Back at Westopolis, Nack was talking into a phone, smiling as he sat down at a desk and scribbled some notes on paper. His eyes widened when the person that he was talking to made a huge offer to him.

"And you're certain that's enough?" Nack asked. "All right. We'll do the deal tomorrow morning. Thank you for your time." He then hung up, chuckling.

"Another good deal?" asked one of his men.

"Another good deal indeed," Nack replied. "That's, what, five in a row now?"

"Five calls," said the other man. "Not all of them were that successful."

Nack shrugged. "Well, as long as we have a deal with somebody in this city, that'll do for me."

"Which reminds me, I've been meaning to ask, but... why'd you pick Westopolis?" asked the first man. "There's not an hour that goes by without somebody committing a crime of some sort, so we're not exactly making the biggest bang here."

"No, but we will make the biggest buck," Nack replied. "In fact, that phone call I had? That might be the last one I'll ever need."

"How do you mean?"

The purple weasel stood and smiled. "We now have direct pipelines to crime bosses all around Westopolis for the things we're trying to sell. Guns will go to the east, drugs to the west, and pussy and porn go to the south. We keep the north, which means that we get to keep things running and flowing nice and smooth from where we are."

"So, who are we meeting tomorrow morning?" asked the other man.

"All three bosses," Nack replied. "If we can get them all to agree with us, then we'll have no problem delivering."

"Not that that's not a good idea and all, but where are we going to get our product?"

Nack smiled and bellowed out a laugh. "Are you serious? We're in Westopolis! Prostitution, violence, rape, drugs, gang wars... this is the best place to build everything up. If we ever need any product, I'm pretty sure that we can just go out and ask nicely."

"Well, whatever the case, we're going to need more than enough for the bosses tomorrow."

"No," Nack shook his head. "It won't be an official deal right off the bat. We need to make sure that they've got the money first. They show us theirs before we show them ours."

"What if they don't show at all?"

"Then we cut theirs off. Any connections, any pipelines or deals they have going, we'll take them down. If one of them betrays us, then they and everything that they worked for goes down the fucking drain."

The humans nodded. "I think that seems fair," said one.

"Of course it does," Nack smiled. "Now get on out of here and find me some product. Hit the centre of the city. That's usually where we'll find the junkies and stoners. If you find any Fokus, I don't care who you have to kill, you get it and bring it here."

"Understood," said the humans, leaving.

As the door slammed shut behind them, Nack couldn't help but smile at the notepad that he had written on earlier. "Hmm... it's all going so well so far. If all goes according to plan, I'm going to be more than just the king of Westopolis... I'm going to fucking own all of Mobius, and God damn any cops that try to get in the way of that."

Back at Green Hill Library...

"Oh, shit... I wasn't expecting that," Tails said from the back room of the library.

Outside, the others were waiting, the library owner with them, as Sonic spoke. "You think he's enjoying himself in there?"

"He should be," said the owner. "I gave him one of my favourite books."

"Which book?" asked Knuckles.

"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime," the owner smiled. "It's about a 15-year-old maths genius with a condition on the autism spectrum who discovers a dead dog and gets blamed for it by accident. So, to clear his name, he starts investigating it and actually becomes more familiar with the outside world."

"That sounds pretty cool," said Sonic.

The owner nodded. "It's a good read. If I had to guess, we're just now getting to the part where the main character, named Chris, hits a cop for touching him to try and get his attention."

"Huh. I might have to try this whole reading thing," Knuckles said.

Espio smiled and soon heard sirens. "Maybe another time. The clean-up crew is finally here."

"Took them long enough," said Vector.

The librarian nodded. "I'll go get the fox." He went over to the back room, seeing the scene that Tails was watching and smiling. "Having fun?"

"Pause," Tails said, causing the digitised image in front of him to stop completely. "Yes, actually. This is one of my favourite books ever, and actually seeing it all play out is quite an experience."

The librarian chuckled. "If you'd like, you can take it with you. Consider it a freebie for helping me, you know, not get killed by those robbers."

"Thank you," Tails smiled and tucked the book into one his pockets. "You know, you seem pretty tough for... well, no offence, but..."

"I know, I'm old," the owner smiled. "But that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy messing around with people a little bit, right? And besides, I have a job that I love, which technically included having to harbour fugitives against my own will, but still." He then gulped a bit. "That reminds me... am I going to be in trouble over that?"

"Depends on how long you knew about them," said Tails.

"Literally since last night," said the owner. "These punks came in out of nowhere after just getting back from another job, pointed a gun at me and warned me to shut up."

"Then you're not in too much trouble," Tails replied. "Did they try to bribe you?"

The owner waved it off. "I turned their offers down. I make enough money selling my books, so I didn't need their help."

"Well, if you ever run into any trouble again, don't hesitate to call," the fox smiled.

"Yeah. It's a good thing that your number's easy to remember," the old man chuckled. "Anyway, you'd better go. Your transport to take you back is here. The others are waiting for you."

Tails nodded, thanked the librarian again, and turned to head out of the room. He managed to see as his friends and several other cops were slapping handcuffs on the criminals and taking them to their cars outside.

"Destruction aside, this went really well, all things considered," said Vector.

"It's a good thing that our clean-up crew is so good," Espio added with a grin.

"What's next?" asked Sonic.

"What's next is that we have a suspect to talk to," Vector said. "That bear dude. I think that his name was Woof, or something."

"Bark," Sonic said. "Doesn't make the name sound any less ridiculous."

"Eh, at least it's better than being called twins," Knuckles said, playfully putting an arm around Tails' shoulder.

"All right, we might have to take separate cars to get back to the station as most of them are filled with prisoners to take back," Espio said.

"Do you think that these guys might have anything to do with Nack?" asked Knuckles.

"It's unlikely," said Shadow. "Most of Nack's attacks seem planned, like they're supposed to happen. I don't think that these guys are smart enough to plan ahead. They're just a bunch of ass-holes with guns looking for five seconds of fame."

"But they know how to use their guns," said Sonic, before snapping his fingers. "Before I forget, what about their car? You know, the one with the shit-load of drugs in it?"

"Both are being taken in," said Vector. "The car's more of an afterthought at this point, but it's worth checking out. The drugs will obviously make their way to our lovely evidence locker, along with the guns that these guys have."

"The jewels too?" asked Tails.

Espio shook his head. "They took those directly from the people who work Emerald Gem Jewellers. They're being returned right back to them."

"That's good to know," said Shadow.

"Worried about your wife?" Sonic teased.

"More about the people working there," Shadow said. "But, yes, Rouge too." He then turned and walked over to another car and muttered under his breath. "And she's not my wife..."

"All right, enough pissing around," said Vector. "Get in to a car and let's haul these dickless pricks off to jail!"

The others chuckled, and Knuckles went over to join Shadow at the car he was in, which was a bit farther back in the convoy. Sonic and Tails went for the one at the very back, as there was six cars in all, not including the clean-up crew who had two police cars and a van full of equipment.

As they were driving off, Sonic had a thought pop into his head. "Hey, Tails. I just had a thought pop into my head."

"Oh, that's never a good thing," Tails replied.

Sonic shook his head. "What I'm about to say might sound like a crazy idea at first, but hear me out."

"Go ahead."

The blue hedgehog nodded. "I'm thinking that we use some Fokus as leverage when we have our little chat with Bark."

"So, you want to use drugs to threaten a guy who we kidnapped based mostly on the fact that he was trying to buy drugs?"

"But it's not just any drug, dude," Sonic said. "We don't know what this shit does." He looked behind him to one of the criminals in the car. "And I doubt that this ass-hole knows about it either."

The criminal in question raised a middle finger before grunting. "Do you think that you're better than me or something? Just because you have a badge doesn't make the guns that you use any less lethal."

"Oh, we know that our guns are lethal," said Tails, turning with a wide grin. "If I wanted to, I could crank my pistol up to eleven, fire at you, and the resulting electrical shock would fry you from the inside out. Your eyes would melt from your sockets, your internal organs would be liquid, and your skin would be cooked extra crispy, just like how I have my pizza."

The robber didn't reply, instead having his mouth briefly agape before Sonic smiled. "Well, that'll keep him quiet."

Tails laughed and turned back to the road. "So, are you sure that the whole drug thing is a good idea? What if he tries to take it from you?"

"I'm pretty sure that his hands and feet are going to be chained to the table, dude," Sonic shrugged. "I could literally dangle it in front of his face with a fishing hook and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

Tails nodded. "True. And besides, using the Fokus against him would be a lot better than using anything else." He then cocked an eyebrow and turned around. "That reminds me, how did you come across the Fokus anyway?"

The robber looked at him confused. "What the fuck is Fokus? We were told by our boss that it was some type of heroin."

"Yeah, because that makes it so much better," Sonic mumbled. "How many types of heroin do you know that literally glow?"

"Hey, we live in a pretty weird time, man," the criminal shrugged. "You don't know what the next drug could be. Maybe a new type of cocaine that has red colouring and tastes like ashes or some shit like that."

"Who sold it to you?" Tails asked. "Did they have anything to do with Nack?"

"I don't give a shit about Nack. That little bitch weasel ain't worth the name that he hides behind. We don't have any associates except for ourselves."

Sonic chuckled. "That makes this a bit easier."

"What?"

Sonic briefly stopped the car, sticking and elbow behind him. Since the car stopped so suddenly, the robber in the back couldn't control his forward movement, and his nose and upper lip came into contact with the blue hedgehog's elbow.

"Now," he said, continuing driving with the convoy, "where did you get the drugs?"

"I honestly don't know," the robber replied, wiping his bloodied nose. "We found them around the back of some gas station."

"What about the rest of the drugs?" asked Tails.

"We already had that shit, man. Didn't need any help there," the criminal said, almost sounding pleased with himself.

Tails sighed and nodded at Sonic, who grinned and stopped the car again. The criminal lurched forward right into Tails' extended fist, causing a snapping sound as his nose broke from the impact of it.

"Fuck me!" the robber yelled out. "You're strong for a short dude."

"It ain't always about the power," Tails said as Sonic started the car once more. "Sometimes, accuracy is all that you need. Plus, the fact that you've got such a big mouth helps my aim out quite a lot."

The robber kept his mouth shut, and Sonic looked to Tails. "We should go back to the Gear Steers. That's the only gas station I can think of."

"Maybe Bark left something behind," the yellow fox shrugged. "Let's wait until we get back to the station and bring it up with Avery."

Sonic nodded, and the rest of the drive carried on in silence. Vector and Espio led the front of the convoy, and they had soon all made it to Green Hill Police Department, finding spaces to park before taking the robbers from their cars.

As Sonic and Tails extracted their thief from their car, he spoke out. "Do I get any compensation for them breaking my nose?"

"Were you annoying them?" asked Vector.

"He was indeed," said Sonic.

"Then no," Vector replied. "Also, the fact that you stole a bunch of drugs, jewels, guns, and possibly a vehicle. So, there's that."

Sonic smiled, then held the robber back as he tried to wrench himself free. "You do know what happens if you move around too much in these things, right?"

The robber shrugged and jerked forwards again, only for the electrical rings of the handcuffs to nudge against his wrists, administering a small shock that caused the criminal to fall over onto his knees.

"Do I still not get anything for this?" he asked as he was pulled back to his feet.

"That one was on you, dude," Tails shrugged.

They continued the walk to the station, passing through the front doors. The group handed off the criminals to some nearby officers who were waiting to take them down to the holding cells, and Vector and Espio headed for the front desk thereafter.

"Hey, boys!" said Cosmo. "How can I help?"

"We were wondering where Avery is," said Espio.

"In the meeting room, where he almost always is," said Mina, chuckling before turning serious. "But it might not be a good time to talk to him."

"Is he mad at us for the other night?" asked Knuckles.

"He's having a phone call with Dingo, the commander of Star Light Police Department," said Cosmo. "They're old friends, but I don't think that Dingo will play along on our side when it comes to the court case..."

"So, what you're saying is that we're screwed?" asked Sonic.

"That's one way of putting it," Cosmo smiled. "Although, you did do a damn good job today."

"Despite a casualty, it went pretty well," Tails replied. "Oh, and I got one of those new visual book things!"

The plant girl looked closer at the title of the book. "Ooh... I've read that one! It's such a good book. I've never seen the visual version, though. Only read the paper one."

"Maybe you could watch it with him?" Knuckles suggested. "He just got started on it earlier. The library owner gave it to him for free after we saved his life from the jewel thieves."

Cosmo blushed lightly. "Whenever I have the time, I will."

Tails sighed. "I know. You're pretty swamped at the front desk. If we could stick around to help, we would."

"I know," Cosmo nodded. "But you're needed out there, helping people."

Tails nodded and blushed, before Vector cleared his throat. "Ahem... well, uh, let's get to Avery and see what he needs us for. Thanks for the heads up," he said to the girls.

"Any time," Mina replied. As soon as the boys walked away, she turned to her plant girl friend. "Okay, so..."

"So... what?" asked Cosmo.

"You like the fluffy one, don't you?" Mina teased.

"They're all fluffy," Cosmo meekly defended.

"You know which one I'm on about," said the yellow mongoose. "Somewhat shorter than the others, blue eyes, yellow fur, two tails, and a good vocabulary?"

Cosmo shook her head, trying to ignore Mina. "Yeah, he's cute, I guess. If you're into the adorable, geeky types."

"Aha! You just called him adorable!" the mongoose said.

"Have you seen him?"

Mina giggled. "There is that. So, if you like him so much, then why not ask him out?"

"I kinda did," Cosmo shrugged. "I wasn't lying about the book thing. I just really am stormed here with work, as are you."

The mongoose smiled. "Well, I guess you'll be ready when you're ready."

Cosmo playfully shook her head in reply, and continued about her work. Meanwhile, Sonic and the others were just now approaching the meeting room, where there was Avery and Simian there, with Ash handling the presentation as always.

"So, what's happening?" Sonic asked as he and the others sat down, Vector and Espio included.

"First of all, congratulations on your work today," said Avery. "I can see that Vector and Espio led you very well in the mission."

"Eh, they did okay," Knuckles chided.

The bear commander shook his head at the joke before continuing. "Sadly, I don't have good news for you. I just got off of the phone with Dingo."

"The girls at the front desk told us that he's a friend of yours," Shadow pointed out.

Avery nodded. "That's true, but he's not going to support us, with him leading Star Light and me leading Green Hill. We're both going to try and stay objective about the whole thing, and not show any favouritism towards each other."

"If it's any consolation," Ash added, "he does think that the whole running missions in other districts rule is stupid. Because it is stupid."

Simian grunted. "It's not even like the court can hold much evidence against you, minus the bad guys escaping with the drugs and money."

"Gee, thanks for the reminder," Tails complained.

"Hey, at least we managed to get the girls back from them," Knuckles said, trying to cheer his friend up. "One out of three ain't bad."

"Sadly," Avery said with a sigh, "none of that is going to help us tomorrow."

"And besides," Simian said, "it's not based on evidence, per say. It's more going to be about the fact that you broke the rule in the first place."

Sonic buried his face in his hands. "Do we have any hope here?"

Vector nodded. "Actually, yes. It's a slim chance, but since you are rookies, you might be able to avoid some trouble."

Espio then spoke. "I don't think that bringing up your accident is going to help our case all that much, to be honest."

"What about the bad guys we took out on the highway?" asked Tails.

"Wouldn't count for much," Simian shrugged. "But since that was closer to Star Light than Green Hill, it's still sort of in their jurisdiction."

"Well, doesn't that just add more cinnamon to the bullshit cake..." Sonic grumbled. He then looked up. "So, what do we do now?"

"I'm so glad you asked," said Avery. "Ash, if you would."

On cue, the male mongoose pressed a button on the remote, showing a camera screen of Bark in his holding cell. Soon, a pair of cops were seen going over to open his cell before putting cuffs on him and pulling him away.

"Where are they taking him?" asked Shadow as he saw Bark get dragged further up past the holding cells.

"To the interrogation room," said Simian.

"And here I was thinking that you didn't have any good news," Knuckles said. "I can't wait to teach this fucker a lesson..."

"Actually, we're going to have Shadow give the interrogation," said Avery.

"What?!" Knuckles asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Shadow said, raising an eyebrow.

"Sir, you're going to send in the guy that hardly talks to get information out of a guy who probably won't talk anyway!" Knuckles said, carrying on as if he'd ignored Shadow.

"That may seem the case," Avery said as the red echidna calmed down, "but he's the most level-headed of the four of you. Also, he won't be going in alone. Vector will provide backup, should it be needed."

"Well, that segues nicely into what I was about to say next," said Vector with a grin. "Those jewel thieves had a bunch of drugs hidden in the trunk of their car. Said that they got the majority of them themselves, but they had stolen some Fokus from Gear Steers."

"Dammit," said Simian. "We never did send a clean-up crew to check things over there."

"I don't think that it was the owner who got them," Tails said. "He seems too nice."

"Well, it's like they said during the deal, Bark pointed out that he was sick of the old version," Sonic shrugged. "Maybe he had some left over that he didn't use because he was waiting on the new and improved version."

"So, do the thieves know what it's capable of?" asked Ash.

"Nah," Sonic chuckled. "Silly bastards think that it's heroin."

"Wow," the mongoose replied, chuckling. "We really are dealing with Mobius' dumbest criminals."

"Me and Sonic kind of came up with a plan of our own to help with the interrogation," said Tails.

"Oh?" Avery asked. "Go on. I'm listening."

"We were thinking about maybe using some Fokus as leverage," Sonic suggested. "It might make Bark talk a bit easier."

"Hmm... I'm not sure," Avery said. "That does seem like something of a risk."

Simian spoke up. "We've tried getting him to talk from time to time on our own, and nothing's worked. Maybe Sonic's idea could hold some water."

Ash nodded before adding on. "He's right, sir. We'll make sure that Bark's tied down good and proper to his chair so that he can't try to take the drugs. And besides, we're pretty low on options.

Avery pondered on it for a few moments before smiling. "All right, then. Espio, I want you to take Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic with you to the Gear Steers. If there was leftover Fokus, maybe Bark forgot to get rid of some other stuff."

"So, we're the clean-up crew?" Knuckles asked.

"On a technicality, yes," Espio said. "Now, grab your brooms and mops and let's go sort that garage out."

"If you actually have those somewhere in your car, I'll use you as a mop instead," the red echidna threatened, standing up with his friends.

"Is it worth sending all four of them?" asked Simian as they left the door.

"You never know what they might find," Avery replied. "If anything, they've consistently proven that they work well as a team, provided that the majority of them are still together."

"So, will I be playing the good cop or the bad cop?" Shadow asked as he also stood, Vector joining him.

"You'll be playing yourself, really," said Vector. "Albeit with a drug in your hands that you're going to use against him."

Avery smiled. "Remember, you've got to get a different ID from the girls at the front desk to access the evidence room."

Shadow paused and raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Only the most high-up people at the station are allowed in there," Vector pointed out. "Which limits it to anybody in this room that isn't us two."

"I don't get access either," Ash pointed out. "I just chalk up presentations, edit them together, make them look good... you know, the real hard work."

"And we would surely all be lost without you," Vector said with a nod, turning to Shadow. "Come on."

The black and red hedgehog nodded, and they both took the stairs down to the ground floor. They soon made it to the front desk, which saw Cosmo and Mina both typing into the computer next to them.

"Oh, what do you two want now?" Cosmo playfully complained.

"I need an ID card for the evidence locker," said Vector.

"Ah, finally going to take that rifle and do some skeet shooting?" Mina teased.

"Eh, been thinking about it, but no," the crocodile said. "It's for Shadow, not me."

"Any reason why?" Mina asked.

Shadow breathed out before speaking. "I'm going to have a talk with Bark, and I need some leverage against him. The kind of leverage that we don't know anything about yet, but we'll use it to get him to talk."

Cosmo gulped as she started printing the ID off. "Are you sure that that's such a good idea?"

"Not really, but it's the only one that we have," Shadow said, remaining calm and serious. "We know that Bark works with Nack, or at least just buys from him, so we need to find out what else he's got up his sleeve. With the news that there's more Fokus that we didn't know about at Gear Steers, we just need to keep poking at Bark until we push him far enough."

"Be careful what you poke him with," Vector warned as he was handed the ID by Cosmo. "It might start off with your finger at his chest, but it could soon be the needle in his arm, and we don't want that risk."

"I'll handle it," Shadow said. "You just stay back. If I need you, I'll let you know." He then turned to the girls. "Thank you."

The girls nodded as Vector led Shadow the back right of the ground floor, showing a room with the word "evidence" written on it in the station's signature teal blue, and the door spoke with a robotic voice.

"Permission to enter?" Vector showed it to the door before swiping it into a slot, and the door opened soon after. "Permission granted."

"Thank you kindly," the crocodile grinned as he led Shadow inside.

The black and red hedgehog looked around, seeing that the room was pretty large. There were different segments relating to different kinds of evidence, from guns and drugs to clothing and jewellery if needed.

Shadow kept up with Vector as they looked around the drugs segment, seeing a glass case with several drugs in plastic bags. As they went in alphabetical order, the Fokus wasn't too difficult to find, and the crocodile moved to the centre of the case before looking at the back of the ID card.

"Each time we come in here to get something, they change the codes on the locks," Vector pointed out to Shadow. "And every time someone needs to come in here for something, they get provided the new code."

"How does it change so quickly?" Shadow asked. "Is it done automatically."

Vector nodded. "Yep. It's all Charmy's doing, so you have him to thank for that."

"I can understand why you'd have it this way," Shadow nodded. "Doesn't matter how much you trust the people in the station; when someone goes into this kinda place, you never know what they might walk away with."

"Funnily enough, that's the main reason that we had this system implemented in the first place," said Vector as he typed in the code, opening the glass case. "Some former officers that used to work for us kept using the same codes to hack into stuff and steal it."

"Same codes?" Shadow asked.

Vector nodded. "We used to have a different code for each segment, but they were all unchanged. After the corrupt cops that tried to steal everything got found out, we decided to come up with the new system, which we still use today."

"Good to hear. It sounds like a good way to keep some of the people in line if they need it," Shadow noted.

"That's one way of putting it," Vector replied, grabbing the Fokus before closing the case.

"What happens to the ID card if the code changes?" Shadow asked.

"We throw them in the trash," Vector shrugged. "If the codes change in here after we used them once, then we don't need the ID card any more. Luckily, they are recyclable, so it's very helpful for the environment."

Shadow couldn't hide his chuckle, and the two soon left the room behind them, Vector throwing the now used ID card into the trash before the door closed automatically behind the two of them.

After they'd left, they turned to head to the holding cells, with the crocodile leading the hedgehog down there. They didn't have to use ID to enter, so they went in quite easily, and Shadow noticed the door at the end of the corridor.

"The interrogation rooms are just above the holding cells?" he asked.

Vector nodded. "Yeah. Makes it easier to move them from place to place before they need to go to the penitentiary."

"So, why do you need me to interrogate Bark if he's already going there?" asked Shadow.

"Well, we don't quite have enough from him to put him away," Vector pointed out. "Plus, this is kind of a test. Avery wants to see how good you are."

Shadow sighed and nodded before a voice from a cell called him. "Oh, it's you..."

The black and red hedgehog turned to see one of the wolves from Gear Steers behind the bars sitting up on his bed. "Ah, it's you. Why the heck are you still here?"

The wolf growled. "Same reason that Bark is." He walked to the cell bars and gripped them as he snarled at Shadow, baring his fangs in a grin. "You know, when we get out of here, I think that you'll be the first person I'm going to kill." He then looked to Vector. "As for you? Well, I could use a new jacket."

The crocodile smiled. "Ah, a leathery skin joke. Good one."

He then snapped his fingers, and the bars of the cell suddenly started buzzing. An electrical current passed through the silver of the bars to come into contact with the wolf's paws, causing him to howl in pain and fall on his back.

Vector then stood over the wolf. Well, as much as he could with the bars still in the way. "You know, I've always wanted a bearskin rug. But I hear that wolf's fur is good for it too."

The wolf gulped before finding his way back to his bed, and Shadow touched the bars, seeing that they were no longer electrocuted. "This place likes to shock people, huh?"

Vector chuckled. "If it helps, we only shock the bad people."

"Yeah, it softens the blow," Shadow smirked.

The crocodile nodded and walked ahead, the hedgehog in tow, and they soon reached the interrogation rooms. There were six separate corridors, each housing a suspect or criminal, and Vector led Shadow through the second corridor before they stopped outside the window just before the door to the room.

Through the window, they saw Bark as he was sat down, a pair of cuffs around his wrists. From the angle he was standing at, Shadow could see a pair of cuffs around Bark's ankles also, possibly as a safety measure. The bear in question was sat back and breathing, almost seeming relaxed.

The two looked in, and Vector turned to Shadow. "You ready to do this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Remember, I'll be here if you need me to back you up." He handed the Fokus over to Shadow, who put it in his pocket. "Use that at the right time, or this could all go south."

Shadow nodded, placing the needle into his back pocket before entering the room. He closed the door behind him and walked around to take the seat opposite of Bark, and cleared his throat to speak.

"Bark... it's so nice to see you again," Shadow said. "What's it been? Three, four days?"

Bark sighed. "Aw, come on. Of all of the cops that they could have given me from the four rookies, I get the emo one who thinks that he's cool?"

Shadow kept his composure. "Well, unfortunately, I'm the only option right now."

"And the worst one," the bear said. "They could have given me the cool leader, or the intelligent wiz kid. I would have taken the big red dumb-ass because at least he would have been entertaining." He let out another sigh. "But, no. I got old misery guts." He then grinned. "There is something different about you, though. Have you actually been smiling more?"

The black and red hedgehog shrugged. "Something like that. I guess what helped me smile was kicking your friend's ass when we brought you all in from the Gear Steers."

"I miss the others already," Bark chuckled. "Where are they, anyway?"

"Funny you should ask. You see, they're on their way to the Gear Steers. Hell, they're probably there right now."

"Why would they need to go there?" Bark asked. "You weeded out all the bad guys from the place. Now it's just the actual boss and the people who work there that didn't want to do anything fun with their lives."

"So, selling and buying drugs and losing your actual job is fun, is it?" Shadow said. "Man, kids these days."

"You're calling me a kid, rookie?" Bark said.

"I'm going to guess that you're in your twenties, like me," Shadow said. "But you should at least act like it. You act like a bad-ass, but the only vibe I get is some punk whose parents didn't love him, so he took up a job that he didn't want and got connected with a crime boss who he didn't know and had never met to make a deal he never wanted to make."

"So what if I never met Nack?" Bark said. "It wouldn't have mattered. The dude never stays around too long, so whichever schmuck comes along after he's gone, they'll have some big shoes to fill." He then sat back again. "Besides, it's not like I didn't want to make the deal. It's just that some dipshit cops showed up at the wrong time to fuck things up, and my side got nothing."

"Oh? Nothing, huh?" Shadow chuckled, reaching behind himself and into his pocket. He produced the needle of Fokus and put it on the table close to himself. "Then what do you call that? Because that sure as shit looks like something to me."

"Where'd you get that from?"

Shadow smiled. "We stopped a bunch of thieves today, and their getaway car had all these drugs in it, including the Fokus. One of the thieves was nice enough to point out that he got the Fokus from a gas station. Sound familiar?"

Bark smirked. "That's got nothing to do with Nack. That was another deal beforehand, but it never went anywhere. And besides, I wasn't there for whenever they took it. I was chucked in here after the deal got botched, so how could I have been there?"

"I never suggested that you were," Shadow said. "I'm just suggesting that, with all of the crime that's been going on, it might not be a good idea to hold out on people." The hedgehog noticed the bear's gulp. "How long had you been hiding those drugs, Bark? Did your boss know about it, or was it just you and your little ring of morons?"

"I don't have to tell you anything that you don't need to know," Bark defended.

Shadow smiled. "And there's the first crack in your armour. Such a shame. You were holding up so well." His face then turned grimly serious. "Tell me, did anybody else know about the secret stash?"

Bark gulped. "It was just me and my little group. Bean knows, and so do the other wolves that were helping us."

"And you'd made deals before the one with Nack?" asked Shadow.

The bear nodded. "A few, but not many. Due to how little our boss actually goes to pick up shipments of new parts for himself, we have very limited windows to get the deals done."

"And was it all just buying?" Shadow asked.

Bark shook his head. "No. There were some sales from time to time."

"And I'm guessing that not all of those sales went too well, considering the amount of drugs that were hidden," the black and red hedgehog said.

Bark then perked up. "I just realised... you said that those thieves only found the drugs, right?"

Shadow nodded. "Yes. Why?"

"That's not all that we have hidden," Bark replied.

"What else is there?"

The bear hung his head for a moment before muttering. "We have some money as well... and not just from the job itself..."

"So, you had both money and drugs left over?" Shadow asked, to which Bark nodded. "Did anybody know that you were holding out on them?"

Bark shook his head. "It wasn't completely holding out. The drugs and money that we held back for ourselves were more of an insurance policy, if anything. We just didn't want to put all of what we had on the line in case a deal went bad. It's a risk that we couldn't afford to take."

"Considering how much you held back, I'm surprised some old friends of yours haven't come to collect yet," Shadow said.

"Tell me about it," Bark replied. "Anyway, that's everything I've got."

Shadow nodded and stood up, putting the Fokus back into his pocket. "Bark, you've been charged with and have confessed to possession, money laundering, distribution of banned substances, purchasing banned substances, and assault on officers of the law." He turned to leave. "I'll let you know when your court date is."

Bark sighed and puffed out a breath through his lips as Shadow left through the door, seeing Vector smiling at him and extending a hand. Shadow reached out to shake it, and the crocodile used his free hand to pat Shadow's shoulder.

"Not bad for your first interrogation, rookie," said Vector.

Shadow smiled and pulled out the Fokus. "Think I used it at the right time?" he asked.

"Surprisingly, yes," Vector chuckled.

Shadow put the Fokus back. "So, I'm going to assume that there was a camera or something watching the room so that this is all recorded?"

Vector nodded. "Thankfully, yes. I should have given you a notepad and pen just in case, but that's more for shrinks than cops themselves."

The hedgehog nodded as they both began walking out. "What about the Gear Steers?"

"Our guys are still searching that place up and down. They haven't found much yet, and that's even with the help of the mechanics there."

"Maybe we won't have to even tell them about the money thing if they find it," Shadow shrugged as the two left the interrogation sector, quickly making their way through the holding cells.

"Let's see if we can help them out," Vector smiled, heading through the doors to the entrance. "Day ain't over yet, rookie."

Shadow looked up, taking note that it was getting darker. "I prefer to think of it as the night still being young."

The crocodile shook his head, getting into his car. "Come on, newbie. Let's go help our friends out."

Shadow smiled and followed, getting into the police car that Vector had selected. It started up pretty quickly, and the two pulled out of the parking lot fast, immediately making their way for the Gear Steers.

I once again apologise for not posting in a while. No excuses except for laziness, really. I promi- I hope that my next chapter won't take two weeks to whip up. Regardless, I hope that you all enjoyed this one. How'd you like the interrogation scene? What about Nack? Let me know if you so wish, and I'll see you all in the next one, whenever that'll be. Hopefully not two weeks. Anyway, I wish you all a happy Halloween. Take care, and stay tuned.