D&S Chapter 6: Adrenaline Overdose

"Blaze, he's gone!" Sonic yelled into his cell phone. Blaze, who had only just got back to work, stifled a gasp.

She immediately turned on her work computer and logged in to the citizen database.

"What's his name?"

"Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog." Sonic said softly.

"Okay, give me a second…" She muttered, putting the name in before adding information on his appearance.

Hitting enter, she leaned back as the program searched for a match. There was information on every individual in the city, include herself.

That's why she was surprised when the search turned up nothing.

"W-what?" She stammered as she stared at the "NO RESULTS" sign in red font on her screen.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked, his voice drenched in worry.

"It...It's telling me he's not in the system." She answered slowly. There was silence on the phone for a minute.

"He's what?"

"I'll do a second check but if that's his real name…"

"He told me himself and he didn't seem like he was lying." Sonic explained. Blaze winced as she heard the cop take a deep breathe. Sonic was usually pretty level-headed and jovial, but this situation was bringing out another side of him.

But she couldn't blame him. From birth, any citizen in the city was added to the database and their information was updated every couple of years. Even citizens coming in and out of the city were screened and added to the database. This was public knowledge as well, so every citizen knew that any misdemeanors or incidents would be reported in their files.

The only way Shadow could have avoided this was if he had snuck in the city or…

"I'm coming in, Blaze." Sonic said, a tone of finality in his voice that she'd never heard before.

"Okay, that's fine. This situation might require the help of someone with more credentials anyway." She replied as she did a second search just to be sure.

"No, no. I still need your help, but I have to speak to Estro about some things." He explained.

"Well, I'll see you soon then." Blaze said with a sigh, her second search coming to the same conclusion.

"Thanks for all your help Blaze." Sonic replied before she heard the dial tone.

Hanging up the phone, Blaze stared at the screen and raised an eyebrow. She turned to the piles of paper she would have to go through before the week was over and shook her head. While she had no idea what Sonic had gotten himself into, there was nothing she could do about it now.

"Good luck, Sonic." She muttered as she went to the backroom to get a coffee. One thought that she'd chosen not to voice continued to etch in the back of her mind.

There was really only one way Shadow could have avoided being added to the database at birth.

She shook her head, knowing that what that thought implied opened a whole new barrel of questions that she didn't have answers for.

She really needed that coffee.

/

"I'm so worried about him." Rouge groaned as she wiped the bar counter. Her new bouncer, Knuckles, simply scoffed and crossed his arms.

"You said that ten times today."

"Yeah, because I am!" She retorted, glaring at him while she continued to clean.

"So why don't you call him? Or go to his place? Taking it out on me won't find him." Knuckles spat back. Had Rouge not been in such desperate need of security for her bar, she would have hired someone else.

The red echidna was brash and cocky, kind of like her if she was honest with herself. He was fit too, she'd give him that. He was the only one with qualifications that would work on such short notice. His loud mouth was something she could do without but she hoped he'd make good use of it when someone needed to be escorted out of her bar.

"I can't call him because he doesn't have a phone and I've never been to his place." She explained with a sigh, too upset to go back and forth.

Shadow had been gone for a few days now and her anxiety was reaching unbearable levels. She had immediately looked into getting a bouncer so that her friend wouldn't have to play one again.

Her lack of a retort surprised her new employee, and he took a deep breath before walking closer to the bar.

"Then you'll have to wait for him to return. I'm sure he's fine." He said with a shrug. Rouge, knowing that this was his way of cheering her up, gave him a small smile.

But her nerves were still shot when someone knocked on the door a second later.

"Calm down, I'll get it." Knuckles said as the bat dove under the counter.

Peering from behind the counter, Rouge watched as the bouncer walked to the door and opened it slowly.

"We're closed right now." He stated with the door half open. Rouge inwardly cursed the fact that she couldn't see who he was talking to. But it wouldn't take more than a question for her to figure out who it was.

"Is Rouge here?" She would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Shadow!"

/

"You're going out today, Sonic?" Tails asked as he walked out of the kitchen with a sandwich. Sonic, fully dressed in his cop uniform, gave Tails a bashful smile.

"Yeah, I have to handle some things at the office. I shouldn't be too long." He explained, putting on his leather boots. A sandwich in a plastic bag was thrust into his hand.

"I made this for you. You're going because of Shadow right?" Tails said with a sad smile. Sonic sighed.

The time he'd spent off with Tails had been fun, but this issue was bigger than the both of them and he'd have to act fast if he wanted to fix it.

"Yeah, I'm going to see if I can investigate what happened to him." Sonic said softly, patting Tails awkwardly on the head. The fox turned away before grabbing the hedgehog's torso in a tight hug.

"Be careful, okay?" He muttered as he pulled away.

"I promise." Sonic replied, taking a deep breath before heading out.

/

"You know where the cot is in the back, I'll be with you shortly." Rouge said, ushering Shadow to the back room of the club. As dark as his fur was, she could tell he was pretty beat up. Feelings of guilt and anger ran through her and she felt like a terrible friend for allowing him to get hurt on her behalf.

At the very least, the hedgehog was following her instead of putting up a fuss.

"Knuckles, could you watch things for a while? We're closed but…"

"Yeah, yeah. Attend to your friend." Knuckles replied gruffy, waving them off. Rouge swallowed a retort, deciding that she would never understand the echidna before returning her attention to her injured friend.

Once they got to the back, Shadow lay down on the cot and coughed. Luckily, Rouge stored water bottles and food supplies (mostly for her on and off roommate, but she'd never tell him that) in the back and quickly grabbed her friend one.

"That's the best help you could find?" Shadow teased, accepting the water bottle and downing the liquid quickly.

"I'm so sorry, Shadow. This is all my fault." She would have continued had he not raised a hand.

"I made my decision when those idiots stormed in. It really had nothing to do with you." He stated, eyes closed. Rouge sighed, knowing he was trying to stop her from feeling guilty.

"Still, I think you should stay here until you've fully recovered. Where have you been for the last couple of days anyway?" She sat across from him on a stack of water bottles. Shadow rolled his eyes and smirked.

"You wouldn't believe it." He replied, turning to look at her. Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Try me." She said slowly, trying to figure out where he'd been before he admitted it. Shadow coughed and rolled over on his stomach. The second he stopped moving he winced and turned back.

"Hey, don't move too much! Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" Rouge stammered, getting to her feet.

"I'm fine, this is nothing." Shadow managed to cough out. Rouge shook her head.

"Save the bravado, kid. I've been in the streets before. I know when it's time to ask for help."

"Would you drop it?" Shadow spat, holding his head and shutting his eyes tight.

"S-sorry, I'm just worried." Rouge said as she sat down again, her leg shaking as she hoisted it over the other.

"I'll be fine." He reassured, looking back at her with a blank stare. Silence fell over the two for about a minute before Rouge's curiosity got the best of her.

"So where were you?" She asked timidly, looking anywhere but at Shadow. Shadow blinked and shook his head.

"What? Oh, I was at some cop's-"

"Someone at the front needs your help." The two of them turned to see Knuckles standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is it urgent?" Rouge asked. Knuckles shrugged and turned away.

"Seemed like it when I told them to wait." He answered, tapping his foot impatiently.

Rouge let out an exasperated sigh as she left the room. She would have to seriously consider the pros and cons of having him as a bouncer if he couldn't even turn people away.

/

Shadow relaxed into the cot and took a deep breathe. Thinking about the cop who had saved him brought a weird feeling to his chest. A feeling he'd forgotten long ago that he was sure would never find it's way back in his life.

That feeling was quickly replaced with confusion when he barely dodged a punch from a spiky white glove.

"Now it's just you and me. Let's see if you can do me like you did my friend." Knuckles growled, his fist mere inches from Shadow's face.

"What the...who are you?" Shadow muttered, adrenaline taking over his battered body. Knuckles let out a cold laugh and shook his head.

"Just a friend of that cop you messed up. You didn't think you'd get away with that scott free, did you?" He replied, raising a fist that Shadow managed to deflect with his shin.

"He didn't get a quarter of the beating he deserved." Shadow said with a smirk. Knuckles blinked before returning the smirk. Confusion quickly turned to fear as Shadow realized the situation he was in, stuck in the back of a club with a dangerous and angry echidna.

"You stupid little… " Knuckles started as he charged.

A/N: Yikes! Looks like things are going left really fast! Tensions will be even higher in the next chapter so stay tuned! Please leave a review and let me know what you think! By the way, this is the longest chapter I've written for this story. Feels like a great restart so far!

-GEMINIMERCEDES-