Whoo update, and honestly I stayed up till 1am to get this done before I go on holiday. Why do I have to write so much? Anyways I just want to give a big big massive thank you for the butt load of reviews on the last chapter. It was a lot more then I expected and it really helped spur me on to update quicker. Thank you guys so much, I appreciate it all!

Warning of mature content in this chapter, Shadow being a nasty pasty again tut tut.

Hope you enjoy ;)

Two years later.

It was beyond midnight, out in the middle of nowhere and nothing more to do then wait. Shadow was not one to succumb to boredom, but this was an exception. The target; a dealer illegally selling lethal poisons and drugs on the black market, suspected for arson and attempted murder. The location; a wooden shed, in the middle of a forest. The police have attempted to apprehend the man many times, each failing miserably. The case was then passed on to G.U.N, as the crimes were getting more severe. Even they however, failed in catching the man responsible. So, what happens when the pathetic humans can't deal with their own kind? They recruit agent Shadow. Not that he had any better cases to work on. At first, he had no interest in such a mission, however recent evidence showed that this wasn't an independent criminal, and when considering the link, he knew this was the closest chance he had.

So, Shadow took his orders and waited in the forest, behind a tree, with a several agents on hand to back him up, not that he needed it. The gun was steady in his hands, loaded and ready at the pull of the trigger, which his finger supported eagerly. Or rather it had been, five hours ago, when he first arrived.

The target was scheduled to arrive at the shed for late afternoon, and he was nowhere to be seen. This didn't mean that they could give up and go home however, they had to wait it out until he showed. With an ample sigh, Shadow was sat on the grass with his arms crossed, gun resting next to him.

"This is pointless, he's not going to show up!" a soldier whispered, obviously complaining as he was on lookout duty, and was feeling as disheartened as everyone else.

Shadow looked at him, and with one glare from his crimson eyes the soldier gulped and kept quiet, going back to watching. "He will come" was all Shadow said.

He had confidence in their plan (his plan). This was the targets work place, if he was going to do a job he'd have to come here first. That was when they would strike.

It wasn't until another hour though until the sound of a motorbike engine hissed in the distance. Shadow's ears picked up, and he was quick to his feet, gun back in his hand. The soldiers were quick to act, getting back into position, raising their bullet proof shields and readying their guns. From that one noise, everyone had snapped awake, and focused again on their mission.

Shadow was ready, he needed this man alive. He needed him to talk.

A light twisted past the trees, the sound of an engine getting louder. Everyone was silent, keeping out of sight as a motorbike rode up to the shed, stopping by the door. The man got off the bike, his face concealed by the low drawn hood on his jacket. He walked up to the shed, boots crunching along the dried grass.

Finally, they had him.

"FREEZE!"

Startled the man turned around. He was faced with the G.U.N army, shields risen high and red lasers from their guns aimed directly at him.

He may have had a trick up his sleeve or so, but just as he was about to reach into his jacket, a light emitted from behind. He looked just in time to see Shadow swing at kick at his head, pushing him to the ground and causing the hood to fall back.

Just as suspected.

The man's eyes were completely removed. In their place was a machine. Robotic eyes, black as the night, with holographic red irises.

The criminal made no effort to hide them. He growled out wildly, his artificial eyes dilating and sparking as he did so.

Shadow kicked into his ribcage, gun aimed and readied. He had waited too long for this moment, and he wasn't going to fail. "Where is Eggman?" he forcefully asked.

When the criminal didn't answer, he kicked him again. The man coughed, blood spitting from his lips. Shadow was losing his patience. Kneeling, he placed the gun against the nip of the neck, but the criminal never flinched. "I will not ask you again. Tell me where Eggman is, or die" he dug the gun into the skin, his voice intimidating and dangerous.

Yet, all the criminal did was laughed.

Raising his brow, Shadow held back slightly as the man turned his head, red eyes meeting red. The smile, drowned in blood, was unsettling, and Shadow scowled as he held the gun out once again.

"Don't worry… I'll save you the guilt."

"NOOO!"

It was too late. The criminal had lurched forward, hand grabbing the gun and forcing Shadow to pull the trigger. He laid there, drawing his final breath, before his holographic eyes faded to black.

The soldiers lowered their weapons, rushing over to check on the body.

Shadow stood back and let them, his mind uncaring for such a pointless task. He couldn't stop his fists from shaking, fists balled up too tightly as if he were trying to snap someone's neck. He was staring at the ground, teeth bared and seething uncontrollably. There was too much anger for him to contain anymore. Shadow threw his gun down, and threw his fist into the nearest tree. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he cursed, fists going back and forth into the unfortunate tree, slices of bark showering as he did so.

"I was so close! I needed him alive!"

It was near morning, and everyone involved with the mission still had no chance to sleep.

No matter how an operation was carried out, paper work would always be mandatory. There was no exception for Agent Shadow either, who sat at a desk with his slammed against the table, buried under piles and piles of paper. There was only him there, it wasn't his official base and so therefore was given a temporary private office while he assisted on missions. Now, he was glad for the privacy, no one would be able to hear the light snoring against the desk, or see the drool puddle for that matter.

So he thought anyway.

"Well isn't that just precious" a deep, flirtatious voice said.

Being a light sleeper, Shadow picked up on the intrusion and shot up from his desk, an uncharacteristic snort coming from his nose. He quickly straightened his papers, trying to cover the fact he had been sleeping. What didn't help however was the piece of paper stuck to his face, which he angrily grabbed and crumpled into a ball.

After witnessing such a sight, how could the intruder not laugh.

Shadow furrowed his brow at her, growling lowly as he often did. "What do you want?"

The white bat moved away from the door, closing it behind her before pouting her lips, "Why sweetie, do I need a reason to visit a friend?" she teased.

It was not appreciated as Shadow attempted to get back to his work. "Yes. If you don't have anything useful to tell me then get out."

Rouge sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "Always business with you, isn't it? I heard about what happened, the bad guy took the easy way out" she said, sitting herself down on the side of the desk, despite there being chairs.

Shadow was quiet at first, closing his eyes as if he was meditating. "I was so close this time. We've never known how Eggman operates until recent events. If he's been using people then we could have taken them in and get them to talk, but so far not one of them have made it back alive. I don't understand why they all chose to die rather than talk."

Rouge looked past the black hedgehog and down to the previous reports that had been written up, regarding these cases. She picked one of them up, carelessly skimming over it. "I don't know what to tell you Shadow. You've spent nearly your whole career trying to track this Eggman down, even to the point of putting yourself in ruin. We don't know what he's fully capable of, maybe there really is a fate worse than death."

It was good point, but Shadow still wasn't convinced. "There has to be someone willing to make a deal. This doesn't make any sense."

"Sweetie, this whole case doesn't make sense. One minute he's using robots, the next it's convicted criminals, then it's robots again… There just doesn't seem to be a consistent enough pattern to connect these crimes to Eggman."

"It is Eggman! There's nothing more to it!" Shadow snapped, standing up and walking towards the door, done with this conversation.

Rouge smiled, following right behind. "Oh please, when was there a crime you didn't think was Eggman, even after catching the criminal. Face it, you don't have a good enough lead. In fact it's so rare for you to find a genuine lead because you go around accusing every criminal of working for Eggman that no one can tell if they are or not. I think even the suspects get confused if they are or not. This was your only real case in the past six months."

Shadow kept on walking, trying to ignore her at first, but feeling sucked into the argument due to a point needing to be made. "I have substantial leads that will eventually get me to Eggman."

"Reeeaaally?" the bat laughed, knowing that no matter how serious and intimidating Shadow may look, he had nothing to back up his argument. "Name one that didn't just pull the trigger on himself."

"…"

"Ha! Looks like I was right, oh what a surprise" she joked, linking her arm with Shadow's, who gave a warning in the form of a glare, but as usual she didn't heed it. "Aww don't be like that sweetie. After all I have good news. The Commander needs you at HQ in Station Square."

Shadow stopped walking and turned to her. "Why?"

Rouge grinned, preparing herself for the face that no doubt Shadow would make, and not wanting to miss it. She imagined it will be like a child getting a puppy on Christmas day after being told for months he would never get one. "Let's just say we found a lead, and this one is also weird enough to be linked to Eggman."

It wasn't the face she had hoped for, but she could have sworn there was the slightest hint of a smile.

Station Square. One of the largest cities in South Hill. And that naturally attracted the biggest crime rate also. G.U.N headquarters was based on the outskirts of the city, hidden away and heavily guarded to keep it as secure as possible.

Shadow hadn't been there in two years. Part of his missions involved travelling the world, and he only agreed to missions that was worth his time. The General always radioed or sent messages through fellow agents. It was rare for him to request a meeting, and that was with anyone. So whatever this was about, it was serious.

They had taken the chopper to Station Square, one of the G.U.N piolets instructed to do so, but even so, the journey was longer then they would have liked. Rouge was obviously used to air travel, but liked to complain, whereas Shadow would ignore everyone and sleep standing in the corner.

It was seven hours until they landed, and there wasn't so much as a friendly greeting awaiting them at the entrance.

G.U.N was known for taking on ex-convicts, mostly if their skills were beneficial. Unfortunately, this was how a lot of people still saw them. Rouge, the glamorous, beautiful thief that would steal your heart as well as your prize possession's. Priceless gems were all she ever cared about, and her skills couldn't be matched by anyone. It was simple for G.U.N to strike a deal with her. A clean record and valuable jewels for every job she completed, how could she say no?

Shadow's case was a lot different. He took no convincing. All he wanted was redemption and the chance of revenge.

This was the reason everyone moved out of the way as soon as they saw the two special agents walk towards them. No one made eye contact and no one said a word.

"My, my, is it something I said?" Rouge joked to herself, uncaring about the ignorant attitude of others. Shadow paid no attention. He wanted to get to this case and fast. Speeding ahead, he raced down the hallways until he was at the General's office. He didn't knock, or wait for Rouge, he just walked in.

"Shadow, you actually showed up." Standing by the window of a very organised and clean office, was the General. An older man with grey hair and known best for his serious personality. He was not one to expect sympathy from, or one to accept failure. Nobody in their right mind would show disrespect towards him… except for Shadow.

"What's the mission and how is it related to Eggman?" was all the black hedgehog said, getting to the point.

The General scoffed, "Two years and still no different. What was to be expected?" he turned from the window, his blue and brown eyes looking past Shadow, resting on the door instead as the female bat walked in, clearly out of breath. "You… jerk… Why did you run off?" she complained, walking up to her old partner's side. "General" she acknowledged, giving the man a flirtatious salute. It wasn't proper but he had come to expect that from her now. "Agent Rouge. I trust you had a good flight."

"Ugh, if by good you mean cheap! Seriously would it kill you to put a coffee machine in one of those things?"

"That's not important, what is the mission?" Shadow asked again, stopping a sort of conversation from happening before he was stuck listening to pointless chatter and wasting time.

Shaking his head, the General groaned under his breath. He only wished he didn't have to involve the living weapon, unfortunately desperate measures were called for. "Follow me" he ordered, taking out his identification card and leading the two agents out of his office.

They followed him to a room they were familiar with already, the Virtual Analytic Operations control room. This was where video footage, such as security tapes, photographs or anything of that nature was dealt with. The team's job was to analyse the different medias, fix broken footage, dissect sound frequencies and anything else that is required to aid a case. It was a useful team, but what the General needed Shadow for was beyond him at this point. He had no experience in this field.

Swiping his card, the General was allowed instant access. As Rouge and Shadow were field agents and no longer had an official base, they were only allowed visitor access when unaccompanied by a higher up. Something they did not appreciate.

"So what's the deal? You want us to look at pretty pictures?" Rouge asked, eyes scanning over all the people in basic uniforms, tapping away at their computers and lost in their work. So much so they didn't acknowledge the General entering the room.

"Not quite, but I assure you this will be worth your time."

Shadow grunted, but truthfully, he was curious. At the back of the room was a private room, where the head of the team worked alone. It was only a small area, with a chair and desk, the appropriate amount of file cabinets and the odd house plant. There was a computer on the desk, as well as several large screens monitors up on the wall.

Then there was the man himself, a large green crocodile that was busy listening to his music through golden headphones and resting his feet on the table that he didn't notice he hand company. Not until the General reached over and snatched the headphones off.

"GAAHH" the crocodile yelped, falling off his chair from the sudden surprise. He quickly rushed to his feet when realising who it was that disturbed him. "General!" He quickly saluted, "You made it to the computer room! I waited back, just like you said, until Shadow came…"

"Yes, yes, that's enough Vector, just get on with it won't you?" the General scowled, throwing the headphones on the desk. Vector did just as he was told. He rushed to his computer, tapping away at the keys, mumbling sorry excuses to himself, to which no one paid attention.

"Anyway, the reason I called you both here is because of recent robberies that have been occurring all over Station Square."

Shadow crossed his arms, a slight irritation already getting to him. "Robberies? That's all? This was supposed to lead me to Eggman!"

"And hopefully it will, if you let me finish!" the General said, glaring down at the black hedgehog. "The robberies have been all the same. The hits are mostly jeweller, occasionally a bank or gadget shop. Thousands of rings worth is being stolen every time, in some cases the shops have been cleaned out. It started out as only being a couple of shops a month or so, but now it seems to be happening every day. The Police have had no leads, no evidence to suggest who is behind it is found, and the manner of the robberies is bizarre to say the least." He clicked his fingers at Vector, and while clueless at first the crocodile soon remembered that was his cue to play the video.

Up on the monitors was the footage from a security camera from a jewellery shop. Rouge's eyes quickly lit up, her attention fully on the video. "Oh my… Is that the Rainbow Star jewellers I see there?" she asked, swooning over the elegant interior and the many, many, glistening gems on show.

"The what?"

"Rainbow Star is designer. A ring from them will cost you the same price as a car."

"Yes well with what this thief took they'll have gotten more than just a car" said the General.

In the footage, they could see the security protecting all the glass cases containing the priceless jewels. Laser trigger senses, security cameras on each corner, and even a prison dome on their most priceless items. Yet, in what could have only been a second, something jittered and everything was gone.

"Wait what?" Shadow snapped, eyes scanning over the now smashed, empty glass cases. Everything was gone. The alarms had been triggered, red flashing lights with nosy sirens to alert and intruder was set off, yet no one was there. Everything was completely gone.

"Play that again!" he ordered the crocodile. Vector shook his head but did as he was told. The video played again, but all that happened was what they saw before. A jitter in the camera and then suddenly everything was gone and the alarms were set off.

To say Rouge was astounded was to say the least. "Well, I know who I'll be going to for advice."

Shadow ignored her. "This doesn't make sense. How could it just all be gone?"

The General walked over to the computer, "This is what we struggled with. Therefore, these robberies are strange, everything is being stolen in a matter of a second. Vector" he signalled again. Vector brought up another video. Again, the same thing, but in a different jewellery shop. Everything is under tight security, doors bolted and trigger senses. But the same thing happened. In a matter of a second, the camera jolted and everything in the store that was worth money was gone.

"This… is impossible… even if they used a chaos emerald, the energy would have destroyed the cameras and the power would be cut off. There's no way a regular person could do this" Shadow thought out loudly. His eyes never drifted from the video that played on a loop.

"What's that on the floor?"

Shadow looked up to where Rouge was pointing. And true enough, even with the poor quality of a security camera, there was a piece of paper left on the floor, despite it not having been there before.

"That is the only evidence we ever find after the robbery has occurred. It's a note the thief leaves behind. All it says is I'm sorry." The General answered. Vector was eager to join in, "Yeah he leaves it at every crime scene. Personally, I think it's just a way to mock the police force."

"No one asked you Vector" the General growled. He then turned back to the agents. "We ran the handwriting through the system but it came up with nothing. However, it is possible it was written with the less dominant hand, as it resembles how a child would write."

"Unless a child is the one writing the note?"

"Possibly. There's simply no way of knowing. At first I was suspecting Eggman myself, maybe he invented a new machine that can do this. If that is the case however then the notes don't fit the picture. Why Eggman would leave a badly written apology is beyond me."

Shadow shook his head, "He wouldn't. That's not how he works. Eggman will do anything to keep his name away from the crimes, that's how he's gotten away with so much in the past."

"An underground mob leader, yes I agree. He's evil but he's not stupid. My worry is that if this is related to Eggman then what he's planning to do next once he's got the funds. There is something else however" the General said, nodding towards the monitor. "We slowed down the footage to one of the crimes that occurred at the bank. This one was done in the early morning, citizens there and all. Look what happens."

On that note Vector played the video at normal speed. What they saw was a normal bank operating in a usual fashion. People waiting in a que to be served and everything was quiet. Then suddenly, again in no more than a second, the camera jolted, but the people all fell to the ground as if being knocked over by an invisible force. And then, the safe door was wide opened and the money was gone. Only the apology note left in its place.

"This can't be right!" Shadow gasped, watching at the people stumbled up to their feet, wondering what had just happened before noticing their bags had been stolen as well.

"Just what we thought also, but then we saw this…"

Vector played the video once again, but this time he slowed it down. It had taken the team a while, but the only way to see what was going on was to slow the video to a thousand time's it's normal speed. Something that was nearly impossible on basic programing. But what it revealed was probably the only thing that made it worth doing so.

Shadow's eyes went wide when he saw it. It was still fast and the quality wasn't perfect, but he knew what it was. The moment the camera jittered, a gush of wind blew everyone down. When slowed completely down, what he saw was a streak of blue, zig zagging through the crowd and snatching the bags as it went. The moment it got to the safe door, it slowed down enough for the camera to pick up a shape. At that point Vector paused the video. He zoomed in on the thief and enhanced the quality to 100%.

It wasn't a robot.

The back was turned, but it was clear what they could see. A mobian with blue fur, wearing a red jacket, with the hood pulled up to cover the head, and a brown scarf covering the face.

This was a person… a person was doing this.

"Eggman… He's been using criminals lately and enhancing them with machines… this has to be his work!" Shadow exclaimed, fist slamming against the desk.

The General, for the first time in a while, smiled. "Exactly. This is why we need you Shadow. Will you take on the case?" He held out his hand, and Shadow accepted it without a second thought.

"Gladly."

Boom! How is Shadow gonna catch this guy? You'll have to wait and see (wink)

As you may have noticed Shadow isn't the ultimate life form in this story, he kinda has a different background but that's not gonna be a big thing I don't think. So basically this is not sticking with cannon lol.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed, and please show support by leaving a review, and hopefully next update will be when I come back from holiday whoo. Till then bah bye!