Okay, so this is a loooong one shot, and I might be doing another chapter on this later if a fitting theme comes around. This one doesn't have as much Romance, like...at all. But the theme Crafty was a little vague, and difficult to work with. I've also always wanted to write a story where Blaze is some BA assassin, and Shadow is both targeting her as she is him. Eventually...they fall in love...yadayadayada...the end. Anyways! This would be the beginning of that story if I ever follow through with it. For now, just use your imagination on how it would end.
Wow! Reeaally long authors note. Woops.
I don't own Sega characters.
Crafty
The ballroom was erupting with chatter. Marble flooring and tables set out with crystal contained champagne. Hefty laughter rang, mixing in with the soothing sound of the orchestra, each couple swaying to the symphony.
Leaning with a propped elbow on the bar counter, was an ebony hedgehog, his red stripes vibrant against black fur. Crimson gaze scanned the scenery, a scowl etched upon his features as he spotted his co-worker off to the right, casually making her way over to the target. Hidden without observation, tucked carefully in his twitching ear was the intercom.
Clicking the link, his deep voice spoke through to his partner, "Rouge, you know the task?" he asked, though he sounded genuinely uninterested.
"Seduce, get target to a private area, inject drug to knock him cold, leave for interrogation." her voice answered.
The celebration was formal, all girls dressed in gowns of silk and satin, all boys in square tuxedos with sharp stitching. Shadow's gaze glanced over to the seated target, who was currently chatting with business men, a drink in his hand as his chest heaved with laughter. It was obvious he had inhaled one too many alcoholic beverages, making it that much easier to have him oblivious to the agents closing in on him.
He was a brown dog, with dark navy blue eyes and a dark gray tux, his black tie done in a neat and centered way, tucked into the folds with perfection. Shadow noticed Rouge had passed by several times, sauntering with swayed hips, glossed and puckered lips, her tight revealing black dress flashing with her bright diamonds. It was all in routine now, all she had to do was catch his eye, and the trap was set.
Navy blue eyes of the canine had indeed flickered over towards the ivory bat several times in fact, and Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the stupidity in so many men. But he was grateful that the mission may be quicker than intended. He hated formal gatherings, let alone any type of gathering, as he impatiently fiddled with the hidden gun tucked in his jacket.
"Rouge hurry up." he grunted, tired of watching her act nonchalant about approaching him. The target was a participant in an illegal drug organization that had been selling underneath the governments nose for eight months. The canine by the name of Alexander Brown was their first lead, and if they managed to bring him back to GUN, interrogation could give them new information, so the drug facility could be brought down all together.
The ivory bat was getting impatient too. It usually didn't take this long for a guy to make a go for her. She had gently refused others that have offered to dance, seeing as she only had one goal, but she was getting irritated as after a few fleeting glances, he had stopped looking her way, and was now glancing elsewhere. "I'm trying." she snapped back into the intercom, "he's playing hard to get. I may need to use the more direct approach, but his eyes are somewhere else completely."
A low growl escaped his lips, "well what else could he possibly be looking at?" Shadow stated. This was getting annoying. Any guy could see she was gorgeous, and many other members of the party were ogling at the bat with lust filled eyes, so what was taking the target so long to react?
That's when his answer came. He watched from his seemingly innocent stature as the dog excused himself from the conversation, and started over towards a different direction. Alexander's eyes were glued to something with hungry lust, and as Shadow followed his gaze, he saw the reason why Rouge was being ignored.
Standing farther to his left, leaning on her hips with poise was a lavender cat. Her hair was up in a high pony, and as simple as it was, it showed off her elegant facial features, such as golden eyes, a white powder muzzle, and long curvy eyelashes. Her dress was a deep maroon, one that matched a gem placed on her forehead. It hugged her curves with perfection, the top with a deep bend, showing bare shoulders, and a slit ran up the side, showing her upper thigh and black heeled wedges. Her tail drifted out from behind her, gently swishing in a tempting manner to those who looked, and it was obvious she was the knock out of the party.
Shadow himself had never payed many attention nor shown any attraction to a woman's appearance, but the sight of her strong yet elegant build made his mind and body start a war within himself. He had to shake his head to clear his thoughts before speaking into the intercom, "Rouge, it looks as if you have competition." he stated, as he watched the feline's neutral expression brighten at the sight of Mr. Brown approaching.
Though the words were drowned out by the sounds of the party, it was obvious that the dog had just complimented her as she flashed him a coy smile, and looked down bashfully. He held out a paw for her to take and she gingerly excepted it, as he lead her to the dance floor. She walked with grace that seemed to make her float as the pair got into position and started to sway to the music.
From the com link, he could hear a scoff come from Rouge, obviously not pleased to be out glamored. He could see the pair chatting, and many eyes lay on the new found beauty that moved with an aura.
They needed a new plan. This one wasn't going well. "Rouge, any ideas?" he spoke quietly into the intercom.
Her voice replied, a small sense of jealousy and rage seeping into her words, "I need to get him away from her if this is going to work." A pause came with a breath before she continued. "And you, Romeo, are going to help me." she said, taking on a sly tone.
Shadow frowned. He could already tell that she had come up with a plan he would despise. "What are you talking about bat?" he growled, shifting his position so he stood with arms crossed. Many girls were gazing at him, the tall dark and mysterious hedgehog who had remained silent a great deal of the night, too intimidating to approach, yet too delicious not to stare at.
"You go up and ask her to dance. He can't say no, it's a formal dinner." her voice sounded irritated, as if the obvious answer was two feet in front of him.
His assumption of him hating the plan had been correct, and he was tempted to shout back a bitter reply, but knew that he could not blow this mission. This may be their only chance to get Alexander Brown before he disappears off of GUN radar. "Fine." he growled through clenched teeth, and slowly made his way through the dancing couples to where the target and the feline were locked in each others eyes.
Bringing his fist up to his mouth, he cleared his throat, causing both heads to snap over in surprise to look at him. Putting on a ridiculously false smile, which was still only measured to be a smirk, Shadow held out his hand, "may I have a dance with the young lady?" he asked, as sincerely as he could manage.
Alexander narrowed his eyes at him, sending a silent message to back off, but replied with a bitter tone, "but of course." he said, and walked away to one of the tables, his eyes not leaving the cat he had just danced with.
Shadow turned to the feline, and in her golden eyes, he saw something flash across her eyes. Annoyance? No, he was imagining it. Her smile turned into a flirty smirk, and she batted her eyelashes as they got into position, his hand sliding to the small of her back, her slender arms holding one of his, the other based on his shoulder.
As the orchestra's melody caught their ears, they began swaying similar to the others around them.
"May I ask your name miss?" he questioned properly.
The feline met his red gaze, "Jasmine Richards," she spoke with an airy tone, and the conversation paused as he spun her around in a graceful twirl.
"And you kind sir?" she asked politely, her eyes never wavering. It was clear she had danced before, as the gentle swaying and twirling seemed to come natural for the feline.
Shadow hesitated on whether or not he should use his real name. As innocent as she may be, word gets around, and being the Ultimate Life Form makes it difficult to remain unheard of.
"Shane Field." he answered, the name coming quickly to his brain as a cover up.
The cat gave a small smile, "you look very dashing tonight Mr. Field. May I ask why you are attending such a formal business dinner?"
Shadow remained calm and charming, giving a forced smile that felt so false, he wanted to hurl, "I came here as a friend of a friend actually. Though I am an entrepreneur of many businesses." he lied smoothly.
Jasmine smiled softly, her amber eyes seemed to search him. The intensity behind her sweet features set his nerves on end. He knew an analytical person when he saw one, and this feline seemed very capable of reading through false facades.
Something was off, but he shook it away as quickly as the thought had come, believing it to be his own uncomfortable atmosphere.
"I see. Very interesting." she spoke, a slight change in her previous tone. "I do believe I must be off. I promised Mr. Brown I would meet up with him soon. Thank you Mr. Field. It was a pleasure." she stated charmingly, before withdrawing from his arms and drifting towards where Alexander Brown was speaking with Rouge.
"Rouge, incoming." he clicked the transmitter on and warned.
He was helpless as he watched their plan unravel. As soon as the feline re-approached the canine, he nodded his goodbye's to Rouge. Jasmine linked her arm through his, and the two disappeared out of the ballroom.
Rouge stalked back over to where Shadow had returned to his secluded area with a vexed expression. "I can't believe this! They just left, probably to a vacant bedroom too!" she animated with a huff.
Shadow crossed his arms, rolling one shoulder as he hated the square feeling of his tux. "Then we'll change tactics. Instead of under cover, we'll go find the two of them, knock them both out, leave Miss Richards in the room with a concussion, and nab the stupid dog while he's out."
Rouge sighed in defeat, "fine. You win. But I get to knock out the feline." she demanded.
The ebony hedgehog rolled his ruby eyes, as the two agents began exiting the courtroom and into the many hallways of the mansion.
"Let's split up. Whoever finds them, contact the other." Shadow suggested, and without waiting for an answer, descended down a different hallway and began opening doors in search of the couple. The hallways were carpeted with deep maroon coloring, stitched with gold and silver in an elegant design.
With each door swung open, only revealed either a dark premises, or empty bedroom. Annoyance started to nag at him, as his impatience was beginning to dry.
His boredom was quenched, as he heard a clutter, and sensed silent footsteps up ahead.
The transmitter hidden in his ear buzzed to life with panic, "Shadow! Come in, Shadow! Our target! ….he's...he's dead!"
Feet glued to the spot, Shadow halted in his movement, eyes widening as he processed the news. "What?! Where are you?!" he ordered.
Her directions were choppy, the communicator cutting in and out repetitively until it fully died, as Shadow breathed a curse. This was their first time trying a different type of com-links, the more 'easily hidden' ones never worked as well, but were necessary for missions such as these.
Running up ahead to where he had sensed the approaching figure, he jumped into the crossing of the next hallway, only to have someone screech to a halt in front of him.
It was none other than Jasmine Richards, her eyes widened in momentary surprise at the sight of him. Blinking rapidly, her amber orbs became wet as her hands trembled, and it was just then when he noticed her once beautiful dress was now splattered with crimson blood.
"Oh Mr. Field! You have to help me! Mr. Brown had taken me to a room to have some wine and a private conversation when someone dressed in black jumped into the room and killed him! I didn't know what to do!" she pleaded, her ears twitching nervously.
Shadow frowned, "what room? My colleague is there investigating now."
Jasmine pointed a shaking hand towards the hallway she had come from, "o-over there."
The ebony hedgehog nodded, and ran forward in two strides when he accidentally knocked the shoulder of the lavender feline as he passed. He turned to apologize, when an object cluttered to the ground at her feet.
Both looked down, and Shadow's eyes widened. Laying at her feet was a knife splattered in fresh crimson liquid.
"I-I..." she stuttered, taking unsteady steps backwards as Shadow narrowed his eyes at her, placing pieces together until his conclusion was supported by fact.
"It was you." he snarled, clenching his fists as he slowly began stalking forward. "You killed him!"
The change that came shocked him, as Jasmine Richards trembling fingers suddenly stilled into clenched fists, her watered eyes instantly dried up like a drought, and her once soft innocent gaze hardened as she narrowed her irises. The ballroom beauty was now gone, standing in place was a precarious assassin with blood staining her fingered gloves.
"I can't have a witness running around alive, now can I?" she spoke, her once charming voice now stern, stoic as stone, just as her expression.
In a pit of fury, Shadow lunged forward, and was surprised when she whipped around with skilled reflexes that reeked years of practice, avoiding his attack as she kicked forward into his back with a sharp heel.
Shadow fell on his stomach, momentarily sustaining the pain as he abruptly recovered and stood, turning to face the feline, just in time to witness her grab the flap of her dress, and ripping the bottom clean off. She now stood in a much shorter dress, that was jagged at the end of her upper thighs, revealing the well concealed strap for twin knives, and strong legs. It was distracting, to say the least.
Kicking the bottom of the maroon cloth away, the assassin also pulled off her gloves, throwing them into the pile, and now possessed black leather gloves underneath her once silky white ones.
"You'll regret this cat." he growled, readying his stance for battle.
The feline merely smirked coldly, before the battle enhanced. With incredible agility, she leapt forward, locking Shadow in hand-to-hand combat with a flurry of kicks and punches. Using his trained reflexes, he was able to dodge and block every move she pulled, silently impressed with the feline's abilities. She was giving him no time to pull out his emerald for serious damage. Abruptly, she flipped backwards, landing in a distance from him as he swung at air. Her amber eyes studied him.
A frustrated grumble escaped his lips. Just as he opened his mouth to speak again, he noted that the felines right ear was twitching frantically, twisting around for sense of noise. The faintest sound of a voice was heard, and he realized that she must also have a hidden communicator tucked in her ear, similar to his.
"I'll be there in a sec." she grumbled, furrowing her eyebrows in displeasure. Whoever was on the other end of the transmitter clearly did not hold her respect.
Peering at him dangerously, the she-cat crossed her arms, "we'll meet again Shadow." she announced, slowly backing up towards the mosaic painted window that reflected the moon light in an array of colors.
Shadow frowned, not pleased that she had been able to identify him, and made one final dash for her.
With a loud clash, she jumped back through the window, the shattered remains scattering throughout the hallway, a small piece piercing Shadow's arm, as he ignored the sting that tingled in his flesh.
He could see her form disappear, a series of flips as she twisted in the air on her way down, landing softly in a low crouch before disappearing in the shadows of the alleyway below.
Shadow remained there for a moment, peering down at the streets below, before he grated his mission in mind and turned to find Rouge.
As he navigated his way through the hallway, he couldn't help but have a longing to know of the feline assassin's name. Her promise to meet again left him impatient. She was a mystery, a challenge, and he couldn't wait to encounter her once again.
When he finally found the room, he opened the door to see Rouge standing over a bloody body of what once was Alexander Brown.
And he was only half surprised when he noticed that the flesh of the canine was scorched and burnt in many areas. The lavender vixen had more secrets up her sleeve...he was sure of it.
"Why are you smirking!" Rouge noted, her eyes wide in disgust at the dark sight of the dead body, "he was going to be our key to catching the other drug-lords!"
Shadow turned to Rouge with sincerity. "I believe we may have another mission more important than drug lords. How will the Commander react upon hearing that I know who the cause of all those filed mystery murders was?"
The ivory bat looked at him incredulously, "Shadow, did you have too much to drink?"
Shadow shook his head, quivering his quills. Tracking down the assassin was going to be no easy task. That he was sure of.
But when they did meet again...he would not underestimate her this time.
The feline's words rang in his ears clearly...
'I can't have a witness running around alive, now can I?'
'We'll meet again Shadow.'
And seeing as he was now a promised target of a deadly assassin, he was sure the meeting would come soon.
One last thing...before I get chewed out for calling her a 'lavender vixen', vixen isn't always just a female fox. It's second definition is: A quarrelsome female. So technically, it works.