huge mistake," Knuckles replied.
•~•
Early the next morning in town, Agent Zonic sat in the same diner that Amy and Shadow had visited a few days prior. He hummed to himself in the surprisingly quiet diner as he enjoyed his quiet time. It was pretty early in the morning, and there were only a few other patrons dining in. As he sat in one of the lone booths in the diner, he read the newspaper and sipped on some freshly brewed coffee.
The door to the diner jingled as a new customer came in, but Zonic paid no attention to the mundane sound. However, he was surprised when he heard footsteps approach his table and stop behind him. He turned his head as he felt a presence and glanced up only to come face to face with a very annoyed-looking Shadow. It had taken him some time, but Shadow had finally managed to track him down. "Shit…" Zonic whispered tensing up, knowing exactly why he was there.
Shadow smiled darkly. "Remember what I said would happen if you didn't stay away from her?" He reached for Zonic by the collar and yanked him out of the booth and chucked him over another booth, making him crash into dirty plates and dishes left on the other table nearby. The few other patrons that were there, stared on at the display interrupting their early morning. Even the one waitress and cook in the back watched on in awe at the spectacle.
In the meantime, Zonic quickly recovered with a groan from impact. He had a few scratches and cuts, but he was ready to rebound. He reached into his pocket discreetly as Shadow came marching towards him.
"I told you to stay the hell away from her!" he shouted grabbing him by the shirt again, but Zonic swiftly stabbed Shadow in the upper left thigh with a switchblade. Shadow screamed out as he felt the blade sink deep in his thigh and threw a punch towards Zonic's face, making him fly towards the floor.
Shadow hobbled on one leg as he assessed his damage and gripped the knife and ripped it out of his leg. Zonic, getting his bearings from the powerful strike to the cheek, staggered to his feet and charged towards Shadow as he was distracted and tackled him to the ground. The two hedgehogs rolled around on the diner floor punching, kicking, and jabbing each other. Somehow though, Shadow managed to use his good leg to pry Zonic off of him and kicked him back. In the background, the cook quickly whipped out his cellphone and dialed 911.
Zonic slammed the back of his head into a table and was stunned momentarily. At that same time, Shadow groaned and rolled over onto his hands and knees and lifted himself up. He slowly made his way towards Zonic as he was sat on the floor, dragging his bad and bloodied leg along the way. Zonic looked up and watched as Shadow grabbed him by the arm lifting him up to face him. "I told you I didn't want to see your smug ass around her anymore. Now, get the hell out of Mercia!" he shouted grabbing him and throwing him full force through the front glass door of the restaurant.
•~•
Several hours later, sitting in Silver's office, a bloodied and bruised Zonic sat in a chair across from Silver's desk as the young grey hedgehog leaned his backside against the front of his desk. Sitting beside Zonic was Agent Blaze who stared at the fellow A.T.F agent in disgust. Seeing the two officers staring at him with judgment, Zonic huffed as his fingers dug into the leather of the armrest. "This is some bullshit," Zonic started. "He attacked me first."
"Not now, agent," Silver dissuaded.
"He attacked you after you stabbed him in the leg, right?" Blaze passively clarified.
"Yeah," he confirmed in insult. "Before he threw me through a fucking glass door!"
Blaze glanced down at some paperwork in her lap momentarily. "I don't think Shadow will be pressing charges."
Zonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, wow, fantastic. I'm so lucky!" he mumbled sarcastically.
"Yes, but you will be facing charges in Tech City for violating a restraining order," Blaze piped in looking down at a notepad on her lap.
Zonic bit his lower lip in silence for a moment. He knew what they were both thinking at the moment. "Look, I'm not stalking Amy. I'm just trying to protect her," he justified. Both Silver and Blaze exchanged looks in silence and Zonic was quick to pick up on their silent exchange. He scoffed in frustration. "Oh, come on, we all know what happens if she links herself with that group." He looked between them. "You know I'm right. Guys, we're all on the same team here."
Blaze shook her head in pity. "No Zonic, not anymore…You've breached half a dozen rules and made countless violations. I hope that the stalking was a good rush because it just killed your career."
Zonic bowed his head in angst and Blaze slowly rose from her seat. Suddenly, Zonic lifted his head and his eyes followed after her. "Wait," he called, forcing Blaze to stop behind him. She backed up to look down at him. "Amy came here because she was scared of me," he confessed. "It's my fault that she's even involved herself with these guys. Please, I can't stop her from making this mistake, but you guys can."
"So, is it true you broke into her residency last night and destroyed her room and left pornographic images you had taken of her as a threat?" Silver questioned sternly.
Zonic went to open his mouth to come up with some sort of excuse but shut his mouth and looked away.
"It's no wonder she's afraid of you, agent," Silver added. "Why would you think using these methods would win her back?"
He shrugged and sighed. "I-I don't know. All I know is that I love her…"
•~•
A few minutes later, Blaze sat in an interrogation room with Shadow and Detective Vector while she gathered more details about the incident earlier that day between him and Agent Zonic. The cat paced back and forth as she read from a folder. "Witnesses claim that they saw Agent Zonic attack you with a switchblade?" Agent Blaze questioned as she looked up from her briefing notes.
"Yeah, that's right," Shadow nodded as he sat at the table.
"And the witnesses also claim they saw you push him through a glass window?" she asked.
"Glassdoor, actually," he clarified before shrugging nonchalantly. "But if that's what witnesses saw then that's what must've happened."
Blaze sighed and sat down on the other side of the table. Deep down, she knew this was a bullshit story. These witnesses were just protecting him, but why? "Tell me, are they all just afraid of you to make these claims, or are you some type of hero in their eyes?"
Shadow folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his seat, unfazed by her frustration. "Are you charging me, ma'am?"
She shook her head slowly. "No charge, but one last question," she segued. "Why does Agent Zonic hold such an agenda against you?"
Shadow shifted in his seat slightly. "You know already."
Blaze smiled arrogantly. "You're right, I do. It's Amy Rose. She joins an infamous biker gang that she knows would have no fear of putting a federal agent through a glass door, right?"
Shadow sighed and looked bored as he picked off a bit of fuzz off his pants. "You done, lady?"
"Yeah, she is done," Vector finally piped up, having seen enough. Vector gestured for Shadow to get up. "Come on Shadow, you're done here." Blaze watched as Shadow rose from his seat. Vector walked over to the door and opened it up for the hedgehog. With that, Shadow hobbled out of the interrogation room.
•~•
Ten minutes later, Shadow sat stationed on his motorcycle outside the police prescient as he waited patiently for Agent Zonic to be escorted out of the office. After what felt like eternity, a few officers led the agent down the steps of the station and towards a police car. Shadow turned on his ignition and placed his sunglasses on while he watched the officers get into the car with Zonic.
Moments later, the car backed up and headed out of the parking lot. Shadow revved his handles and followed closely behind the police car carrying Agent Zonic. As the police car drove down the road, Shadow made sure to follow it for its entire distance. He only stopped following the car once he saw the police car go past the sign that said, "You are now leaving, Mercia."
"Good riddance," he muttered.
•~•