Chapter 9

The news had hit Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow like a ton of bricks. The officer had already gone and left them with an apology, a suggestion to keep the news on, and a promise to stay in touch. Sonic was pacing up and down the living room as Shadow hurriedly flipped through the news channels. Knuckles was sitting on the couch with his face buried in his hands. "Hey, I found something!" exclaimed Shadow as he stopped on a news station. Sonic ceased his pacing and Knuckles looked up to watch.

The anchorman said, "And yet another kidnapping by the Apex Killer. But miraculously enough, this one was caught on tape! A local security camera on a park lamp post caught this disturbing footage of the kidnapping."

A slightly choppy black and white image appeared on the screen. It showed a young fox run out of the woods and into a large lion that proceeded to punch him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The lion than kicked him twice in the stomach before dragging him out of frame by his two tails.

The anchorman himself appeared to be pale as he said, "The attacker is without a doubt, the Apex Killer. The victim has been identified as Miles Prower, a budding scientist and inventor who is well-known in the scientific community. He is 17 years old and his distinguishing feature is his twin tails. If you see this young fox or his kidnapper please contact police immediately." Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles stared at the T.V. in shock.

Finally Knuckles spoke, "Oh Chaos this is terrible! I should have never teased Tails about the Apex Killer. I never thought- Oh Chaos!" On the news, a criminal psychologist was talking about how the brutality of the kidnapping lent to the fact that they were dealing with a true psychopath that had no morals or empathy.

The three started listening again just as the psychologist said, "I suggest the police find this poor little fox soon. Serial killers like that only keep their victims alive for two to three days before… well, you know." Hot, angry tears began to pour from Sonic's eyes and slide down his nose. His expression turned deadly serious, almost murderous as he stormed from the living room. Shadow tossed the remote to Knuckles and followed Sonic. He caught up to him in the front hall.

Shadow grabbed his wrist, "Sonic where the hell are you going?"

Sonic turned to him with hate burning in his eyes, "That bastard took Tails. I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and wait for the police to find him. Because when they do…" Sonic looked down as he clenched his fists. He looked up, "It will be too late."

Knuckles ran into the hallway, "But Sonic! You can't go looking for Tails now! According to the news, a huge storm is rolling in." As if on cue, a huge rumble of thunder sounded and rain began to pour down. Sonic went into the hall closet and grabbed a green raincoat.

He shoved his arms into the sleeves, "I don't care if it's raining. There could be a flipping hurricane out there but I would still go looking for him."

Shadow and Knuckles glanced at each other before Knuckles said, "Fine, but we're coming with you."

Sonic replied, "Only one of you should come if you must. Somebody needs to stay here in case the police come back with any news."

Knuckles immediately grabbed a deep maroon rain coat, "I'm going. Shadow, stay here ok? Give us a call if something comes up."

Shadow reluctantly nodded, "Ok. Same to you." Knuckles had zipped up his rain coat and turned to see Sonic had already gone out the door. Shadow watched helplessly as Knuckles dashed out after him into the rain.

Shadow leaned over the back of the couch as he continued his endless flipping through the different news channels. It had been about three hours since Sonic had taken off and Knuckles followed after. Shadow jumped as the house phone came alive with a loud ringing. He grabbed it and said, "Did you find him?"

The sad reply came from Knuckles, "Of course we didn't find him! I kept trying to tell Sonic that we weren't gonna find him by running around everywhere but he just yelled at me about being a quitter and took off! And now, I can't find him!"

Shadow groaned, "You're joking right? That crazy hedgehog isn't helping the situation by acting like a lunatic!"

Knuckles sighed, "I know. This is horrible on all of us but you know how close Sonic is to Tails. I think he's on the verge of some sort of breakdown. He blames himself you know…"

Shadow looked down at his feet, "I know. Knuckles, this whole thing is mostly-"

"What the hell is going on over there?" asked Knuckles suddenly.

"What's happening?" said Shadow worriedly. Knuckles replied, "I don't know. Some sort of car accident. There's a pile up. Hey move over pal! Coming through! Give me some room to breathe- Oh Chaos Sonic!"

Shadow began to move towards the door, "Knuckles tell me whats happening!"

"Oh Chaos! Shadow get over to 45th and Linton now!" With that Knuckles hung up, leaving Shadow to gape at the phone. With a quick shake of his head, he dropped the phone and ran to his room.

Shadow snatched the red Chaos Emerald from its hiding place and yelled, "Chaos Control!"

Shadow appeared at the street corner Knuckles mentioned and was met with a scene of absolute chaos. There was a four car pileup and the police had formed a barrier around a certain area to hold back a growing crowd despite the pouring rain and sirens could be heard in the distance. Shadow pushed his way through the crowd to the police barrier and could not hold in a horrified gasp. Knuckles was kneeling beside Sonic who was lying unconscious on the asphalt. Blood was trickling from his mouth and his torso appeared to be slightly dented on the left side. His chest rose and fell in uneven movements and his breathing was heard in raspy pained gasps. Shadow tried to get to them but a policeman quickly pushed him back, "Sir I'm going to have to ask you to stay back."

Shadow shouted, "Let me through! You don't understand!"

The officer shook his head, "Sorry sir you need to- HEY!"

Shadow hopped over the barrier and ran to Knuckles and Sonic, "What's wrong with him?"

Knuckles looked up, "I think he got hit by a car. He must have run into the street without realizing it." An ambulance arrived on the scene and the paramedics rushed Sonic to the hospital.

Knuckles and Shadow were jogging after the E.R. personnel as they rolled Sonic's stretcher down the hall, shouting information back and forth, "Patient was involved in a head on car collision."

"Ribs on the left side are completely shattered and ribs on the right are severely bruised."

"Internal bleeding, possible concussion."

"We need to stabilize the patient so that he can undergo emergency surgery." A nurse held Shadow and Knuckles back as the E.R. personnel went through a pair of double doors. The nurse shepherded the two into the waiting area. Knuckles and Shadow sat together on a bench, hoping that Sonic would be alright and praying that things wouldn't get any worse.

It was dark. He could feel cold metal around his wrists and ankles and what seemed to be straw beneath him. As his eyes adjusted the darkness, he could make out that he was sitting in what appeared to be a tool shed. Heavy footsteps could be heard through the pouring rain nearing the shed from the outside. A flash of lightning illuminated the tool shed and revealed saws, hammers, axes, shovels, and some more sadistic looking instruments scattered around the shed. The following boom of thunder drowned out the sound of the shed door swinging open. A small gust of wind blew in a sheet of rain, causing him to shiver from the cold. He was immediately alert once more as a hulking figure stomped inside and towards him with a baseball bat in hand. From the shed, a terrified scream was heard.

Author's Note: Oh no! In his haste and a slight breakdown, Sonic went and got himself seriously hurt! Can Shadow and Knuckles pull together before Tails is killed? Please read, review, and, most of all, enjoy!