AN: Yay! Chapter 4 is up! We hope you loving readers enjoy it. Please review if you read. :)

Chapter 4

"Well?" Shadow tapped his foot, arms crossed. "Is the rebuilding going smoothly?"

"It's hard to tell." Bokkun said nervously, tinkering with different tools. "This is really the doctor's area of expertise."

"Well the doctor isn't here, is he?" Shadow growled.

"There's no need to remind me!" Bokkun wailed. "I was there, remember?"

"Ah yes," Shadow conceded. "Cowering in a closet, am I remember correctly?"

"Oh stuff it!" Bokkun turned back to the table where Omega and the scattered parts of Decoe and Bocoe lay. "Or I won't fix them at all!"

"You'll fix them," Shadow stepped forward menacingly. "Or Omega will blow your head to Angel Island."

"Wahahaha!" Bokkun cried, then stopped. "Hey, wait a second, Omega can't blow anything anywhere!"

"He can't," Shadow aimed one of Omega's massive weapon-laden arms. "But I can."

"OK, OK!" He yelled, getting back to work. "But if Omega wakes up with a personality disorder, I will not be held accountable!"

"Just as long as he wakes up." Shadow turned away, crossing his arms again.

The doors behind them slid open.

"Hiya boys." Rouge walked in.

"What do you want?" Shadow asked.

Rouge gave him a look. "That's a nice welcome. You should be thanking me."

"And why would I be doing that?"

"Because," She put her hands on her hips. "Those Chaotix morons came around asking about my gun." She raised her eyebrows. "The one you borrowed."

Shadow frowned. "What did you say?"

"I told them it was stolen." She said, walking around him and over to the table. "And because I put my behind on the line for you, I think it would be the least you could do to tell me what you needed it for."

Shadow glared at her. "Target practice."

"Mm-hm." She stared back. "And did your target happen to be a red echidna?"

"If you're accusing me of something, come right out and say it." Shadow stepped forward.

Bokkun whimpered and took cover under the table, still clutching the screwdriver.

"Fine." Rouge leaned forward. "I think you used my gun to shoot Knuckles."

"Do you now?" Shadow said. "That's interesting, because I gave that gun back."

"Do you think I'm insane?" Rouge said. "You did not give it back."

"Yes, I did." Shadow argued. "You weren't home, so I left it on top of your safe."

"Well it wasn't there!"

"That's not my problem!"

"Waaah!" Bokkun wailed from underneath the table. "I'm gonna get caught in the crossfire, I just know it!"

"Shut it small fry." Rouge snapped, crossing her arms and walking away. She didn't know whether to believe Shadow or not. He did have a tendency towards violence, but then again, he'd never given her a reason not to trust him.

"You." She whirled around, looking at Bokkun.

"Ah!" He jumped. "What?!"

"Fix Omega, now." She walked to the table where the robot laid, his gray, blank eyes staring at nothing. "If anyone has answers about this killer it's him."

---

"Poor Cream." Sumowa shook her head sadly, standing in Cream's hospital room.

Vanilla sat in the chair beside Cream's bed and Cheese circled in the air above her.

"What did the doctor say?" Sumowa asked.

"He said she just had a bump on the head." Vanilla answered. "She's just resting right now."

"That's good." Sumowa tried to sound cheerful.

"But poor Tails." Vanilla shook her head sadly. "How is Sonic doing?"

"I haven't seen him in a while." Sumowa said. "He went out for a run a little while ago."

There was a knock on the door and Vector and Espio walked in.

"Hi guys." Vector said. "We just wanted to drop in and see how Cream was doing before we checked out the scene."

"That's very nice of you." Vanilla said. "She's doing fine."

"Well that's good." Vector said. "But I still can't help but feel terrible. She dropped by just before the attack. Maybe if we had walked her over to Tails', they would both be OK."

"You can't blame yourself Vector." Vanilla said. "This wasn't your fault."

"Thanks Cream's mom." He said gratefully.

"We should probably be going." Espio said.

"Yeah, we'll see you later." Vector said, and they headed to the door.

"Thanks for dropping by." Vanilla waved.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese said.

---

"So Cream was hit on the head here," Espio gestured as he analyzed the scene. "And Tails was hit with the axe here." He looked at the large bloodstain.

Vector shook his head. "Poor little guy. He didn't deserve this."

"I don't think anybody does." Espio said.

Vector continued to search for evidence.

"I wonder why they only knocked Cream out." Espio said.

"I don't know." Vector said. "We can ask him after we catch him." He sighed. "I'm not seeing anything Espio. The scene is clean."

"Again." Espio frowned.

---

"Would you hurry it up?" Shadow demanded.

"Lay off, this is hard work!" Bokkun whined, covered in sweat and grease. "I'm just about done."

"Good, we've been waiting forever." Rouge sighed, sitting on a chair and filing her nails.

"There!" Bokkun closed the hatch that covered Omega's main circuit and hurried backwards.

Rouge and Shadow moved forward as the robot whirred and his gray eyes slowly glowed red. He beeped and sat up, then jumped off the table with a thud and looked around the room.

"Omega?" Shadow said.

The robot turned to them with a whir.

"I know the pattern." Omega said. "I must speak with team Chaotix."

---

"OK, thank you." Espio said, then hung up the phone.

"Who was that Espio?" Vector asked through a mouthful of cake.

They were in the kitchen and had been taking a snack break. The cake Cream had brought them was the snack.

"That was Shadow. They managed to fix Omega and he knew the pattern of the attacks." Espio answered.

"Really? Did he see who the killer was too?" Vector lowered his fork.

"Unfortunately no, but-" Espio suddenly stopped, the cake crumbs on his plate catching his eye. "Vector, the cake!"

"What about it? I think it tastes fine."

"No, no, I've figured out the evidence." Espio explained. "I know who the killer is!"