Author's Notes:

Genre: Crime and Suspense

Characters: Silver, Blaze, Bean, Nic, and Bark

Plot: Trouble happens at the casino when Silver is chased by bounty hunters.

Casinopolis was full of life on one hot August night. Slot machines were ringing, dice were rolling, and roulette wheels were spinning while waitresses wearing neon outfits served the casino's many patrons. In the lines of slot machines, an ivory hedgehog was running three machines at once. Using his telekinesis powers, he would slide quarters in each one and pull the lever.

The reels rolled in synch and clicked when a reel stopped. Cherry, cherry, ring; and ring, BAR, BAR were on the first two machines. The third machine, however, had new images that Silver had not seen previously. He walked over the third machines to look closer at the reels. Red icons of Eggman were on all three reels.

"Oh wow! What does three Eggman win?" Silver ducked down to the dispenser to see what he had won. To his surprise, no rings or jewels were in the container, but rather a slip of paper. Silver took the paper and read it to himself:

"Congratulations! You have gotten three Eggman! Some Casinopolis workers will be visiting you shortly to collect your money."

"Collect my money? That must be a type-o," Silver said hitting the paper the back of his hand.

"It's no type-o, amigo," said a voice from behind him. Silver turned around to find the source of the sound and saw a purple and white weasel looking at him with a smirk. A yellow polar bear stood next to him silently.

"Ha-ha! Yeah! You have to pay us!" a green duck jumped around Silver.

"Bean! Get over here!" the weasel called. The duck hopped over to his apparent leader.

"Tell you what," the weasel began, "if you give us all your money now, I won't have to use force." The weasel clutched his gun on his waist. Silver stuttered out of fear. He was unable to process what was happening. Sweat drops dripped down his face onto the floor. In a sudden response, he sprinted out of the slot machine lines and through the dining hall.

The gunman sighed deeply, "Well boys, it looks like we are doing this the hard way." The green duck started the chase after Silver with the weasel following and the polar bear slowly behind them both.

Silver was frantically running through the casino. He bumped people and pushed himself through the crowds. He needed to find his friend and tell her what had happened. He stopped for a moment and glanced around the casino. He saw the purple hair of his friend at the blackjack table. Silver jogged over to the table and tugged on her shirt.

"Blaze! I have a huge problem!" Silver loudly whispered to her.

"Did you run out of quarters for the slots? I told you to use them sparingly," Blaze said to him over her shoulder.

"No, it isn't that!" he spun her seat around to face him. "I got these weird images on the reels and now this gang is trying to rob me!"

Blaze chuckled at her naïve friend. "Oh that's very funny, Silver," Blaze laughed some more. "You almost had me for a second there."

"Blaze, I'm being serious!" he whined like a child.

"Okay, look: I know you are just kidding around. You can stop now," Blaze said. Silver looked behind him and saw that the gang had found his location. He screamed loudly and ran away from the card table, leaving Blaze who was still laughing. Silver ran to the elevator at the far side of the casino. The gang was quickly approaching the doors. Silver pressed the button for the basement level and was mashing the door close button. The doors slowly started to close as the gang was running to it. The weasel reached his arm forward to stop the doors, but he stopped short of the doors.

"Blast! Which floor is he going to, Bark?" the gunman shouted.

"Nic: it looks like he is going to the basement," the polar bear said looking at the lit numbers above the elevator. Nic unhooked his gun from his belt and held it tightly. He ran to the stairs and kicked the door open. Nic, Bean, and Bark trotted down the flights of stairs, trying to get to the basement before the elevator.

Silver paced back and forth on the red carpet of the elevator. He rubbed his hands nervously while trying to make a plan for how to get out of his sticky situation. The elevator was moderately descending to the basement: only a few more floors until he would arrive. The elevator stopped and he heard the voice of the gunman.

"You don't have anywhere to go, mate. I suggest you come out quietly," the gunman warned. He had the gun aimed at the doors of the elevator. Silver desperately looked around the elevator for a weapon or escape. His head darted back and forth and then he finally looked upward. There was an escape hatch on the roof of the lift. He used his telekinesis to open the hatch and floated through it.

The elevator doors slid open and Nic was prepared to shoot. To his surprise, no one was inside the lift. He lowered his gun and looked at Bark and Bean. The two goons shrugged at their leader. Nic wielded his gun and walked into the elevator. The lift was empty, but he saw two feet scurrying out the top. He used his spring-like tail to bounce up and latched onto the opening. Silver yelped when he saw the weasel's hands and quickly slammed the hatch door shut.

"Ah!" Nic shouted and fell toward to the ground, hitting his back, and getting the wind knocked out of him. Bark and Bean ran to him and stood over him confused.

"Don't just stand there, you twits! Follow him!" Bark and Bean jolted out of their blank stares at attention. Bark lifted Bean up through the hatch, and Bean pulled Bark through it once he was secured on the top. Silver had made it to another floor and pried open the doors to gain entry. Bark and Bean climbed up the elevator shaft to catch him.

Silver finished manually opening the doors and stepped into the hotel section of the casino. He ran down the nearest hallway to the left to get on with his getaway. Bark and Bean reached Silver's location and saw two halls diverged in yellow wood paneling. Bark pointed for Bean to take the left path and he would take the right.

Silver hit a dead end of a hallway. The hall only had a potted plant and a portrait painting at the end. Silver turned around to try a different path, but he saw the green duck was quickly approaching him.

"Looks like we are going to have blast!" the duck laughed while lighting one of his bombs. Sweat dropped down Silver's face. He was backed into the corner; he had nowhere to escape. Bean threw the lit bomb to Silver who caught it in his hands Silver's reflexes made him throw it back to Bean who caught it.

"Oh, are we playing hot potato?" the green duck asked in a jovial tone. He tossed the bomb back to Silver and Silver returned it right back. The game went on for a few more tosses and catches until Silver got an idea. He caught the bomb and held it patiently. The fuse flickered as it burned down into the bomb's casing. Silver threw the bomb like a bullet at Bean and used the wall painting for a shield. The bomb exploded in Bean's hands. The green duck's feathers were now coated in black and he coughed into his hand from the smoke.

Silver peaked out from behind the painting and saw that Bean was starting to recover from the harsh blow. Silver lifted the painting high up and slammed it down onto Bean's head. The duck lost his balance and fell to the floor, trapped under the artwork. Silver stepped around him and ran down the hall to try the hall on the right. He took large steps and panted heavily as he picked up his speed in down the hall. He took a sharp turn and crashed into someone. He looked up and saw it was the yellow polar bear that was with the gunman and bomber. Bark turned around to see who had hit him and saw the hedgehog lying on the ground. Silver crawled backward on the floor to further himself from the hit man. He was able to get on his feet and ran into an open door to one the rooms nearby. Bark followed him into the room and saw the hedgehog opening the window. He grappled the hedgehog and pulled him away from the window. The two of them spun around in circles in the room. Silver was unable to overpower the brawn of the polar bear, but he could trick him. Silver swayed the circle in to reverse and spun it towards the window. He timed his steps carefully and when the polar bear was in front of the window, Silver fell forward and the yellow beast fell out the of the window. Silver clutched onto the railing so he would not fall to as he watched the bear fall into the casino's pool.

Silver huffed out his breaths and closed the window. He stumbled through the room, left through the door, and walked down the hall to the elevator. He held in the button for the lift and a bell rang opening the doors. Blaze was inside the lift and she gasped when she saw her friend.

"Silver! I've been looking for you! We have to go to the carnival with Sonic and Amy in ten minutes," Blaze took Silver's hand and dragged him into the elevator. She pressed a button for the ground floor and the two of them waited for the elevator to reach their floor to go on their double-date.