I was planning on having Fear not the Shadows as a one shot, but a certain Mnicknack and Koollolly convinced me to make it into a series and to be honest, I like it.
Now for the legal stuff.
Disclaimer: Sonic and team don't belong to me.
Two days after Sonic and his team had paraded through the heaving streets of Station Square. Two days since Sonic was awarded with the key to the city by the city governor. Two days since someone was shot and killed before a huge crowd, and no-one had seen the shooter.
Two days after he had gotten caught up in this mess, Shadow, top agent of the Guardian Unit of Nations, strode past the glass rooms, where other anthro and human agents worked tirelessly in investigation and crime solving. Some looked up from their work and regarded the ebony Hedgehog as he marched by.
Shadow pushed his way through the thick plastic sheeting and walked up towards the cold metal table, upon which laid the cold body of a naked black Crow, half covered by a white plastic sheet.
"Don't you have work to do?" He asked, staring at the still form lying on the other metal table. The figure shifted slightly before swinging their legs off the table and standing up.
"Have you any idea how long I've been here?" The speaker stood with their hands on their hips, glaring at the Hedgehog who had interrupted her nap. She was a ginger furred Cat in her early twenties, with shocking long red hair currently tied up in a bun. She was wearing plain black trousers, a short sleeved red t-shirt, over which she wore the long white coat most commonly associated with the medical profession. Her light blue eyes were dulled from overwork and intense focusing on minute detail, but were currently boring their way into the crimson counterparts of Shadow's.
"Haven't had your morning coffee yet I see." Shadow hit back with a smirk.
"Don't push me Hedgehog!" The tired Cat wiggled her finger at him. "I've already done two other autopsies today and you're right, I haven't had my coffee yet." She walked over to the body, pulling with her a small metal trolley piled with various instruments used for the clinical hacking of dead bodies.
"So what's with this guy Sheba?" Asked Shadow, indicating the Crow with a wave of his hand. Sheba sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Ok. First off," She carefully turned the Crow's head to show Shadow the bullet wound that had killed him. "Single shot, low velocity round. Death would've been instantaneous." She returned the head to its previous position, and lifted the Crow's left arm. "I managed to remove the bullet and ballistics are checking it out now, but this might be something you'd be interested in."
Shadow's eyes narrowed on the Crow's left wrist. Tattooed into the small downy feathers of his wrist was a small white talon.
"A white talon. Why does that look familiar?" Shadow thought out loud.
"Look Shadow, as much as I would love to play twenty questions with you, I've got work to do." Shadow looked up at the Cat, nodded and stepped away from the metal table.
"Yeah, sure. I'll catch you later Sheba." She watched the ebony Hedgehog leave her alone with the silent form of the deceased Crow. Sheba sighed, her eyes feeling slightly less heavy since her short nap.
"I need coffee."
She kept her office dark. She liked the dark, she thrived in it. Gloved fingers flicked through case files and reports, her eyes sweeping over the pages searching for something that stood out against the norm. She didn't hear the door open, despite her large ears being the perfect listening tools. Suddenly her darkness was broken by the turning on of the light.
"Shadow! You bastard!" She screamed, slamming her eyelids down to save her burning eyes.
"It's not Shadow." Rouge risked the harsh light and cracked open her eyes to glare at the perpetrator. Who she wasn't expecting to see was a red Echidna, looking rather sheepish, standing in the doorway to her office.
"Knuckles? What are you doing here?" The usually stoic guardian shuffled his feet.
"I um… well I wanted to ask… uh…"
"Knuckles, spit it out!"
"Would you like to go out for a drink sometime?" He asked, very quickly.
Rouge sat behind her desk for a moment, surprised that it had been Knuckles to make the first move. Sure she flirted with him, but she was always a little hesitant when it came to actually going out with anyone.
"Sure, I'd like that." She finally answered with a smile. The Echidna smiled back.
"So when do you finish today?" Rouge looked over at the clock displayed on her desktop.
"Tell you what. Why don't we meet for lunch, I get off in an hour." Knuckles nodded his head in agreement. Rouge had never noticed how the hue of his fur brought out the colour of his eyes before.
"In an hour then." Rouge shook herself out of her daydream.
"In an hour, bye Knuckles."
"Bye Rouge." The white Bat laid her chin in her hands and watched the Echidna walk away through the glass walls of her office. The smile never left her lips.
Shadow was racking his brain, trying to figure out where he had seen that symbol before. He silently cursed that dead Crow down in the autopsy room, for presenting him with such an annoyance. Suddenly he bumped into someone, ending up on his backside in the middle of the hall.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" He glared at the offender.
"Sorry Shadow, I was a bit distracted." The embarrassed Echidna rubbed the back of his neck before offering his friend a hand. Shadow grudgingly accepted it and was pulled to his feet.
"What are you doing here Knuckles?" He asked, less malice in his voice than there would've been had anyone else knocked him over. The Echidna's face suddenly went a shade of red similar to the hue of his fur.
"I I… was just uh…" Shadow chuckled.
"What did she say?" Knuckles took a couple of deep breaths.
"She wants to have lunch." He said with a smile. "She gets off in about an hour so I'm just hanging around for a bit."
"Well while you're here, follow me." Shadow turned back the way he had come, leaving a confused Echidna standing in the middle of the hallway.
Knuckles stood their, dumbfounded for a couple of seconds. "Wait up!"
"It seems that Telak has failed." In the middle of the countryside, two anthro, a purple Hedgehog and black Raven, were leaning against a roadside fence, looking over yellow fields of oilseed rape.
"That and the Hedgehog is under Shadowbane protection." The Raven said, watching a bird of prey hover over the yellow field in front of them. They were silent for a few minutes.
"We will keep to the code: one payment, one assassin." The Hedgehog looked up at his companion, who nodded his head in agreement.
"I will send a message to the Shadowbane. But we mustn't allow our order to be discovered." The Raven looked to the Hedgehog beside him. "Telak's brand must be destroyed, before someone recognises it."
"It will be done." The two anthro clasped their left hands together. "May your movements be silent."
"And your talons sharp." They both turned and walked towards their vehicles.
If someone had been observing, they would've noticed that they both had the same tattoo. A white talon on their left wrist.
I like leaving questions unanswered. Keeps readers wanting more.
Watch this space for the next chapter of FntS