•~•

Amy sat at a metal desk inside the interrogation room while she waited to be questioned. She stared at the mirrored window to her left, wondering just who exactly was watching her from the other side at that very moment. She also wondered just precisely why she had been brought in for questioning in the first place. Her worst fear was that they had found Zonic's body and were here to accuse her of his murder. She tried to push the worst fears out of her mind. Maybe it had to do with whatever happened last night with the boys. She thanked Shadow for not letting her in on the details of their evil deeds. He was right; the less she knew, the better.

Suddenly, the door opened to the interrogation room, and Agent Blaze stepped inside carrying a folder, a pad of paper, and a pen. Amy watched as the purple cat shut the door behind her, leaving just the two of them alone together. "Ms. Rose, it seems the universe keeps bringing us together," Blaze grinned triumphantly. She walked over and sat down across the table from her.

Amy seemed slightly unamused by her comment. "You believe the universe is responsible for this? More like you enjoy bringing us together."

Blaze organized her folders on the table, sensing a more confident hedgehog sitting before her from before. "Well, it's lovely seeing you, too," Blaze replied, hearing the hint of sarcasm in her tone previously.

"Why am I here in the first place?" Amy asked sternly.

"Because I'm concerned about your welfare, Ms. Rose. This is a serious matter I cannot ignore. Now, previously I offered you a deal to help with your past R.O. However, it seems that matter has become more complicated."

Amy scoffed at the idea that she gave an ounce of concern over her wellbeing. She knew exactly what type of person Blaze was. She was just an agent paid well to do her job and get the bad guys put away. "You expect me to believe you care about me?"

Blaze intertwined her fingers together and rested them on the tabletop as she tilted her head at Amy. Her eyes shifted to look at her left cheek. "When did you get that bruise, Ms. Rose?" she asked calmly.

Amy reached up and touched her face, completely forgetting about the fading welt. She had been using makeup to cover it, but of course, the one day she chose not to wear makeup, she was now being questioned over it. "Oh, it happened a few days ago," she answered.

Blaze looked intrigued to learn more about its origin. "What happened?" she continued to probe.

With quick thinking, Amy remembered when the gang had taken her out to a bar in town. A group had gotten into a fight with the entire crew. She could scapegoat the bruise on that fight—even though she hadn't received the bruise there, it was a good enough cover story. She would not let Agent Blaze know she had been in contact with Zonic. "I was at a bar in town, and we ran into a rowdier bunch. Things got a little heated, and I got caught in the crossfire of a bar fight."

"My goodness," Blaze replied, trying to sound concerned. "Did you report the fight to the local authorities?"

She nodded, continuing to lie. "Yes, it was reported."

Blaze reached for her pen and clicked down on it. "Mind if I get the name of the bar it occurred at? I'd like to cross-reference the incident with my report."

Amy froze as the name of the bar completely slipped her mind. "Um, I'll have to get back to you on that. I forgot the name of the place…"

"Of course, I understand. You are still new to Mercia after all," she brushed off. "Tell me, did Deputy Silver inform you that Agent Zonic never returned to Tech City, correct?"

She nodded. "…Yeah, he did."

She jotted down some notes on her notepad. "And you still have not crossed paths with Agent Zonic since that notice?"

She shook her head, continuing to lie. "No, thankfully, I haven't seen him again."

Blaze lowered her pen and chuckled. "It's funny. He risked his entire career because he was so deeply in love with you. Strangely, he hasn't attempted to make contact with you again. I mean, what's stopping him? The Brothers of Chaos certainly didn't stop his attempts at trying to reach you," she noted.

Although she wasn't saying it, Amy knew Blaze implied much more. She had a feeling the feline had suspicions that he had indeed come in contact with Amy since his M.I.A. status. However, she had to remain composed to keep her from thinking otherwise. "He's probably halfway around the world at this point. Knowing Zonic, he won't want to go down for his crimes. He's always been proud."

"…Perhaps," Blaze shrugged. "It'll be quite interesting to see just where he turns up," she emphasized knowingly before transitioning topics. "Now, back to why I've brought you here today. You've been living with the Brothers of Chaos for at least five months now, correct?"

Amy crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. "Yes, that's right."

"A while ago, you told me you had never seen or witnessed any illegal activity occur in their household. Is that right?"

"That's right," she nodded.

Blaze cleared her throat and leaned in closer. "Are you still standing by your claim that they harbor no ties to illegal activity?"

Amy's brows furrowed in annoyance. "I'm telling you the truth when I say I have never seen them do anything illegal. All they do is hang around the compound fixing vehicles," she replied sternly.

"You know, Ms. Rose, you're knowledgeable, and I've done a lot of research on your past," she began. "Your parents both died when you were very young in a car accident, am I correct?"

Amy felt her ears droop at the thought of her parents. "Yes…"

Blaze lifted her file and allowed her eyes to skim the documents. "You attended Acorn University and graduated top of your class; then you got your first job at Tech City Hospital as an RN. You lived with your Cousin Rob O' Hedge and his wife Mari Ann for some time before you went to college." Amy's eyes shifted uncomfortably down towards the floor, but Blaze continued with her probing.

Amy felt herself growing frustrated with her beating around the bush. "Just what exactly does any of this have to do with your questions regarding the guys I work for?"

"You don't belong with these people. Just what exactly do you expect to gain by loitering around these hardened criminals? You could be at any hospital of your choice making money, helping people, and living your dream," Blaze tried to explain.

"I have nothing to gain living with them," she answered. "As for working at the hospital, I fully intend to return to my practice once I finish earning my doctoral degree," she explained.

"Speaking of practice," Blaze pivoted. "I know you claimed you're working as their alleged housekeeper, but our surveillance evidence suggests otherwise."

"Excuse me?" Amy's ears perked in alert. "What are you talking about?"

Blaze pulled out three photographs and laid them out on the table before her. "We've been watching the Brothers for a couple of weeks now, trying to monitor their movements. However, I couldn't help but wonder why you were dressed in nurse scrubs if you're currently not practicing as a nurse, nor are you working at any local hospitals."

Amy stared down at the three images and felt her stomach drop. One of them was her standing out on the front porch talking to Mighty and Manic. Another was of her walking around the compound alone, and finally, the third image was of her returning home from the night she had been asked to help save Mammoth Mogul's life. Amy sat back in her seat and looked away, unable to find a good excuse on the spot. "I-I refuse to make any further comments."

"I know you desperately want to be a surgeon doctor, Ms. Rose, but I think that dream may be long gone at this rate. I mean, think about it…you still have that nasty misconduct demeanor from assaulting an officer on your record, and now you may have a nursing malpractice on your hand. Are you licensed or registered to work in that form of practice without being in a hospital setting?"

Amy bowed her head. "No comment."

"You know, it could be even worse if we find evidence that you were in collaboration from not filing a gunshot wound," she hinted.

"No comment," Amy replied once again.

"I could make this all go away for you, Ms. Rose, if you just helped me out with any type of evidence to prove that these guys are doing illegal activity," she pledged. "I could make your record squeaky clean again and look the other way with your current position in aiding the Brothers medically." She reached into her pocket and slid over her card. "Just contact me the moment you think of something," she winked. Amy watched as Blaze rose from her seat and headed for the door. "I know we'll be in touch again."

•~•

With the remaining crew, the group held an emergency meeting to discuss their latest situation at the compound. The two detectives stood by the table a part of the meeting. Mephiles sat at the head seat at the end of the table, while Shadow, Mighty, Locke, and Gadget sat on each side. Vector and Espio dropped by the house to catch them up with what little information they held.

"The bitch booted both Esp and me out the door because of our connection to you guys," Vector stated. "She knows we have a relationship with you, and she said it'll interfere with her investigation."

"So, you two have no idea why she brought in the girls?" Mephiles questioned.

"The only thing I could fathom is her using scare tactics to get them to spill intel," Espio deduced. "Agent Blaze will do whatever it takes to take this M.C down. Her supervisor is on her case for this to be achieved."

"…Shit," Mephiles cursed. "The only one I'm concerned about is the doctor. She's seen a lot of shit lately, and I don't know if she knows our protocol."

Shadow looked over to his brother. "She's already been put in a situation where she was pressured to rat, and she didn't then. She's proved her loyalty to us, and I trust her. She won't betray us."

"Yes, perhaps so, but imagine what dirt this A.T.F will pull to get her to do what she wants," Mephiles argued.

"I'm with Shadow on this one," Mighty piped in. "Ames is one tough chick; I don't think she'll budge."

"Very well," Mephiles sighed. "That leaves Rouge. Do we have any concerns with her potentially ratting us out?"

"I highly doubt Rouge would do anything to jeopardize this club. She's been with us practically day one. She knows what to do in this scenario," Shadow reminded.

"Yeah, but they've got Knuckles in there to threaten her with. Anything that could potentially happen to him can be used against her," Mephiles reminded.

"My son will not rat," Locke stated firmly and pounded the side of his fist on the table. "I don't even like the fact that you all are even speculating that he would."

"He's right," Mighty cut in. "Let's not worry about people ratting us out; I have faith in both girls. We need to worry about what evidence they have against our boys," he stated. "Do they have enough shit to put Manic and Knuckles away for good?" he asked, looking to both Espio and Vector.

"Both of us were at the crime scene last night. We missed them on surveillance, but there was an eyewitness who saw and identified Manic take the shot," Vector explained.

Mephiles glared down the table at Gadget in disappointment. "How is this possible, Rookie?"

Gadget shrugged and gulped nervously. "I-I don't know, sir. I was the getaway driver. I wasn't there when it happened. They both informed me they had no witnesses as we made our exit."

Shadow looked over to the detectives. "Do you guys know who the witness is?"

Vector and Espio eyed each other. "We don't, unfortunately," Vector replied. "Bitch A.T.F kicked us off the scene before we could get all the details. She's also excluded us from any of the files or paperwork on the case."

Mighty bowed his head. "Damn it…"

"Well, then there's nothing we can do exactly at this moment," Mephiles stated. "All we can do is wait."

•~•

Back at the police station, it was now Rouge's turn to face Blaze's interrogation. The white bat sat in the same room Amy had been stationed in for questioning. Rouge kept her arms crossed over her chest and bounced her leg draped over the other. She had been sitting in the room for some time now and was starting to get anxious from the wait. She just wanted to get the questioning over with so she could get the hell out of there.

Eventually, the door opened, and Agent Blaze strolled in with the same material she had when doing Amy's questioning. "Good afternoon, Ms. Rouge," she announced. "I don't think we've ever had a proper introduction, but I'm Agent Blaze, A.T.F."

Rouge watched as the purple cat gracefully sat down across from her and opened up her case file. "So, according to your file, you've had your run-ins with the law once or twice."

"Excuse me, but are you charging me of a crime or not?" the bat questioned sharply.

Blaze looked up from the file and shook her head. "Not at all, Ms. Rouge."

"Then release me!" she demanded, slamming her hands down on the table.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that," Blaze remained expressionless as the bat tried to jolt her. "I'm simply just trying to review your history." Her eyes glanced back at the document. "You were in prison for a couple of years for jewel theft."

Rouge looked away. "I don't do that type of stuff anymore. I'm a reformed gal, sweetheart," she said venomously.

Blaze's finger stopped on some information. "Yes, it turns out that you stopped all acts of criminal activity the same year you met Knuckles the Echidna."

"If that's what it claims, so be it," she shrugged with a hand wave.

"You and Knuckles dated for three years before tying the knot. You've been with each other for five years. That's quite outstanding," Blaze noted.

"Are you trying to say you're surprised we were able to remain faithful to one another for that long? How rude," she huffed.

"My apologies, allow me to move on," she dismissed. "You have quite the outstanding debt here. You still owe 150k in lawyer fees. You must have had quite the prodigious lawyer to help keep your prison sentence to a minimum of three years. Normally people with this crime get around twelve years."

"As you suggested, I knew the right people to help me out."

"I'm sure that debt is quite stressful to have to linger over your head. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it were all to disappear?" Blaze smiled coyly.

Rouge's ear perked. "You're trying to buy me off, so I'll rat, aren't you?"

She chuckled lowly. "I'm just trying to scratch your back if you'll scratch mine, Ms. Rouge."

"Oh, I'll scratch something alright—more like your face." She shook a finger in her face. "Don't even bother with that move. It won't work on me, sweetheart!"

Blaze ignored her comments and continued. "So, what do you know about your husband's involvement in the murder of Amadeus Prowler?" she questioned.

"Absolutely nothing," she replied.

She reached for her pad of paper and dragged it closer to her. "Do you know where he was between the times of 8 PM to 9 PM yesterday evening?"

"He was out at the bar with his friends. They always go drinking on Sundays," she stated calmly while lying through her teeth.

Blaze jotted down her comments on her pad of paper. "Ah-huh, I see, and when did he return that night?"

"Around 10 PM," she replied.

"Right…" Blaze lowered her pen down and laid it on the table. "Ms. Rouge, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"I doubt you'll mind even if I tell you to go fuck yourself."

"Manners, Ms. Rouge," Blaze tsked. "Do you want to start a family with your husband?"

"Of course, I do," she snapped.

"Well, at this rate, it won't be happening anytime soon," she foreshadowed. "Knuckles will be going away for a very long time if it is proven he was responsible for killing Amadeus Prowler. Do you want your husband to go away for up to twenty-five years?"

Rouge shook her head. "Hell no, I don't, but I know he didn't do it."

Blaze intertwined her fingers together. "Ms. Rouge, I know you know a lot more than you're letting on. If you help me out, I assure you I can help make sure your husband receives a lesser sentence, but at this rate, he'll be in prison for a while," she emphasized.

Rouge rose from her seat and leaned both hands on the table as she stared down at the cat. "This M.C is my family, and I will not throw anyone under the bus to aid my husband," she stated sternly. "I know what you're trying to pull here, and it won't work."

Blaze remained calm and rose from her seat, and gathered her belongings. "Very well, Ms. Rouge, good day." With that, she walked out of the room, leaving her alone.

Outside in the room hall, Deputy Silver strolled out from the observation room as he had watched the entire thing unfold. "Looks like Rouge was a bust, too. What's your next step?"

Blaze placed one hand on her hip confidently. "I don't think Rouge will be a bust at all. I have another idea in mind with her outstanding debt…"

•~•

Next to interrogate was none other than Knuckles the Echidna himself. Once again, he was stationed in the same interrogation room Amy and Rouge had been held in. Blaze sat across from the red echidna as he calmly remained in the seat across the table from her. "Why am I here exactly?" Knuckles questioned.

Blaze pulled out a rendered drawing of his mugshot and slid it across the table from him. "Well, a witness at the crime scene said they saw two males. One echidna and one hedgehog. This is the one they had drawn of you. Doesn't it strike a close resemblance?"

Knuckles looked down at the image of himself and studied the details of the picture. He had to admit, whoever had seen him had definitely been in close enough range to see his face with accuracy. He leaned back after eying the picture. "Looks nothing like me," he shrugged, denying any connection.

Blaze smirked, knowing well he couldn't deny the identical similarities. "Well, I suppose it could be subjective from your point of view. However, in court with the witness there, it won't be difficult to convince the jury."

"I didn't do anything wrong," he stated adamantly.

"Perhaps you didn't pull the trigger, as our witness claims. However, you were an accomplice to the crime, which makes you guilty," she reminded.

"I want a lawyer," he demanded.

Blaze chuckled. "If you can afford a lawyer," she rebutted. "Based on your bank account, you've not got the best credit report."

Knuckles draped one arm over the back of his chair. "Do you get a sense of pleasure looking at my shitty finances?"

"Not at all, Mr. Echidna, but I need you to trust me."

Knuckles scoffed. "No way in hell would I ever trust you, lady."

"That's funny," she noted. "Your wife seemed to trust me perfectly well earlier today," she blatantly lied.

Knuckles perked up, at first, surprised to hear the possibility of his wife making a deal with the feds. "What are you talking about?"

"Rouge also had outstanding debt in her corner. I offered to rid all her debts if she would testify against the Brothers of Chaos in their illegal arms trade. She told me she'd only accept if I cleared the debt and kept you out of jail and placed the two of you in the witness protection plan," she explained.

Knuckles blinked in surprise as he absorbed all the information. Could Rouge really have pulled something off like this? No. There was no way she would do it. He shut his eyes and shook his head. "No, you're bluffing straight through your teeth," he hissed.

Blaze pulled out some paperwork and slid it over the table for him to look at. "As you can see right here, I've already wired the money to her account to clear all debt. I'll be moving both of you into W.P.P within the next hour or so."

Knuckles rose from his seat, clutching the paperwork in his hands in disbelief. "Rouge would never do something like this. This can't be happening..."

Blaze remained in her seat and smiled. "Well, it is, Mr. Echidna. The M.C will be finally dealt with as planned."

•~•

A few hours later, Amy was taken home and dropped off by some A.T.F officials. She walked back up the steps to the front porch and opened the front door. "I'm back!" she called, shutting the door behind her. Just as she entered the house, Shadow quickly rushed into the room and embraced her the moment she walked in the door. Amy blushed, feeling enclosed in his arms, smiled appreciatively at his concern, and returned his hug. "…Shadow."

He held her tight in his arms, relieved to see her back safe and sound. "Shit Rose, I was worried sick." He pulled back from his embrace, and Amy watched as he cupped her face softly as his red eyes trailed over her in concern. "What the hell did they want with you?"

She looked up at him and placed one of her hands over his. "Um, let's discuss it with the others in the living room."

"—Not yet," another voice intervened, causing the two of them to look over at the dark MC president standing in the entrance to the living room. Mephiles snapped his fingers assertively. "Rookie!" he commanded.

Amy blinked in confusion at his glaring gaze—why did he look at her with such suspicion as if he didn't trust her? "Excuse me, what's going on?"

Shadow glared back at his brother. "Yeah, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly Gadget rushed from around the corner carrying a metal box with wires and lights and some sort of sensor device. "Pardon me, Ms. Amy, for a bit of invasion of personal space," he apologized profusely.

Amy watched on, completely confused, as she observed him wave the device slowly around different parts of her body. "Hey, what the heck is going on?"

Gadget did not respond and popped up upright and gave a thumbs up to Mephiles. "She's clear, sir!"

Mephiles nodded slowly, pleased with his findings. "Very good."

Shadow tilted his head towards his brother as he realized what was going on. "You really thought she was wired?"

"You can never be too sure, brother," he shrugged nonchalantly before walking off.

Amy looked at Shadow. "That's what that was all about?"

"Sorry about that, Rose," Shadow apologized before taking her hand in his. The two walked into the living room, where the others were waiting. Shadow and Amy sat down on the couch together while, Mephiles, Mighty, Locke, and Gadget hung out on the other sofas, eagerly awaiting any more information.

"You were gone for quite some time, Ms. Rose," Mephiles noted with his fingertips pressed against each other.

"Yeah, well, they were threatening me into revealing information about you guys."

"What type of threats did that agent throw at you?" Shadow asked curiously.

Amy frowned, thinking back to the agent's words. "She's threatening to take away my nursing certification or prevent me from becoming a doctor," she explained. "She said they've been surveying you guys for a few days now. She knows I'm using illegal medical practices to help the club."

"…Damn it," Shadow cursed. "I never wanted you to be targeted for our crimes."

"She could just be bluffing, though," Mighty chimed in. "She was probably pressing all of you guys down at the station. I wouldn't really worry too much about that threat."

"Speaking of which," Locke segued. "Where the hell is Rouge? I know Manic is the most in danger out of the four of you, but Rouge shouldn't be in as much danger."

"Oh, I saw her and Knuckles before I was dropped off here," Amy replied. "They both were loaded into two separate black SUVs and drove off in a different direction. I tried to speak to them, but the officers refused to let me have any type of conversation."

Everyone looked at each other with concern laced across their expressions. "That doesn't sound too good," Shadow noted gravely.

"Indeed," Mephiles replied, stroking his chin in thought. His paranoia began to kick in. "Rookie," he ordered, making Gadget sit up straighter. "Do some online reconnaissance on both Knuckles and Rouge. Monitor bank accounts and such."

Gadget nodded and hopped off the couch and rushed into the other room to begin his task.

Locke's fists tightened. "Are you kidding me? You really don't trust my son?" he bellowed after hearing Mephiles' request for Gadget.

"It's just a precaution, old man," Mephiles snapped. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

"My son and daughter-in-law would never snitch. Never," he pointed adamantly.

"We have to cover all our bases," Mephiles emphasized. "I would do this same protocol for any other member of this club in the same scenario!"

All eyes focused on the older echidna, who was still fuming. "Ever since your old man died, this club has drastically changed. It's going in a direction I disagree with," he noted. Locke scoffed and fled the room, shaking his head in disappointment. "This is such bullshit!"

Mephiles rolled his eyes at the echidna's retreating figure. "Foolish old man…"

"You're being pretty hard on the guy. You know that," Shadow scolded.

"He's so irritable. I'm just trying to do my job and keep the rest of us out of jail," he justified. "If he doesn't like how I run this M.C., then there's the door," he gestured. "Meeting adjourned." With that said, the president stormed out of the room, leaving just Mighty, Shadow, and Amy alone.

"…Um, so now what happens?" "I know I'm supposed to remain in the dark with your business ventures, but this seems like it's starting to involve me…" Amy asked, turning to look at Shadow.

"I'd rather continue to keep you out of this," Shadow opined. "I think the agent is just targeting you because you have something more of value to threaten. She knows if she threatens your job, you're more than likely to squeal," he explained. "I can assure you this ordeal has no connection to you whatsoever."

Amy's ears went flat against her head, and she looked down and fumbled with her hands nervously. "Yeah, but Shadow…I think she knows about Zonic."

His ears perked up. "What did she say?"

"She noticed my bruise and questioned me on it. I lied about it, but then she said she thought it was weird that Zonic hadn't tried to get in contact with me again since going AWOL. She knows, I just know she does…"

Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're just being paranoid. For all she knows, Zonic could have flown all the way to the other side of the world and is scrambling into hiding. This is just one of her many threat tactics."

Mighty placed both of his arms across the back of the couch, kicking back into a more relaxing pose. "Yeah, she doesn't have shit on Zonic. Gadget, Knuckles, and I made sure to hide his body well," Mighty assured proudly.

•~•

Meanwhile, later that evening, Knuckles was left in another waiting room in an undisclosed location. He had wondered just where the hell he was being transported to. The officers escorting him didn't give him information during the entire journey. Wherever he was now, he knew things were getting majorly serious. He could only imagine what they were putting Rouge through right now.

His mind wandering to the worst possibility was distracted when the door opened up to the waiting room. Knuckles looked relieved when the door opened, and Rouge was allowed inside. The white bat rushed over to Knuckles and embraced him immediately. "Knuckles!" she called.

He embraced her with his broad arms and kissed the top of her head. "Rouge, baby. Are you okay?"

She pulled back slightly from his embrace to look up at him. "I'm fine, but I'm more worried about you. Have you been charged with anything?"

He shook his head. "No, they haven't charged me with anything. But is it true you took a deal from the feds?"

Rouge blinked a few times, shocked that he would even entertain the idea that she'd do such a thing. "No, not at all!"

He released his hold on her, starting to lose trust in her. Was she lying straight to his face? "That agent showed me that your outstanding debt had been cleared. She's wired money over to clear it and everything. She said that you agreed to a deal if it kept both of us safe."

Rouge could see just by his body language and tone that he had his doubts. "Knuckles, you have to believe me. I did nothing as crazy as you think. I kept my mouth shut," she explained, exasperated.

"Then why the hell are we both here in witness protection?" he shot back accusingly.

Rouge looked around the room in confusion. "Wait, that's where we are? Witness protection?"

He nodded. "The deal was you'd have testified against the M.C if your debt was cleared, I stayed out of jail, and we were put into the W.P.P."

"Knuckles, hun, you've got to believe me. I-I didn't agree to this at all!" she emphasized strongly. "This has to be some sort of mistake."

Knuckles stared at Rouge's desperation for her to believe him until something else dawned on him. He turned around, looking deep in thought. "Wait for a second…"

Rouge watched as he had his back turned to her. "What?"

"I think this might be a setup," Knuckles deduced. "I think that agent wants us to lose trust in each other. I mean, just look at the two of us. If I don't trust you now, just think what the others will believe when they find out what happened to us."

Rouge covered her mouth with her hands, realizing that Agent Blaze made them look like the fall guys. "She can't do this to us!"

"She can, and she already has. I'll give her that. She's pretty clever. She wants the club to lose any trust in us. She knows they'll retaliate against us if they find out we ratted, which will just reveal their cards to the feds from our sudden and unexpected deaths."

"She's made us nothing but pawns to take down the M.C?" Rouge gasped.

"Yeah, and we have no means of contacting the others to let them in on their plan. We'll have to hope they can figure out this is all a big scam."

"Can't we just convince them we're innocent once we're out of here?" she countered.

"We can try, but with all the smokescreens and evidence she's built against us, it's going to be very hard to convince them. Even I'd have my second guess if this happened to any other one of our members," he explained.

Rouge sunk to her knees, feeling sick to her stomach. "Fuck that bitch," she croaked.

Knuckles knelt to her level. "Don't worry, babe, I'm going to figure a way out of this. Just you wait," he promised.

From the other side of the mirrored glass, Agent Blaze and Deputy Silver had been eavesdropping in and listening to them the entire time. She chuckled lowly and shook her head in pity. "Turns out Knuckles isn't as slow as I thought. He's caught right onto my plan, but it'll be challenging to get his way back into the good graces of his club."

Silver stood next to her, having also observed their private conversation. "I don't like this, Blaze. What if this plan backfires?"

Blaze shot Silver a look of incredulousness. "There's no way anything can go wrong. I've pinned this plan down perfectly."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just worried someone is going to hurt, and it won't be the intended person you're hoping for," he theorized.

"You're overthinking it, deputy." She glanced down at her watch, noticing the time. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to visit Prison Island to speak with Manic about his sentencing."

•~•

Prison Island – Holding Room

Manic sat in handcuffs in his new orange jumpsuit at a round metal bench table as he waited to speak with Agent Blaze. The purple cat entered the holding room, where two guards stationed themselves in either corner behind Manic to keep watch. She sauntered over to the table and sat down across from him.

"Well, Manic, you killed a very high-ranking businessman," Blaze tsked.

Manic remained calm as he stared across the table at her. "I didn't kill anybody, and whoever the hell said I did is lying, straight up. If you want to talk to anybody else, contact my lawyer."

"Hm, if my witness' statement is a lie, then maybe you should hear all of it," she tempted coyly.

Manic shrugged and smiled charmingly, deciding he'd play along. "Sure, yeah, I like a good make-believe story from time to time."

"Very well," Blaze replied before she opened up her file. Her eyes glanced down into the manila folder, and she began to read. "Amadeus left the motel room where he turned only to see you with a gun. You aimed your gun at his chest and fired one round." Blaze took a quick peek from her file to assess Manic's expression. He looked as if he struggled to maintain a neutral expression, telling her the statement was accurate. "Amadeus fell, and you and Knuckles fled the second floor and scene of the crime where you met Gadget as the getaway driver," she finished, making up the last bit about the getaway.

"…Wow." Manic did a slow clap and tried to act like the whole thing was a fabrication to the best of his ability. "That is some great fan fiction. Who's the author, lady?"

Blaze narrowed her eyes at the green hedgehog, not appreciating his sarcasm. "Eyewitness non-fiction," she corrected. "Thankfully, the witness' identity remains confidential for now." She rose from her seat and collected her belongings. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, but I'll see you in a few days. I'll allow you to brew on this witnesses' testimony."

Manic watched as Blaze strolled out of the room. The two guards standing post walked over and lifted him out of his seat, and escorted him out of the room and back to his cell. While he was walking back, he couldn't help but wonder who the witness was. No one on the second floor of that motel could've known that crucial detail. Whoever it was sure learned a lot of critical information that happened that day. However, the one thing that continually bugged him was that whoever witnessed this knew precisely who the getaway driver was. Which made him wonder, did Knuckles actually snitch?