"All right," said Knuckles, pulling a black card from the pile. "Ah, one of my favourite question cards. I drink to forget blank."

Sonic rifled through his white answer cards, placing it face down on the table, waiting as his friends did the same. Knuckles picked the cards up and shuffled them before clearing his throat and reading.

"I drink to forget the disappearance of those kids on the train," Knuckles said through a chuckle. "Kinda fucked up, but I liked it." He cleared his throat once more. "I drink to forget alcoholism. A delightfully paradoxical answer there," he smiled, before reading the last one. "I... oh, god, this is a solid win. I drink to forget that one time with the sheep in Australia." He laughed and placed the white cards into the miniature graveyard that he and his friends made. "All right, my winner is the sheep in Australia. Who had that one?"

"Right here," Tails said, raising his hand. "I wrote that one in too."

"I thought my alcoholism would win there," Shadow shrugged.

Knuckles then laughed. "That means that Sonic played the most fucked up answer."

"I was hoping that you'd pick it thinking that it was Shadow, only to be pleasantly surprised when it was me," the blue hedgehog shrugged with a smile. "The more screwed up part is that I wrote that in."

"Good thing that we can erase it," said Tails, picking up his and Sonic's answer cards from the graveyard. "Erase." Within moments, the answers on the cards were vanished, leaving a clean slate. "You may continue, Knuckles," Tails said.

Knuckles nodded. "Fair enough. So, what's everyone's score at?" he asked, counting through his cards. "I've got... four."

"Five," Sonic said. "I'm still close."

"And I just hit five with that last one," said Tails.

"Four, same as Knuckles," Shadow added. "Aw, fuck. It's first to six, isn't it?"

Knuckles nodded. "And, due to the order of the table, you're next up," the red echidna said.

"I might end up picking the winner here," Shadow shook his head and picked out one of the black question cards from the deck. "The school trip was completely ruined by blank."

The other three shuffled through their hands, trying to pick the right card. If Knuckles got this, he could win the next round also. But if either Sonic or Tails got it, they would win. They were both locked in to win the game.

Soon, their cards were placed face down, and Shadow picked them up and shuffled them briefly before beginning speaking. "The school trip was completely ruined by some douche-bag playing an acoustic guitar." He grinned. "I can see how that'd ruin the trip. The school trip was completely ruined by dwarf tossing." He snorted and laughed helplessly at that one. "Sorry. I just love that card so much. And finally, the school trip was completely ruined by geese. It's fairly obvious that dwarf tossing wins, which is a sentence that I never thought that I'd ever say in my life."

"Yes!" Tails said, raising his arms in victory.

"And the young gun takes the win!" said Sonic.

"Very well played," Knuckles said. "That wasn't even pandering, either. The cards just worked."

"Eh, maybe slight pandering," said Shadow. "That card that he put down is a favourite of mine."

"True," Sonic replied. "All right, let's pack this up and go and grab some lunch. This game has been fun, but I'm getting bored shitless without any missions."

"Our current mission is to wait, and that's what we're doing," said Tails. "Something will pop up."

Sonic nodded. "I know."

With that, they all grouped together to pack away their card game. After doing so, they checked their uniforms to make sure that they had what they all needed before leaving Knuckles' room and heading downstairs.

They took the stairs as the elevator was in use, and made it to the bottom floor. Before they continued, Tails went over to the front desk and began speaking to the two girls, his friends soon stopping to join him.

"Hey," Tails said. "So, um... we're going to the Jade Mountain. Would either of you guys like us to bring something back for you?"

"Actually," Mina said, grabbing two cans of soda, "me and Cosmo already got lunch earlier."

"Oh..." Tails nodded. "Well, maybe some other time... oh, wait... that won't ever happen..."

"Maybe tomorrow?" Cosmo suggested. "I mean, you might be fired by then, but you have the day off."

"That's right," Mina added. "And you're clearing your desks anyway, so."

"Yes, but that's in the morning," Knuckles pointed out.

"And after that, we're pretty much jobless until Monday," Sonic reminded.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that part," the red echidna said.

"So... tomorrow?" Tails said.

Cosmo nodded. "Tomorrow."

"It's a date," the yellow fox blushed. His eyes then widened as he realised what he said. "I mean, not a date date. Not that I wouldn't want to date you... oh, crap..."

Sonic smiled and put an arm around his friend. "Excuse us," he addressed to Cosmo and Mina. He then walked away with his friend. "Dude, is everything okay?"

"N-No..." Tails replied. "I don't know how to talk to girls... especially really pretty ones like Cosmo..."

"Well, she seems to find your charm endearing so far," Sonic smirked, partially joking. "Seriously, there's nothing to worry about. I'd wager that she likes you. But then I'd remove the wager part, as I don't want either of us to lose money, because that's just how good a friend I am."

"Really?" Tails asked.

"Really," Sonic replied. "And plus, you don't need to be nervous. You already asked them about Jade Mountain, and they said yes."

Tails chuckled a bit in relief. "Thanks Sonic. That does raise a question, though..."

"What'd that be?" asked Sonic.

"Well, since tomorrow's a day off, do I bring them with me to Jade Mountain or just get some stuff from the drive through and bring it back here?"

"I'd say bring it back here," Sonic replied. "It'd probably be the safer option."

Tails nodded. "Okay." He then turned and walked back over to the girls. "Sorry about that earlier."

"It's fine," said Cosmo, smiling. "Just don't forget about our date tomorrow, okay?" She punctuated her inquiry with a wink, making Tails blush more so than he already was.

"I won't," he replied.

"I look forward to it," Cosmo smiled.

Tails simply nodded and turned to leave, catching up with his friends who had left him behind to get to the car. He huffed out a curse under his breath and rushed out to join them, hopping into the back seat, since he had no choice.

"No shotgun seat for you this time," Sonic smirked.

"Note to self," Knuckles stated. "Tails' biggest weakness is cute girls."

"Yeah, yeah," Tails groaned. "Yuck it up."

Sonic shook his head as he began driving. "Come on. Let's get to Jade Mountain for our lunch."

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Shadow, who was in the shotgun seat, spoke up. "So, I noticed you at court earlier today."

"You noticed me?" Sonic scoffed. "What is this, a romance anime?"

"I saw how worried you looked at the end," Shadow replied, ignoring Sonic's joke. "You looked like you were shaking and sweating bullets. I can't imagine what was going through your head."

"It wasn't good stuff, I'll tell you that much," the blue hedgehog said. "I guess that I just didn't want to lose the job so soon after getting it, you know? All of that hard work at the academy, our first mission, the accident... if the judge had just called it off altogether, I don't know how I'd feel about it."

"What would you have done if we didn't become bounty hunters?" asked Tails.

"We're technically not bounty hunters," said Sonic. "I think that we're more like a special group, you know?"

"My mum always called me special when I was a kid," Knuckles said. "I thought that it was for different reasons."

"I believe that the judge said freelance agents," said Tails. "We get our own building and everything."

"I hope that includes bedrooms," said Knuckles. "It'd be nice to bring Shade around."

"That reminds me," said Sonic, "how's she taking this?"

"She doesn't know about the freelance thing yet, since I haven't gotten the chance to tell her," the red echidna replied. "But she didn't seem too happy about us losing our jobs. She knows that there was nothing that we could do about it, either."

"Doesn't her kickboxing class end soon?" Tails asked.

"No, it starts soon," said Knuckles, pulling out his phone and checking the time. "They're not allowed their phones in the gym, but maybe I could give her a quick call..."

He dialled her number, waiting patiently. Soon, he got an answer. "Hey, handsome!" she said over the phone. "What's up? How was the court?"

"Well, it's clear that we don't have our jobs any more," Knuckles said sadly.

Shade sighed. "I know... but at least I get to have you around at home a lot more."

"Oh god, I knew it," Knuckles mock gasped. "I'm a kept echidna."

Shade chuckled. "So, now you're jobless?"

"Surprisingly, no," Knuckles said. "The judge has made us freelance agents that will work for any department who needs us. It gives us more freedom that way, except for the fact that we can't run our own stuff."

"So, does that make you bounty hunters?" asked Shade.

"In a sense, yes," Knuckles replied. "I think that phrase only works in certain situations, though."

"Well, in any case, congratulations!" the orange echidna said happily.

"You're okay with this?" the red echidna replied.

"Did you have a choice to back out?"

"Not really, no."

"Then I'm okay with it!" She giggled. "I'm joking. I would have been fine either way. Seriously, it's great that you still have a job now."

"Thanks," Knuckles grinned. "Well, I'd better end the call. We're close to our lunch area now, and I don't want to talk over the phone with a gullet full of sweet and sour ribs."

"By lunch area, do you mean Jade Mountain?" Shade asked.

"The very same," Knuckles replied. "Want me to save something for you?"

"Eh, maybe for dinner later," said Shade. "I'd better go myself, actually. My class is starting soon."

"Fair enough," Knuckles said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Shade replied, hanging up.

"Awww," Sonic, Shadow, and Tails replied in unison.

"Now I know how Tails feels," said Knuckles.

"Come on, I'm way cuter than you," the yellow fox replied as Sonic looked for a parking space.

"Who needs cute when you've got the cool factor?" Sonic replied, looking in the mirror to see Shadow. "Or the mystery?"

"I swear, Shadow doesn't pretend to be aloof," said Tails as they left the car, Sonic having found a space to park. "He just is."

"Maybe if he'd talk more, we'd know more about him," Knuckles replied.

"Maybe we could try talking to his girlfriend to get more out of him?" the blue hedgehog added on, turning to Shadow.

"No comment," the black and red hedgehog replied.

They all then entered the restaurant itself, with Shadow, Sonic, and Tails finding a table as Knuckles walked up to the counter. The red echidna waited patiently in line for the person before him to place their order before the owner walked over with a smile.

"Good to see you again," he said.

"You too, Mr. Fong," replied Knuckles.

"You want the usual?" asked Fong.

"Please," replied Knuckles. "But a little less than normal. It's a late lunch day."

Fong nodded, turning around to call out the order before turning back to Knuckles. "I heard that you had a court date today."

The red echidna sighed. "Not my favourite kind of date, I'll tell you that much."

"What happened?" the owner asked.

"Me and the others got caught out for running an operation in a different city. We forgot that it was against the rules to do that, and when we got found out for it, we were made to go to court."

"You guys went to hunt down Nack and his men, right?" Fong asked. Knuckles nodded. "Well, why didn't they understand that."

"They did," Knuckles said. "But they didn't care. Rules are rules, and we broke them. And now, because of that, we're not policemen any more."

"That's bullshit," said Fong, clearing his throat. "Sorry. I forgot I was walking to a police officer. With all due respect, that's bullshit."

"Former officer," Knuckles pointed out with a grin. "But it's not all bad, shockingly."

"How so?"

"For one thing, we get a day off tomorrow," Knuckles shrugged. "For another, we kind of get a new job by Monday."

"Doing what?" asked another person behind the counter, intrigued by the tale.

"We're going to be part of a special division, which means that we can only work when we're needed the most," Knuckles said. "We can't run stuff on our own, but that's the only restriction that I'm aware of right now."

"Let's hope that there's not much else," said Fong, turning as he heard another employee walk over, presenting the food. "Ah, right on time."

Mr. Fong went about sorting the food out, placing the ribs in their containers, and placing the fries in brown paper bags. He also got some soda drinks in bottles for the group, and placed all the food on a tray.

Knuckles quickly realised that he'd forgotten to pay, so he reached into his wallet to pull out the sufficient amount of money and handed it to the owner before smiling and taking the tray with him to his friends.

"Thanks," the echidna said over his shoulder, walking over to sit down with his friends.

"Ooh, awesome," Tails said, noticing the tray. "They've got some salt packets."

"And there's lemons with the ribs too," Sonic added, opening his container of ribs. "Let's see what spritzing some of this onto the ribs changes."

He picked up the lemon and held it over his ribs, squeezing the fruit lightly and watching as the juice dribbled down onto his food. He then picked up one of the ribs and chewed off some of the meet from it, waiting a while for the taste to settle in.

"Mmm..." Sonic said with a nod. "Tastes pretty damn good."

"The lemons are new," said Tails, grabbing his own fruit to spray over his ribs.

Knuckles nodded, calling over to the manager. "How long have you had these lemons for?"

"They're very recent," one of the employees replied. "Mr. Fong recommended them after trying a few recipes himself. Apparently, lemon just goes well with the ribs."

"I can attest to that," Sonic replied, eating another rib.

Shadow chuckled, grabbing his salt packet and spilling the contents onto his fries. "So, besides Tails and Sonic going on their dates, does anyone have any plans for tomorrow?"

"Not really," Knuckles replied. "Shade has Sundays off as a rule, so she won't have to go to her job or her martial arts class."

"And short of my date with Amy, I've got nothing going for me," said Sonic, turning to Tails. "What about you?"

The yellow fox shook his head. "No plans besides getting lunch for Cosmo." He then turned to Shadow. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, there's a new bar that opened not far from here," Shadow said. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to come with?"

"I don't know..." Knuckles replied. "I mean, we got really drunk at our graduation party."

"We didn't all get badly drunk," said Tails.

"You didn't," said Sonic. "You were the designated driver."

"I didn't get drunk at all," said Tails. "I'm still underage, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said.

"And yet, I'm the one who drove each of you to your homes and made sure that all was okay," Tails said. "I even managed to give you good tablets for the morning to help with your hangovers."

"Didn't work on me..." Knuckles mumbled.

"That's because you got more drunk than the rest of us," the yellow fox said. "In fact, it took you five tries to hand me your keys because you couldn't figure out which of my five hands was the right one."

Sonic laughed. "Really? That's super drunk, man. I wonder how many tails he had when you saw him through your beer goggles?"

"I remember that they looked much fluffier," replied Knuckles, grinning. "Drunk or not, the twins still stand out."

"Thanks, I've been working on them," Tails deadpanned.

"Ahem..." Shadow said, clearing his throat. "So, are you boys coming out to the bar tonight or what?"

"Eh, may as well," Sonic replied. "But no alcohol, okay? Remember, we've got to clear out our desks tomorrow morning."

"What's the name of the bar?" Tails asked.

"Midnight Oil," said Shadow.

"Huh. Cool name," replied the yellow fox.

"So, you guys are in?" the black and red hedgehog said.

"Yes," Sonic said. "Just no booze. We've got to keep it clean now, okay?"

"Well, we are still technically on the force," said Knuckles. "I slept in by accident on my first day. I can't imagine that drinking on the job is any better."

"And mixing the two is never a good thing," Sonic added. "I might have gotten up on time, but Tails' tablets themselves didn't help with the hangover. Luckily, coffee is a thing that exists."

Shadow shrugged. "Just the tablets for me."

"You didn't feel the affects that much?" asked Tails.

"That's because I didn't drink as much as these other two idiots," Shadow replied. "I had a slight hangover, but it wasn't that bad."

"Either that, or you're just better at holding your liquor," Sonic replied.

"Eh, maybe," said Shadow, shrugging.

Tails smiled. "Well, at least I'm saved from that job tonight."

"Oh, that does remind me," Knuckles said, "I got a text this morning. My car's all repaired, so I just have to go and get it back."

"Sweet," Sonic said. "It does suck that you couldn't get it back earlier."

"Eh, the accident the other night was pretty horrendous," Knuckles shrugged. "It only makes sense for my car to bear some of the pain."

"I'm pretty sure that cars don't feel pain," Tails said. "I'm sure that we all did after the crash, though."

The others chuckled and continued eating their food, soon finishing it and discarding it into the trash before thanking Mr. Fong and taking their leave. They left out the front door and headed for their car, with Knuckles driving this time.

As soon as the others got in, the radio started sounding off, so Sonic answered it. "What's up?"

"It's Antoine," came the French coyote's distinctive accent. "I need your guys' help."

"Deciding on what kind of ring to get for Bunnie?" asked Knuckles as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"She's right here, and can hear you..." Antoine spoke.

"But if y'all know something, then keep it to yourselves!" Bunnie's voice joined, coming out in a loud whisper.

"Where are you guys?" asked Sonic. "Why are you keeping so quiet?"

"We're at the Emerald Gem, but we're hiding behind cover," said Antoine.

"Why would that place be attacked again so soon?" Sonic asked.

"It's not here," said Antoine. "It's one of the houses across the street. They kidnapped some of the employees and are holding them hostage, and are starting to make demands."

"Is anybody hurt?" asked Knuckles.

"No, all is fine. But these kidnappers are making some pretty big demands. They know that we're cops."

"All right, we'll be there. Just hang tight, okay?" said Sonic. "Over and out."

"That doesn't sound good," Knuckles said, speeding up his driving.

"Wait... is this going to be okay?" asked Tails.

"How do you mean?" asked Shadow.

"Wouldn't running an operation be a bad thing to do right now?"

"Well, since Bunnie and Antoine are out there themselves, no," said Sonic. "They're the ones that are leading us. You've got to remember, they came across the crime in the first place."

"True," Tails said. "Also, man, Emerald Gem really needs to ramp up their security system."

"I don't think that it's the system that's the problem," said Shadow. "It's the fact that there's no security guards. You'd think that with them being a jewellery store that they could afford some real muscle around there."

The yellow fox nodded. "Plus, if need be, I could always hook them up with some new electronic enhancements. Couldn't hurt."

"Smart thinking," said Sonic.

"Also, we need to be careful," Shadow added. "If those kidnappers are just across the street, they might see us coming."

"Fuck..." Sonic said. "Today is just a really bad day to be wearing this uniform."

At the Emerald Gem...

"All right," said Antoine, turning to those behind him that were left in the shop. "Everyone just try to stay calm, and stay undercover, okay?"

"Are you going to go after those killers?" asked an employee.

"First of all, none of them are dead," said Bunnie. "Secondly, we will! We just need more hands on deck to help. And I highly doubt that any of y'all have a gun hidden under your desks, now do ya?"

Antoine chuckled. "I did like Knuckles' question about if I was buying a ring for you."

"Yeah. Situational comedy can sneak up on ya when you least expect it," said Bunnie. "But we were just driving around because it's been a while since we were out in the field. It's not our fault that all of this started happening."

"Regardless, we shall be the ones to end it, my love."

"Aw," Bunnie blushed. "You're really cute when you're chivalrous and romantic. Kinda like a knight."

Antoine gave a brief bow before speaking. "So, what do you make of the court hearing for Sonic and the others?"

"It sucks that there was nothing more that anybody could do," Bunnie shrugged. "But maybe it could be a blessing in disguise, what with them getting their own place to work and all."

"They still have rules to follow," said Antoine. "They were let off easy. If they do anything like that again, then their careers could be over for good."

"Now y'all are just sounding harsh," the robotic rabbit scolded. "They didn't know about the rule of not being able to do missions outside of your own jurisdiction. It wasn't their fault."

"I don't mean to," Antoine said. "And that's true. But, accident or not, they need to be careful. I don't want to see any of them go to waste so early on."

"Now you're starting to sound like Avery," Bunnie giggled.

The coyote smiled, but before he could reply, a voice spoke from across the street via a megaphone. "Hey, cops! We know that you can hear us!"

"What do you want?" Antoine asked, having no choice but to yell.

"Our demand is the same! Give is all of the cash and jewels that you have, and we let the hostages go! If you refuse, we'll kill the ones we have!"

Bunnie shook her head. "We have to keep stalling until Sonic and the others get here," she said quietly to Antoine.

The coyote nodded before one of his ears flickered, and he grinned a bit. "I have a plan," he said to Bunnie, kneeling up. "All right! Let's meet in the middle of the street to make the trade, okay? It's a lot fairer that way, and there's no dirty tricks involved."

The lead kidnapper nodded. "All right! Grab the cash and jewels, and bring them out! Then we'll bring the hostages out, got it?"

"Fair enough!" Antoine called, standing up and turning around.

"You're crazy if you think that I'm going to let you take anything out to them!" said one of the employees.

"Look, miss, you'll just have to trust me," Antoine replied. "We have a plan. It's just going to take a little while to get here."

Bunnie then sighed. "We're sorry that we're throwing this stuff out there, but we kind of have to for this to work, okay?"

The employee that complained nodded. "Fine..."

Bunnie sighed, herself and Antoine following the employee to the cash register. He grabbed a bag from a drawer nearby and started to fill it up with cash and jewellery from a case that he'd opened under the register.

Once he'd gotten enough, he spoke. "Will this do?"

"It's not all of it, but we can't let them know that," said Antoine.

"What about the jewels?" Bunnie added. "Would they be a good price if the bad guys got away with them?"

"Reasonably so," said the employee. "But they don't need to know that."

Antoine smiled, turning to see a car coming around the corner. "There's our plan..."

With that, he led Bunnie and the employee out of the shop and into the street, the employee holding the back full of money and jewellery. One of the kidnappers looked over the window, speaking through his megaphone.

"Is that all of it?" he asked.

"It's as much as we could carry," said Antoine. "But it should be enough."

"It looks like it's about enough for one hostage," the bad guy replied. "Maybe two. But not all of them."

"The jewels in this bag are very valuable!" the employee shouted. "The money that you could make from them is way more than the cash itself in the bag!"

The kidnapper laughed. "You'd better not be lying to me! There'd better be some good stuff in there!"

"Just trust us!" Bunnie said.

"Trust the cops, huh? Good one."

"Hey, we're the ones out here doing our part of the deal," said Antoine. "And you're in there, hiding and not holding up your end of the bargain."

"All right, we'll come down," said the kidnapper.

As he made his way, Antoine's peripheral vision spotted Sonic and the others carefully driving closer before leaving their car, hiding behind a nearby alleyway that was out of view from the apartments. Surreptitiously, Antoine dropped his right hand and tucked his thumb in, leaving the remaining fingers as counting the number of bad guys as they left the apartment.

Each opponent had a hostage, and the leader spoke. "Any fair play, and we will kill these guys right on the spot."

"Understood," the employee said, stepping forward and holding the bad open. "Like I said, it's as much as I could carry."

The leader nodded. "All right. You hand yours over first."

Antoine nodded. "I'll do it."

"I don't care who does it, as long as it gets done," the kidnapper growled, growing frustrated.

Antoine carefully took the bag from the employee, walking over to the bad guys and handing the leader the bag of cash. As he did this, his peripheral vision picked up on Sonic and the other three moving closer.

"Now you," he said, speaking to Sonic while looking at the leader.

"All right," the leader replied, turning to the man closest to him. "Hand her over."

As soon as the hostage was handed over, Antoine smiled, reaching behind him carefully. "Anybody not trying to do anything bad had better get down and cover their eyes."

"What?"

Before anything else could happen, the coyote removed a grenade from his belt and pulled the pin, dropping it instantly to cause a flash to occur. The hostages flopped to the ground as quickly as they could, as did Antoine, Bunnie, and the employee.

Before the bad guys knew what happened, they were shaken from their daze to see Antoine, Bunnie, and the others pointing guns at them. The leader looked left and right for the hostages, but found that they had ran back into the Emerald Gem, the bag of jewels and money having been taken with them.

"Freeze," said Sonic. "Hands behind your head, knees on the ground."

"I'm the one running this operation," Antoine chuckled as the bad guys followed the blue hedgehog's order.

"It's my last day. May as well enjoy it," Sonic grinned.

"Your last day?" the lead kidnapper asked. "Wait... I heard about you! You're that dip-shit who got caught out in another city!"

"Well, this dip-shit is about to lock you up for what you've done," said Sonic. "And after tomorrow, we won't be constrained by such rules. In fact, if I wanted to right now, I could just straight up kill you."

Bunnie giggled, reaching for her shoulder mic. "Dispatch, this is Bunnie and Antoine. We've got four suspects here ready for transferal."

"Roger that," the voice on the other end replied. "Anything you need?"

"We can fit them all in our car," Bunnie shrugged. "We've got it covered."

"See you when you get here. Over and out."

"You know, we got this done with a remarkable amount of non-violence," Knuckles pointed out. "It just doesn't feel right unless we punch something."

"I think that's just you," said Sonic.

"True," replied Knuckles.

"On the bright side," Tails said, "it does make getting through our last day a bit easier."

"I still can't believe that we got beat by some rookie cops..." said the leading kidnapper. "They didn't even have the balls to hurt us."

"That's really not our decision any more," said Shadow. "But starting on Monday, there won't be a thing that any bad guy could do that'll stop us."

"True, it's not your decision," Bunnie said to Shadow, walking over and raising her hand to the leader. She slapped him hard across the face. "Luckily, we don't have to worry about that."

"You should have used your metal hand," Antoine grinned.

Bunnie shrugged. "Eh, missed opportunities. What can you do about them?"

The others laughed, and as they grabbed the kidnappers to put into their police cars, Shadow noticed something. "Does anybody know where Rouge is?"

"Oh, she's off sick today," said one of the employees.

"Well, as long as she's safe," Shadow shrugged.

"She actually asked you to go over to her house and check on her," the employee replied.

"I see," the black and red hedgehog nodded. "Thanks."

He then turned to head back to his police car, climbing into the back and joining Knuckles. As Sonic started the car, he looked in his overhead mirror to see Shadow gazing outside the window, looking out into the distance.

"You okay there, daydreamer?" Sonic smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Shadow said. "Just found out that Rouge was sick, so that's why she wasn't at work today."

"Anything else?" Knuckles asked.

"She wants me to go over to her house and check up on her," Shadow replied.

"I think that she wants more than that," Tails muttered.

"I'd expect that from the other two, but not twins," Shadow smirked.

"Only I can get away with calling him twins," Sonic said.

"And even then, you skate on thin ice," Tails reminded.

The black and red hedgehog shook his head. "I know that this might be a bit sudden, but could I go and check up on Rouge before we head to the Midnight Oil tonight?"

"I don't see why not," Sonic said. "She does live alone, right?"

"Yeah," Shadow nodded. "It'd be hard for her to look after herself. She doesn't get sick much, so when she does, she's twice as worried."

"I'm sure that it might be a cold or something," said Tails. "She'll be fine."

"Couldn't hurt to check, though," Sonic noted. "We thought we were fine after that Star Light thing, and now look at us." He sighed. "Damn near jobless. We got lucky, if you ask me."

"Dude," Knuckles said, "you need to stop being so hesitant about this."

"I know..." Sonic nodded. "I'm just... I'm worried, okay?"

"Are you worried about telling your family?" Shadow asked.

"No," Sonic shook his head. "I know that they'll always support me, no matter what."

"What about telling Amy?" Tails asked. "Lord knows that you'll have to bring that up tomorrow."

"She'd understand," Sonic said. "I don't know what it is about her, but we just... click, you know? So, no, she's not the main worry at hand here. She'd understand."

"Is it just about the date tomorrow?" Knuckles asked.

"Oh, that's right," Tails said. "After what happened with Sally and all..."

"What happened with Sally wasn't the worst," Sonic replied. "We were just at different places together. She wanted a diamond ring, and I just wasn't ready for that."

"How's she doing, anyway?" Knuckles asked. "I haven't heard from her for a while."

"I wish that I knew," Sonic said. "I just hope that she's still okay, wherever she is."

"I still find it ironic that the dude who broke the all time speed record at the academy dumped his girlfriend because she was moving too fast," the red echidna chuckled.

"Don't make me turn this car around, because I will," Sonic threatened, jokingly.

"Look, whatever happens," Tails said, putting a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "we've got your back, okay?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah... you're right."

"So, what's the major worry?" the yellow fox asked. "You never did tell us."

Sonic shrugged. "I don't know. I guess that I'm just worried that I let you guys down, you know? I mean, I was the field leader, and it was me that led us to Star Light."

"You led us out there because you were doing the right thing," Knuckles said. "It's not that you thought that you were doing the right thing; you straight up were doing the right thing."

"What's the difference?" asked Sonic.

"If you were just thinking it at the time, then I doubt that any of us would have followed you there," Shadow said. "We're your friends, but we know when to follow you and when to not follow you."

"I sure hope that there isn't a day where you don't follow me," Sonic said. "At least, not without good reason..."

"If we think that you're being a dick, I'll punch you myself," Knuckles grinned.

"You sure do like punching stuff, don't you?" Sonic asked.

"It's what I'm known for," Knuckles shrugged.

"Who knows?" Tails asked. "Maybe one day, when Shade's good enough at kickboxing, you two could open your own gym or something."

"And what would I do?" Knuckles asked. "I'm not the best teacher around."

"Maybe you could make the coffee?" Sonic grinned.

"You do remember what I said earlier if any of us think that you're being a dick, right?" the red echidna replied, laughing.

"Not while I'm driving," Sonic said. "We won't get back to work otherwise."

"Will he be exempt from that rule by Monday?" Shadow asked.

"Nope," replied Tails, grinning.

"Can I at least have my date tomorrow?" Sonic chuckled. "Then you guys can kill me, okay?"

The others laughed, and they continued the drive back to the station. They soon make it back with little issue, thankful that the kidnappers were in Antoine and Bunnie's car rather than their own.

"So, any plans?" asked Tails.

"Not that I can think of," replied Sonic. "We just need a debriefing from Avery, then we'll go pick up Knuckles' car from the lot."

"Actually, you won't have to go up for the debriefing," said Antoine, wrestling with one of the kidnappers.

Knuckles and Shadow went over to help as Sonic replied. "Why's that?"

"Because... well, you're fired by tomorrow," Antoine shrugged. "There'd be no point. And besides, you weren't there all that long when we caught these ass-hats."

"Dude does have a point..." Knuckles nodded, holding one of the kidnappers as he struggled. "Stay still, please. This will be less painful for you if you don't move as much."

"What'll happen if I do?" the kidnapper replied.

The red echidna shrugged, letting go of the kidnapper. Immediately, the bad guy ran forward, but was soon stumbled and tripping as Sonic stuck out a foot to trip him up, causing him to fall flat on his face.

Tails shrugged and picked the bad guy up. "You were warned."

"Come on, that's police brutality and you fucking know it!" the kidnapper said.

"It was just a happy little accident," Sonic replied. "Like your conception."

"Ooh... hitting a bit close to home there, aren't you?" Tails said.

"Yeah, you're right," Sonic said. "His parents were probably really nice people. Imagine how disappointed they'd be now."

The yellow fox grinned, handing the kidnapper back over to Knuckles. "That's much better."

Sonic smirked as they walked into the station proper, the bad guys instantly being taken to the holding cells. Soon after, Knuckles and Shadow had returned to rejoin Sonic and Tails, whilst Antoine and Bunnie went upstairs to the meeting room.

"Off to the lot next?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah," replied Knuckles, walking up to the front desk. "Hey, quick question."

"Shoot," Mina replied.

"Do we need a special pass or anything to get to the impound lot?"

"Not if it's a personal vehicle," said Cosmo. "You don't have to pay to take it, and you don't have to show any ID to get it. The station's database already knows that it's yours."

"Speaking of the database," said a voice, "I have something to show you guys."

Sonic turned to see Rotor. "Ah, there you are! How have you been?"

The walrus chuckled. "Not too bad. But this isn't a laughing matter. Come with me."

"All right," the blue hedgehog replied, turning to Knuckles. "Looks like picking up your car will have to wait a little bit longer."

The red echidna shrugged. "Eh, it'll all be fine. I don't mind waiting."

The four then followed Rotor into the morgue. As with much of the rest of the building, there was a lot of high-tech design to it. There were plenty of computers for analysis of certain things, such as bullets, blunt weapons, bladed weapons, pieces of clothing, and even body parts.

"Ugh... what a nasty smell," Knuckles said, holding his nose.

"Wait until you see the cause of it," Rotor said, walking over to a table in the middle of the room. It was covered with a large white cloth, with something under it. The walrus lifted the sheet, showing a Mobian.

"Seeing it just makes it worse..." Knuckles complained.

Rotor shook his head. "Female Mobian, mid-twenties, cause of death was an overdose."

"And overdose of what?" Tails asked, feeling like he knew the answer already.

"Fokus," said Rotor.

"So, did she have an implant?" Sonic asked. "Normally, Fokus works more on those who have implants, doesn't it?"

Rotor nodded. "That's true. And yes, this girl did have an implant. But that's not why I brought you down here."

"Why are we here then?" Tails asked.

"Well, just to show you that Fokus truly is a dangerous thing," Rotor warned. "I like you guys a lot, and it's terrible that you don't really have a job here any more."

"We'll be careful around that stuff," Sonic said, looking at the body again. "Poor girl..."

Rotor nodded. "The thing is, the implant was recent as well. In fact, studies I've done showed that she was on Fokus before getting an implant... which explains her arms."

The blue hedgehog looked curiously, almost throwing up in his mouth. "Jesus Christ... what happened?"

The walrus sighed. "The rotting that you can see on the arms is the skin peeling and breaking away. This is before she gained the implant, as afterwards, it was much less severe."

"So, like krokodil," Shadow said.

"What's that?" Knuckles asked.

"It's a drug similar to heroine, only with way worse side effects," Rotor answered. "Much like the skin rotting away."

"So, does the skin stop rotting altogether after getting an implant?" Tails asked.

"That's what I'm having an issue with," Rotor said. "The effects when one is implanted are more psychological than physical. But we just don't know what those effects are just yet. I haven't gotten that far into it."

"Well... good luck," Knuckles said. "Is it okay if we leave now? I just had lunch, and I don't want to make a mess of your office."

The walrus chuckled. "Of course. But be sure to be careful. Come Monday, you aren't officers any more. Anyone who doesn't know that could try and force you into anything."

"We'll be careful," Sonic nodded. "Thanks for your concern, Rotor."

Rotor nodded. "Take care."

The four left the room, each shuddering a bit. "To think, we were probably like that the other night..." Shadow said.

"Only because of an accident, and not due to drugs," replied Tails.

"We'd better keep on our toes," Knuckles said. "We've got to stay careful. But for now, let's go get my car back. Maybe a fun drive around will take my mind off of things."

So, that's another chapter done! It got here quickly than my last one did! I hope that you all enjoyed it, and that it was a good chapter, despite the lack of violence. There'll be more to come soon, trust me. I expect to pump out at least one more chapter of this before the year ends, as well as something else. Anyway, the next chapter will be a bit more relaxed, as the guys will be having fun at the bar. I'll see you all then. Take care, and stay tuned.