Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, and Amy were all sat around the living room table of the freelancers' base, sharing chilli-dogs and playing Cards Against Mobius. It was the first to seven points, and leading so far was Knuckles with four, followed by Amy and Shadow both tied at three, and Tails and Sonic were tied for last with two points each.

It was Amy's turn to read the next card. "The government has funded millions of dollars of research into blank."

The others looked through their cards, picking their choices and shuffling the cards amongst themselves before handing them over to Amy, who began reading them out. "The government has funded millions of dollars of research into... praying the gay away," she giggled. "Hehe... nice one." She picked up the next card. "Research into how the Grinch stole Christmas." The rest chuckled at that, liking the answer. "Research into the... oh, goodness..." She broke into a fit of giggles. "Research into the primal, ball-slapping sex that your parents are having right now..." The others laughed with her, soon calming down, as did Amy. "And finally, the government has funded millions of dollars of research into a box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid." She smiled. "I like the riddle there, but the winner is parents having sex."

"And he extends the lead!" said Knuckles, waiting as Amy gave him the black card.

"I had the praying one," Shadow said.

"I had the riddle thingy," Tails said. "That must leave Sonic with the Grinch one."

"Yeah," Sonic shrugged. "I thought that the reference would work."

"It was a close one," said Amy. "I mean, it's a good movie."

Sonic smiled. "Yeah, it is."

Tails chuckled. "The book is better. Anyway, I'm reading the next one." He grabbed the top black card from the pile. "This is your captain speaking. Fasten your seat-belts and prepare for blank."

The others put their cards in, shuffled them, and handed them to their fluffy friend, who cleared his throat as he began speaking. "This is your captain speaking. Fasten your seat-belts and prepare for sneezing, farting, and coming at the same time," he chuckled. "Good start. Gross, but good. Prepare for an RKO out of nowhere!" He dramatically increased his voice inflection, making himself laugh more. "A memey card, but it works. Prepare for war, huh, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing."

"Say it again!" Knuckles sang, going along with the song.

Tails then continued. "And last card. Prepare for an ass disaster! Haha!" He literally slapped his own thigh as he laughed at that one. "I feel like that one and the first one could go hand in hand together, but they're both so good." He calmed down and deliberated for a bit before nodding, confirming that he had made his decision. "As much as that last one made me laugh, I've got to go with the war one just for the brief singalong."

"That was me!" Amy said. She turned to Knuckles after getting her card. "I'm catching up to you, red!"

"Well, it's my turn to pick next," said the red echidna, picking up the next black card. "As king, how shall I keep the peasants in line?"

As they all sorted through their cards, Amy spoke. "I've been meaning to ask, but where did you guys get your start?"

"Eh, you kind of know the story already," said Sonic.

"No, not as cops," Amy clarified. "Like, where are you guys from?"

"Well, I was born and raised in Green Hill," said Sonic. "Everything that I've ever done I've done here, pretty much. I try to split my time between living here and with my family." He pulled out his phone and showed Amy a picture from his phone of himself and his siblings and parents. "The green one there is Manic, my brother. The purple hedgehog is my sister, Sonia. The older version of her is our mum, named Aleena. And lastly is... well, the taller, more handsome version of me."

"Jules..." said Tails, his voice as calm as Sonic's.

"What happened to him?" Amy asked.

"Car crash," said Sonic. "He was driving back home after a vacation. But it was a stormy night, and lightning struck and distracted him..." He took another breath. "The other driver was stone cold sober, but he got distracted and couldn't keep his eyes on the road. He survived, but my dad didn't..."

"How old were you when he passed away?" Amy asked.

"5," Sonic said. "I... I don't like to talk about it much." He cleared his throat. "So, yeah. I was born here in Green Hill, and I'm glad to be a part of the forces that defend the city."

The pink hedgehog nodded, then turning to Tails. "What about you?"

"Mine's a bit more clunky in terms of where I'm from," the yellow fox said. "I was born in Mystic Ruins City, but raised between there and Scrap Metal City because my parents had workshops in both places. After they got one in Green Hill, they decided to make it their main shop, and I've been here ever since."

"How are they, by the way?" Knuckles asked. "It's been a while."

"Eh, they're fine," Tails smiled. "I'll be sure to give them a phone call later."

Amy smiled, looking to Knuckles. "What about you?"

"I'm actually from a far-off place," the red echidna said. "I was born on Angel Wing City. Usually, that place is pretty isolated, but my parents raised me right. But then... oh, but then..."

Amy looked confused, then nodded. "Oh... I know what you mean..."

"That's why there are so few echidnas left in the world," Knuckles explained. "Ever since that damn culling, I lost so many family and friends. Myself and Shade are two of the only surviving echidnas that I know about." He then paused for a brief moment. "Oh, and that girl from our first night as cops. Julie-something."

"Julie-Su?" Tails offered.

"Ah, yeah," Knuckles nodded. "That's her."

"I have some in my class," said Amy. "They know a bit of what it's like, but they're fine regardless."

"Didn't you have a bad brush too, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"Oh, for a little while," the yellow fox confirmed. "Because of my tails, I got bullied a lot. I didn't really have any friends. I know that bullying isn't much compared to losing a parent or most of your own species, but..."

"Pain is still pain," said Knuckles. "Doesn't matter what the scale of it is."

Tails nodded. "Besides that, the worst thing to happen to me was my dad having a heart attack when I was little. Didn't really help the whole bullying thing."

"I'm so sorry..." Amy said, gently taking the fox's hand into her own.

"Actually, it turned out to be some sort of blessing in disguise," Tails said. "The operation that they performed to help him out was expensive, but it was a success. It actually became a prototype for the implants that we use today."

"Did they put anything in your dad to help his heart?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah, but just to help him to get back on his feet," Tails answered. "It wasn't a hassle to remove it when it was over with, and he's been doing fine ever since."

"That's cool," Amy smiled.

"Thanks," Tails smiled back.

Amy then looked over to Shadow. "That just leaves you. What's your story?"

"I... I don't have a big one," Shadow admitted. "I honestly can't recall where I was born. I think that it might have been Green Hill, since I have the most memories here. I never found out about my family, and I jumped from place to place, hoping for some family to take me in. Most human families didn't want to associate with a Mobian, and no Mobian families wanted me because they thought that I'd be a bad omen."

"That must have been horrible for you," Amy said.

"It was, until I met Maria," Shadow said.

"She really changed everything for you, didn't she?" Sonic smiled.

"Yeah..." the black and red hedgehog admitted. "Anyway, my first family that I can remember was with her. Since she was adopted too, we got along well together. Her foster mother was a lovely woman, but the father... not so much. One night of too many drinks, and he hit Maria. That was pretty much it for us, and we left not long after that."

"Maria was adopted too?" asked Amy.

"Yeah," Shadow said. "Her real parents died when she was very young. At least she knew hers..."

Amy nodded a bit before speaking again. "Did you look for another foster home?"

"No," Shadow said. "We looked after ourselves. We didn't get the chance to shower or change clothes, and we stole food only when we needed to. We took money on occasion, but not as much as we did with food. We hopped around the streets of Green Hill with different families of homeless Mobians who took us in."

"And then what happened?" asked Amy.

"Well, when we hit our teen years, things started changing. Me and Maria started hanging around each other a bit less, but we were still close." He sighed. "That's when... well, that's when Rouge joined the frame."

"Rouge?" Amy said. "That name is familiar..."

"She works at the Emerald Gem," Sonic explained. "We saved you guys there at the same time."

"Mobian bat? White? Incredibly gorgeous?" Amy asked.

"That's her," Sonic said.

"So, what happened with her?"

"That's when things started to get worse," Shadow said. "I hanged around with Rouge more, and we were kind of... attached. I started stealing more because of her, I dabbled with drinking, I got into fights all the time... and it all ended when I fought a police officer."

"Why'd you go and do that?" Amy giggled.

Shadow couldn't hide his smile. "To be honest, he was being a super huge douche-bag to Rouge, so I fought him off her." He smiled more. "After that incident, I heard about Green Hill Academy and went to sign up. They almost didn't take me, but I passed the entrance exams, and I put all of my focus into wanting to help people. I lost touch with Rouge, and barely kept it with Maria, but I made it through."

"So, are you and Maria... together?" Amy asked.

Shadow choked a bit and cleared his throat. "Um... n-no." He calmed himself, trying not to stutter again. "I mean, I love her, and she knows that. She loves me too. But we're not together together, you know? We live together, and we protect each other, but she knows about my job and about what being a freelance agent entails, so."

"You're forgetting to mention someone important..." Sonic said under his breath.

Shadow chuckled. "Ah, yes. The man who helped me get into the academy in the first place."

"You're damn right I did," Sonic winked.

"Don't take this out of context, but why did you help him?" Amy asked. "Did you know about what he'd done beforehand?"

"I'd read some reports in the papers," Sonic admitted. "Even then, he didn't seem like a bad dude. He just had a shitty hand dealt to him, and now he's making the most of it. The academy almost rejected him before I stepped in and convinced the officer running said exam to change his mind."

"What about you two?" Amy asked Tails and Knuckles.

"Eh, we offered to help him a lot," said Tails, "but he wanted to try and focus on it all on his own. Which was hard to do, considering that he shared a room with me at the academy."

"Yeah," Knuckles grinned. "He shared a room with the smartest person at this table - who offered him help at every turn - and Shadow kept saying no."

"Well, it worked, didn't it?" Shadow smiled. "I mean, I made it through."

"On your own terms," Amy smiled. "Not bad."

"So, what brought about that question?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I get the feeling that I'm going to be running into you guys quite a bit," she shrugged. "And considering that I'm dating one of you, it'd be easy to ask you now before the magic dies."

"We've only had one kiss, though," Sonic chuckled.

"And I really liked that kiss," Amy blushed. "I'd like to do it again sometime."

"Not in front of us," said Knuckles. "That'd just be icky."

The blue hedgehog laughed before speaking. "I figure that you owe us one."

"Owe you one how?" Amy asked.

"For the question," Tails surmised. "We've told you all about us, so it's only fair that you do the same."

The pink hedgehog nodded. "I guess I do owe you. All right, well, Sonic knows about my heart condition. But the rest of you don't, so let's start there." The others chuckled at that before she continued. "Well, I was born with it, but it's confusing. Me and Rosy were completely fine during our mum's pregnancy. She didn't drink, smoke, or do anything bad. Rosy turned out fine, but I was born with heart problems." She hanged her head. "I... I almost didn't make it..."

Sonic put his hand on Amy's. "It's okay."

Amy nodded and sniffled a bit, but cleared her throat and carried on. "Our parents did their best when we were born to ensure that we were okay, and they've done a pretty good job. They still help us today, even though me and Rosy live together."

"Where are you two from?" asked Knuckles.

"Green Hill," Amy said. "But our parents live on the western side of the city, and we live nearer the centre. It makes getting to my job a pain in the ass, though, since that's also on the western side of the city."

"When did you move?" asked Tails.

"About four years ago," said Amy. "Me and Rosy hadn't long finished high-school, and balancing college with a decent job was hard at first. Luckily, during that time, the governing bodies that be realised that student loans are total bullshit, and then me and Rosy got our jobs."

"What made you want to be a teacher?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I'd always liked going to school," Amy shrugged.

"Nerd!" Tails called. "I mean, it's okay if I say it, right?"

"You're good," Amy said with a smile, sharing a high-five with the fox. "Anyway, I'd always been interested in teaching, but mostly teaching kids. For one thing, it's easy to teach kindergarten. But for another, I just really like working with kids. They're always so happy and full of interest and the will to learn. They don't have to deal with the harsher environments of high school and such. Even college can be kind of evil."

"I think that you should at least tell them about that part," Sonic shrugged. "That way, they're more prepared for when they get to college."

"I don't know if any of them will get there, but I have faith in them," Amy said. "That one kid who keeps trying to eat the glue is surprisingly good at basic maths."

"He should stick to it," Knuckles said.

Sonic sighed. "Really, dude?"

"I couldn't help it," Knuckles shrugged.

"I think that you could have," said Tails. "You just chose not to."

"Yeah, that," the red echidna smirked. "Let's go with that instead."

"Anyway," Amy said, still laughing a bit, "I love doing what I do. I love helping kids get prepared for the world, even though I'm not preparing them for anything major."

"What about Rosy?" Tails asked. "How'd she become a bartender?"

"Well, it was her part-time job during our college years," Amy said. "But she grew to actually like it and got pretty good at it. She has a good memory of people and their orders, but being a normal waitress isn't her style."

"So, serving them stuff that destroys their liver is more her speed?" Sonic chuckled. "She definitely is a party girl type."

"Actually, she kind of is but kind of isn't," Amy said. "She's not great at keeping a guy around for long, but at the same time she doesn't go out every weekend and get drunk off her rocker. In fact, she only really drinks at work because they allow her, and that's only during breaks. Even then, she doesn't do it that much unless it's for stress relief on behalf of a douchey customer."

"Oh, yeah," Tails said. "We know the type."

"She told me about that," Amy nodded. "You guys almost got into a fight with those jocks, right?"

"They weren't even jocks," said Sonic. "They were just roided up Mobians looking for a drink, or a fight."

"I would have given them both," Knuckles said. "Give them a beer, then give them a blast upside their head with a punch."

"One-Punch Echidna strikes again," said Tails.

"Hell, you never know," Knuckles shrugged. "With these implants and such, it could very well only take one punch."

"Let's let Rosy handle keeping her bar in one piece," Amy smiled. "She has that shotgun for a reason."

"She's good at her job," said Sonic. "Good memory, friendly enough, and she gets extra tips due to her fantastic personality."

"You're avoiding the obvious," said Amy.

"Only because I don't want the magic to die so early for us," Sonic winked.

"Touche," Amy giggled.

The radio then stopped playing the songs. "That's my cue," Knuckles said, standing up. "Any requests?"

"Let's let Amy choose," Sonic said, turning to the pink hedgehog.

"Oh, that last album is over?" Amy smiled. "Well, I chose last time. I say that Knuckles picks."

"Eh, something easier than Amy's choice," said the red echidna. "Let's say... some Hit The Lights, perhaps?"

"Can we get away with it at this time?" Tails asked.

"Eh, we've got a couple of hours until midnight," said Sonic. "Come on, let's get back to the game." The oven dinged again. "Ooh, more chilli-dogs!"

Shadow smirked as he stood up. "I'll set the music up."

"What were the scores again?" Knuckles asked.

"You at five, Amy at four, Shadow at three, and me and Sonic with two each," Tails said.

"I'm in the lead!" Knuckles smiled.

"You won't keep it," said Amy. "I'm coming for you."

"Bring it on, sister."

Sonic soon came back with chilli-dogs, and Shadow pressed play on the radio before both hedgehogs rejoined the table. "Who's the next card czar?" Sonic asked.

"Knuckles," said Tails.

"Aw... that's me out of a point," Knuckles said, picking the next card up. "As king, how shall I keep the peasants in line?"

The others sorted through their cards, shuffling them before handing them to Knuckles, who gave them another shuffle. "As king, how shall I keep the peasants in line? Ass to mouth." He snorted. "All right, that's a good way. I shall keep the peasants in line by smoking crack, for instance." He chuckled and then kept reading. "I shall keep the peasants in line by slapping a racist old lady!" He laughed loudly at that one. "I don't know why I like that one, but it's good." He moved on to the last card. "As king, I shall keep the peasants in line by letting everyone down!" He laughed harder than he did at the previous one. "That one wins!"

"Boom!" Amy said. "The newcomer ties the lead!"

"That's like the third point that I've given you too," Knuckles noted, handing her the black card.

"Mine was smoking crack," Tails said.

"I had the racist old lady," Shadow admitted.

"Mine was ass to mouth," Sonic shrugged. "I didn't have much that worked for that round."

"All right, I'm next," said Shadow, picking the next black card up. "Ooh, this is a good one. The blind date was going horribly until we discovered our shared interest in blank." He waited as the others sorted their cards, and he shuffled them as well, before picking the first one up and reading it. "The date was going horrible until we discovered our shared interest in making the penises kiss," he chuckled. "Great start. Our shared interest in a Japanese toaster that you can fuck." He laughed a bit more at that one. "Oh, that's so good. Our shared interest in Greek philosophy, mostly their philosophies towards sexual intercourse." He smirked at that one. "Whoever wrote that one in did well. And lastly, it was going horrible until we discovered our shared interest in almost giving money to a homeless person!" He laughed loudly. "Oh, god! That's so cruel, but so brilliant at the same time! It wins!"

"And another one for me!" Amy said.

"Ooh, damn," Sonic said. "I could very well pick the winner here." He cleared his throat and grabbed the next black card, unable to hide a chuckle. "What's making things awkward in the sauna?" The others sorted their cards, shuffled, then Sonic shuffled them again. "What's making things awkward in the sauna? My raging boner that is literally raging to the point of growing arms and punching people!" He laughed loudly. "I know that's a write-in, but it's so absurd that I can't help but love it. Let's see... getting drive-by shot is making things awkward," he nodded. "I can see how. The tiger that... oh, fuck! Haha! The tiger that killed my father!" He snorted. "That's dark, but great!" He managed to calm himself down, but got to the next one. "And simple, ambiguous sarcasm is making things awkward in the sauna. It's the tiger that killed my father. It has to be."

"Yes!" Amy exclaimed.

"Fuck!" Knuckles yelled. "Mine was the raging boner! I thought that was so good!"

"Drive-by was mine," said Shadow.

"I had the sarcasm," Tails shrugged.

Sonic smiled and handed Amy the black card. "And you're the winner. Also the first female participant and winner that we've had."

"Nobody wanted to play before?" Amy asked.

"Nah," Tails said. "A lot of people were busier at the academy. We got to play with some of them, but most games were just us for. The nights we stayed up keeping the others awake with our laughter drove people crazy."

The pink hedgehog giggled, turning to Sonic. "Sorry if that last card was a bit near the knuckle considering what you said earlier."

The blue hedgehog shrugged. "Eh, I wasn't thinking about my own father, to be fair. I know that you weren't implying that anyway. It was just a good card."

"It was favouritism, and you know it..." Knuckles grumbled.

"Does somebody want some chilli-dogs with all that salt?" Tails asked.

"Well, you all know that the loser packs up," Knuckles said. "And you and Sonic were tied for last."

"Shit," Sonic said, turning to Tails and raising a fist. Tails did the same, and they slammed their fists down onto their hands three times. "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Tails had paper, and Sonic had rock, so the blue hedgehog grunted. "Double shit."

"We didn't have the pack away rule the last time that we played," Shadow pointed out.

"Well, I'm owed some payback after getting screwed on that last round," Knuckles said.

"How about a couple of drinks at the Midnight Oil too?" asked Amy. "My treat for you guys letting me hang with you."

"Sounds good," said Sonic, still packing things away.

"Here, I'll help," Amy said.

"But you won the game," Sonic said. "I don't mind doing this."

"Champion's privilege," Amy grinned.

"Oh, well, when you put it that way," Sonic smirked. He and Amy made quick work of packing the games up, and Sonic took them into the living room, placing them in their usual spot on one of the shelves on the TV stand.

Meanwhile, the others were grabbing some hoodies and such to put on, as it was likely to be cold at this time of night. Knuckles handed Sonic a dark grey zip-up hoodie as he made it back to them from the living room, slipping it on.

"Let's get going," said Sonic.

The others nodded, all leaving and hopping into Knuckles' car. The red echidna started it up, pulling out of the driveway and the alley combined with it before they all made their way to their destination.

"No music?" Tails asked.

"Nah," Knuckles said. "We've listened to enough already. We need to chill out a bit, I think."

"I was going to say," Shadow said. "That explains why you turned off the radio when we finished that game."

"Did you at least put the remaining chilli-dogs in the microwave?" Sonic asked.

"In the trash," Knuckles admitted. "No point in having those for breakfast, as good as they are."

"Wow," Sonic said. "That win must have hurt more than I thought."

"It wasn't that bad," Knuckles smirked. "Not much longer to go. Traffic's pretty light tonight."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Sonic nodded. "The last time we drove up there was when we were back at Green Hill still. Our new base is further away, but this drive just felt kinda faster."

"Technically," said Tails, "we'd cleared our desks already by that point. You were the last one picked up from your home." He then shrugged. "I do agree that this drive isn't as long as I thought that it'd be, though."

"I guess that I live farther away than I thought," Sonic said. "I might permanently move in to the new base just to make it easier."

"It would make it easier to find you if I need you," said Amy, blushing. "Sorry... that makes me sound a bit like a stalker..."

Sonic turned to her and kissed her cheek. "Don't be sorry," he smiled. "It was cute. Like you."

"You're cute too," Amy grinned.

"Am I cute?" Tails asked.

"You're the cutest one in this car," Amy smiled, reaching to playfully ruffle the yellow fox's head.

Knuckles and Shadow smirked at the goings on before finally reaching the bar in question. The red echidna parked his car, and they all went to the entrance, seeing the same lion from last time, who nodded at seeing Amy.

"Good to see you," he smiled at her.

"Riley," Amy smiled. "It's been a while."

"You don't come up here often enough," the lion smiled. "Go on in."

The others stepped forward, but Riley stopped Sonic. "You need to see my ID again?"

"I just want to look at your new cards," the lion admitted.

Sonic grinned, showing his new card off. "Like it?"

"Ooh... yeah, it's a lot cooler than the police ones," Riley admitted. "Go on in now. And have some fun."

"Will do," the blue hedgehog nodded.

They all got to walk in this time, as Knuckles stopped to share a fist bump with the bouncer, and they all headed to a booth near the back of the bar. As they sat down, a familiar face walked over to them, and Sonic shook his head.

"Oh, look," the blue hedgehog began, seeing the zebra from the other night come over, wearing a dark red tank top, black cargo shorts, and white trainers. "It's the Archduke of Douche-Baggery."

"If you'd give me a second," the zebra said, "I wanted to apologise for the other night. I was drunk and angry about what your echidna friend did."

"Are you sure that this is out of the goodness of your own heart and not just because the barkeep threatened to blow your head off?" Sonic asked.

The zebra looked confused. "You sure that's the barkeep? Because the lady sat with you guys is even more beautiful."

"We're twin sisters, so we're kind of equally beautiful," Amy said.

"And what does the non-violent twin do for a living?"

"She's a teacher," Sonic said. "Maybe you should sign up for her class."

"What kind of teacher?" The zebra smiled. "Yoga? I love a woman that can stretch."

"Four your infomration, I teach kindergarten," Amy said. "My boyfriend is right, actually; you'd pass with flying colours. Want to start, let's say, the beginning of next week?"

The zebra grew angry now. "I didn't come out here to be insulted."

"No," Shadow said. "But you came here feigning innocence in an attempt to get friendly with the only sat at this table because she looks like the girl behind the bar, and even after both have said no, you still don't get the fucking hint."

"You'd better apologise for that, you emo shit-bag," the zebra threatened.

"Didn't we already apologise enough for the spilled drinks thing?" Knuckles asked. "Because I'm so done with that, personally. Get over it, dude."

"You know, all you pigs are the same," the zebra said.

"Dude, you got a name?" Tails asked.

"J-Joel," he slurred.

"Well, Joel, we have some good news and some bad news," the fox said. "The good news is, we're not cops any more!"

"And what's the bad news?" Joel asked.

"The bad news, for you at least," Sonic added, playing along, "is that we're no freelance bounty hunters. And your very own name popped up on our list."

"B-But I've never hurt anybody..." Joel said.

"No, but you have been harassing this humble establishment for quite some time now," said Knuckles. "There's been rumours spreading about you making sexual advances on girls, usually with your cronies to back you up."

"Well, they're not here tonight," said Joel.

"Good thinking," said Shadow. "Fewer bodies for the ambulance to pick up later."

"Ah, there's no need," said the zebra. "I'll show myself out."

"Seriously?" asked Sonic. "My friend here just threatened to knock you unconscious, and you're going to back away?"

"I'm drunk," said Joel. "It wouldn't be a fair fight."

"You want to talk about fair fights?" Tails scoffed. "Someone as tall and built as you who makes advances on women less than twice your size wants to talk about the concept of fairness? That's rich. Almost as rich as you are, I assume."

"I'm not rich..." Joel complained. "I used to be..."

"Papa cut you off?" Tails asked. "Too much going to bars and hitting on girls?"

"Wait a minute..." said Amy. "I... I think I know about you..."

"Oh?" The zebra smiled. "What have you heard?"

"Well, besides the pompous ass-hole part, you're a trust fund kid," said Amy. "You've got money, and connections. And boy, do you squander both of those things."

"Where did you hear this?"

"Read up on it the other day, thanks to my sister," Amy smiled. "She keeps reports on all of her patrons, and that includes you."

"So, we've got the richest shit-head in Green Hill sat with us?" Sonic smiled. "It's a privilege and an honour, sir."

"I'm not from Green Hill originally," Joel slurred. "Oh... fuck..."

"He told us something he shouldn't have," Tails sang.

"Details," Sonic demanded. "Now."

"I only drive up here late at night with my buddies to get away from Star Light," said Joel.

"Why Star Light?" Tails asked. "It's a nice city with a low crime rate."

"Not enough good places there," said Joel. "I like the drive up here. Usually it's with my buddies."

"You do know that you're already in enough trouble, right?" Sonic said. "By telling us this, you could be in even more."

"Come on," Joel complained, suddenly standing up straight. "You can't do that to me, man! You fucking pigs are all the same, you know that?"

"Well, it depends," said Knuckles. "Do you want to keep your life and your money, or do you want to be in jail for all of the horrendous shit that you've been pulling because of your status?"

"You... you can't do that!"

"We won't," said Shadow. "You just have to promise us that you won't go around bars and approaching ladies who don't want to be approached."

Joel scoffed. "What's next? Are you going to expose my illegal gambling too?"

Sonic chuckled. "You need a hand out of that hole that you're stuck in, by any chance?"

"Shit..." Joel put his head in his hands. "You can't tell anyone. Please... don't arrest me..."

"We're freelancers," said Shadow. "We could very well kill you right now and nobody would give a shit."

"But... m-my buddies..."

"I'm assuming that they're in the back?" Sonic asked. Joel nodded, and Sonic sighed. "Well, there's only one thing to do," he said, pulling out his phone. "Hello, 911?"

"I'll stop it!" Joel cried out. "Please... don't... don't do it... I'll change my ways..."

"I still think that you need some form of repentance," said Shadow, turning to the bar. "Rosy!"

The pink hedgehog in question, wearing a black blouse, white skinny jeans, and pink flats came on over. "What's this prick doing here?" she asked, hooking a thumb to Joel.

"He's in very serious trouble," said Knuckles. "And we thought that it'd be best if you repay him for all the shit that he's been causing lately."

Rosy nodded, and got Joel to stand up. Rosy then reared a hand back, slapping the zebra right across the face. Instead of getting angry, the white and black mammal nodded, rubbing his cheek as he spoke.

"I... I deserved that..." he said, feeling that his lip had split. "Damn... you pack a mean right hand..."

"I also pack a mean right punt," Rosy said.

"What- OW!" Joel yelled, feeling said punt hit him square in the nuts, he keeled over, falling on his knees.

"Learned your lesson?" Rosy asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Joel nodded weekly.

"Good," Rosy replied, turning to the table. "Hey, guys."

"Hi," the others replied as Joel went to grab his buddies.

"So, what was that all about?" the pink hedgehog barkeep asked.

"Oh, just giving that dick-bag the special treatment that he always deserved," Sonic grinned.

"Sounds fair," Rosy nodded. "Can I get you anything?"

"Five cokes," said Sonic.

"Ahem," Amy cleared her throat.

"Oh, right. Sorry," the blue hedgehog said sheepishly. "Four cokes and some orange juice for the lady."

"And for food? We've got some desserts. Not the best in the world, but they'll perk you right up," Rosy smiled.

"What do you recommend?" Knuckles asked.

"That I get paid so that I get to keep my job," Rosy winked. "As for the honest answer, we've got some raspberry cheesecake."

The five sat down looked at each other, and nodded their approval. Rosy smiled and went back over to the bar, calling out to the kitchen to prepare the dessert as she went about fixing up their drinks.

"So," Amy said, "you weren't really going to call the police on that guy were you?"

Sonic showed his phone to Amy, revealing that he had typed in the number, but didn't dial. "Nah. Young kid like him would get eaten alive in jail."

"It's not that he's too pretty for it," Knuckles smirked. "It's that he's just pretty enough."

"Good thing that we didn't actually call the police," said Tails. "We can get away with that, but that might go against the rule of running our own stuff."

"Yeah, true," Sonic nodded. "But he didn't need to know that."

Rosy then reappeared and handed them each a couple of slices of raspberry cheesecake, along with a metal jug. "Got some custard in there if you so desire it," she said, handing them their drinks.

"Thanks," said Shadow.

Rosy nodded and smiled before leaving them be, and Tails spoke first. "I'm glad that the nights are quieter than the days," he said.

"Not to sound lazy, but I agree," said Knuckles. "It's a bit easier to sleep knowing that the actual forces have stuff handled these days."

"They only need us if it's super important or if they're low on backup," said Sonic. "It's all a big plus, really."

"Seems like you guys really like your job," Amy smiled. "I can appreciate that."

"You really like teaching kids that much, huh?" asked Sonic.

"I love it," Amy gushed. "I know that I said it earlier, but they're so adorable. I love watching them learn and getting to learn with them."

"Where'd you get your degree?" Tails asked.

"I started at Green Hill University not long after me and my family moved up in the city," said Amy. "I took mostly sociology courses to help me learn how to deal with people, and then when I graduated I managed to get a full-time job, since those courses as well as the part-time training helped me out a lot into actually getting a job as a teacher."

"Where did you guys go to college?" asked Shadow. "Since I didn't go, what was it like for you?"

"Oh, we all dropped out of high school to join up with the police academy," said Sonic. "Well, Tails did, at least. He was too smart for them."

"True," Knuckles said. "Me and Sonic had to work a bit harder, but we made it out of the hell that is high school."

"Were you in the same classes?" Amy asked.

"Different ages," said Sonic. "Usually equals going to different classes."

"Me and Sonic are the closest in age," said Knuckles. "But even then, we were still mostly in separate classes. We didn't interact that much."

"Then we got into the academy, and that was that," said Sonic.

"What did you do for that time, Tails?" Amy asked.

"Oh, I stayed at home mostly," the yellow fox answered. "I worked from there with my parents at their parts shop. I got offered a chance to join up for the academy. In fact, I'm the only one who was offered, since they noticed my intelligence."

"So, the others signed up freely?" Amy smiled. "You actually got the offer from the teachers at the academy?"

Tails blushed. "Not to brag, but... yeah." He cleared his throat. "My parents were hesitant at first, but they came around."

"Did you get bullied much at the academy?" Amy asked.

"I kinda started learning to fight by that point," Tails said. "I prefer to read a book, but I can take care of myself."

"We did offer to help him if he got picked on," Shadow said. "But he declined."

"Payback for you not taking my help with tests," Tails chuckled. "We all did our own thing, but we did become friends along the way, and when we all graduated, I was so happy."

Amy smiled. "I'm glad to hear it."

Sonic smiled, and took a swig of his drink before getting a phone call, seeing that it was from Avery. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Sonic!" Avery smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Sonic said, putting his phone on speaker mode. "I'm here at the Midnight Oil with the others. Say hi, everyone!"

"Hi, everyone!" Avery repeated.

"So, what's the call about, boss?" Shadow asked.

"I asked you not to call me boss any more."

"Sorry, boss."

Avery shook his head on his end. "This is actually pretty important. We're having a prison transfer soon, and I want you guys to help oversee it. Make sure that nothing goes too awry."

"You're calling us for backup ahead of time?" Tails asked. "This must be serious."

"It is," said Avery. "So, can you?"

"A paycheck's a paycheck," Sonic joked. "Count us in."

"When is it?" asked Shadow.

"In a few days," Avery replied. "Friday, to be exact. I'll see you all then."

"Later," Sonic said as they both hanged up.

"Prison transfer, huh?" Amy smiled. "Not bad for freelance rookies."

"I almost want to take offence to that," Sonic winked. "Come on, let's finish up. We should get some sleep soon."

"Oh, I wanted to ask..." Amy trailed off, blushing.

"Wanted to ask what?" Sonic said.

"Could I stay overnight with you guys?" Amy asked. "I'll sleep in Sonic's room with him. I mean, not sleep with him. Not that I don't... oh, boy..."

Sonic leaned over and kissed her cheek to calm her down, which worked. "There's no code against that, so... yes. You can sleep at our place tonight."

"Who made you the leader?" Knuckles asked.

"Avery did when we were still cops," Sonic replied. "I figured that it still carries on to us being free agents now."

Knuckles paused. "Well, I wasn't expecting that one."

The others laughed and continued eating their food, even adding some custard to their desserts. Along the way, Amy took her heart medication for the evening, and soon, they'd put any trash away, with Amy stopping by the bar whilst the others waited by the entrance.

"I'm staying over their place tonight," Amy said.

"Going to finally get laid with blue boy?" Rosy smirked.

Amy playfully hit her sister's arm, but couldn't help her blush. "Yeah, don't wait up for me. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later," Rosy replied, reaching to hug her younger sister, who hugged back.

The hug broke, and Amy waved goodbye to her older sister before leaving with the other four. They got to Knuckles' car, and wasted no time in pulling out of the parking lot and driving back to the new headquarters.

They pulled up to the front entrance of their place and got inside, letting Amy in also. They didn't turn many lights on, electing to simply go upstairs and head straight to bed. Luckily, the beds and rooms were large enough to hold two people, so Amy getting into bed wouldn't be a problem. Well, not a big one...

"I... um... I don't have a change of clothes," Amy blushed.

"I don't mind turned around and waiting," Sonic smiled. "It's no issue."

"You can look," Amy giggled, starting to undress to her underwear. Sonic followed suit, and then climbed into the bed, with his pink hedgehog counterpart following suit.

"Is there a rule against sex in the new place?" Amy blushed.

"Not that I know of," Sonic smiled. "But to help the others sleep, maybe we shouldn't do that."

"Kisses, then?"

"Kisses will do," Sonic acquiesced playfully.

The two smiled and shared a kiss, sharing some passion with each other as well but keeping their moaning to a minimum. Then Amy climbed on top of Sonic, grinding a bit against him, but he put his hands on her hips.

"I'd love to..." he said. "Believe me, I really would..."

"I know," Amy nodded, moving back down to lay next to Sonic. "Me too."

Sonic hugged her close and kissed her softly before breaking it. "Goodnight, my sweet Rose..."

"That was cheesy..." the pink hedgehog giggled. "Goodnight, my handsome blue boyfriend..."

"I guess that makes it official, my beautiful pink girlfriend," Sonic smiled.

They both shared a final chuckle before yawning and going to sleep, Amy curled up on Sonic's chest and purring as she snored. Sonic took note of this, smiling at how adorable this pink hedgehog beauty was, before caving in to his own tiredness and falling asleep as well.

And another chapter is finished! Also, there was a mistake that I made in the last chapter, but I fixed it, so yay. Also also, I hope that you enjoyed this one! It was a more comedic chapter, and balanced with a bit of backstory which I hope wasn't too confusing even though this was kind of more of a filler chapter. But I still had fun writing it, and I hope that you did too. I'll see you all next time. Take care, and stay tuned.