D&S Chapter 2: Mystery and Adaptability

"Hi, Ms. Rose! I'm the new reporter." A silver hedgehog said with a smile, shaking the pink hedgehog's hand enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you, when are you starting?" Amy asked dryly, handing her clipboard full of stories to her assistant so hair and makeup could finish her touch-ups.

"Well today's my first day. I'm Silver by the way." Silver said with a smile.

Amy gave him a small smile, turning back to her mirror to inspect the work hair and makeup was doing.

"More curls Sofia; I'm going for a bouncy summer look today." She said curtly, turning to her cell phone as she spoke.

"Oh course Ms. Rose!" The hair stylist replied, grabbing a bigger curling rod to finish the job.

"Mr. Silver; if we are going to be working together, there are some rules you have to abide by." She said with a sickeningly sweet smile. Silver smile didn't falter, and possibly got bigger.

"I understand Ms. Rose, what do you need me to do?" He said with a nod.

"Well you can start by dressing a little better. A suit and tie never killed a man. Also, you could gel your spikes a bit better. Edgy but sexy, girls like a refined man…sometimes." She explained.

Silver nodded, and Amy could tell he was mentally taking note of what she was saying. She was so focused on schooling him that she missed her hair stylist rolling her eyes at her client's attempt to insult the new employee.

"Make sure you speak up, smile, and introduce me well." She continued, turning back to the mirror to inspect her curls.

"Oh and one more thing…" She started as she got up to leave the dressing room.

"Stay out of my way if you know what's good for you." She said with a smirk, turning on her heel to head to the meeting room.

Silver stood silent as she walked away.

"Ignore her; she's in one of those moods." The stylist said, patting the hedgehog on the shoulder. The hedgehog flinched in response and turned to the owner of the hand.

"What do you mean?" Silver asked, snapping out of his trance.

"You know that hero police officer, Sonic the Hedgehog? She asked him out the other day and he rejected her. Now we all have to feel it. I swear this is the third time this month." The stylist growled, turning back to remove the pink fur from her styling tools.

"Wow, guess I'll have to get used to that." He remarked, turning to the mirror to stare at his own reflection.

"You look fine kid, I can help you gel your quills down if you want though." Sofia said with a smile.

Silver returned the smile and sat down in the chair Amy had been previously occupying.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt." He said with a shrug.

"Well at least not for you…" The stylist muttered as she began to pick through his messy quills with her most durable gloves.

/

He had remembered racing far out of their grasp. It was an exhilarating experience, to say the least. The police men were sluggish, so he raced around them for the fun of it. They seemed to frustrate quicker whenever he came in reach of a fist and then sped out of reach just in time.

The fun ended when he had felt something hit his arm. His mind went reeling knowing it would have been close to impossible for someone to get a shot on him while he was running. He grabbed the object that had logged itself in his arm and ripped it out. He grunted in pain, looking down at a syringe with a needle that hooked at the end.

What the hell is this? He had asked himself, grimacing in pain. His vision started to blur, and slowly but surely the officers surrounded him.

He tried to grab the chaos emerald he used to teleport but it was knocked out of his hand the second he tried. Everything seemed to go black after that.

For the second time in his life, Shadow the hedgehog experienced fear.

/

"Who is that?!" Sonic almost jumped as he heard his roommate, Tails, peeking under his arm to see outside their apartment door.

"Geez Tails, don't scare me like that." He muttered, waiting on his heart to stop pounding out of his chest.

"Sorry, Sonic…" Tails replied, eyes never leaving the body lying outside their door.

"Its okay, just go grab some dark towels and place them all over the floor in the living room." Sonic said as he unlocked the chain on the door to open it fully.

"Are you sure?" Tails asked quickly, the fear reappearing in his eyes. Sonic gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I've done this before, don't worry."

Tails disappeared into the apartment while Sonic stepped outside to pick up the hedgehog. He was heavy and smelled of alcohol and blood. Smells Sonic was too familiar with due of his occupation.

"Damn, you're heavy." He muttered, gently lifting the hedgehog in case he had suffered internal damage.

One part of Sonic told him to call his buddies at the station, or better yet an ambulance. Another told him to keep it to himself. The two forces started a mental battle and it almost stopped him from bringing the wounded hedgehog into his home.

But in the end, the hedgehog was placed on his back in the middle of the living room. Tails peered over him with a first aid kit on his lap.

"Tails I can handle this." Sonic said with a grim smile, grabbing bandages, rubbing alcohol, and gauze from the kit.

Tails rolled his eyes.

"I can help Sonic, who do you think does all of this when you get back from a shoot out or an on the run criminal?" The fox replied. He quickly took the alcohol from Sonic and began pouring it on the cotton swabs he had grabbed from the bathroom.

Sonic sighed, admitting defeat.

"Are you sure? This might be nastier than those times with me."

"I'm sure, how about you start on his upper torso and I'll handle his legs."

Sonic's eyes widened hearing his usually docile friend take charge and command. But he said nothing and instead focussed on the area he had been told to handle.

"His legs are covered in blood…" Tails muttered. "And gravel, as if someone was dragging him."

Sonic wanted to tell Tails not to look at the hedgehog like an autopsy, but he found himself noticing details as well.

"He has a bite mark on his shoulder too. Geez, this guy didn't have a great night." The blue hedgehog said to himself.

"I'm going to wrap his legs in gauze and then change it in the morning. For the most part it's just scratches that should clot quickly. How's the rest of him?" Tails asked, running to the kitchen to grab a pair of scissors to cut the gauze.

"It's pretty bad around the arms, chest and shoulder area." Sonic replied with a grimace. The hedgehog's upper body was a mess of bruises, cuts and bite marks. Sonic had no idea what or who had attacked him and almost didn't want to find out.

"What if he has damage we can't see?" Tails asked as he returned with the scissors. Sonic shook his head.

"I really hope he doesn't but we can't rule it out." The blue hedgehog admitted, placing a finger to his lip.

"You know what; we'll take him to someone I know tomorrow morning. I'll take the day off to make sure he's gets there and back safely." Sonic finished with a smile.

"'Back' to where, exactly?" Tails asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I was thinking he should stay here till he's better, if that's okay with you. I don't know what it is, but something's bothering me about this whole situation." Sonic explained with a nervous smile. Tails stared at him for a second before nodding.

"I think that's a good idea if you feel that way. I feel like I'm part of a crime scene investigation team or something." The fox said with a laugh. Sonic smiled back and shook his head.

"Let's not get carried away now…" he responded before going back to cleaning up the black and red hedgehog.

"You know what…" Tails started, looking up at the television that he had turned off following the arrival of the hedgehog.

"What?" Sonic asked without looking up from the bandage he was wrapping around the hedgehog's arm.

"Did you hear anything about this on the news? I don't remember them saying anything about a fight, or brawl of any sort." Tails asked; his face full of thought.

Sonic looked up and stared at the fox.

Had Amy even mentioned anything about a victim or a fight? He would have remembered that. He should have been called in to deal with whatever had transpired if it had been this serious.

"I think you're right, I don't remember hearing anything either." He admitted, turning back to the bandage. But he stopped himself and stared at the hedgehog as a whole. There had been no news whatsoever on the young male now lying on his living room floor.

"They have to report things like that, don't they? I mean the public has to know about these kinds of things." Tails asked, poking his roommate when he realized he was thinking.

"They don't have to, but they should." Sonic responded tonelessly.

"Sonic, are you alright?" Tails asked, noticing his friend's change in demeanour.

"Could you grab him a blanket from our closet? After that get some sleep Tails, I'll see what I can find out tomorrow." Sonic said as he got up and headed to his room.

"O-okay…" Tails responded, getting up to grab a blanket for the hedgehog.

I just wanted to say thank you to all the new follows/favs for this story. I hope you continue to enjoy Dark & Stormy. Please review! I really appreciate feedback on my stories and they definitely help me develop and improve my writing. New chapters in the coming weeks!

-GeminiMercedes-

A/N UPDATE: The plot thickens! Enjoy! If you didn't before, please R&R! It makes my world to get the email notifications! I didn't establish ages before since not all the characters have been introduced but Sonic is twenty-two, Tails is eighteen. Rouge is twenty-seven, Silver is twenty-four, and Amy is twenty-one. Just for context! Ignore if you don't really care, it won't change anything in relation to how this story is going to go.

-GEMINIMERCEDES-