DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything but the story that you're about to read and forget about existing. Sonic The Hedgehog, first of his name, and all associated properties belong to their respective companies. I only own the story.

REMINDER: For some reason, and it ain't just me, none of my alerts are working, so until FF fixes that shit and if you have a request to make, PM ME DIRECTLY TO TELL ME WHAT IT IS. Save reviews for criticism. That is what they're there for, after all.

So, Cyber Riders is this cyberpunk sort of action series I write and you've stopped reading this, haven't you. Well, if you made it this far and you haven't read the previous two and also the little four-shot, I recommend doing so. This is a series I actually quite like doing when I'm not writing porn, and don't worry, I will continue writing porn. I need to keep my viewership on here somehow. There's a high chance that this story won't have sex, but it'll probably have references to it. However, what it will have is strong language, sometimes graphic and descriptive violence, and drug use, and most of the characters will be 18 or over. With that in mind, I'll see you at the bottom.

A hedgehog with blue fur and green eyes looked at himself in a mirror, fixing a black tie onto a mostly black suit. Sonic sighed as he kept fixing himself up, looking over his quills in the mirror and making minor adjustments to them when he felt a pair of hands snake around his front, rubbing gently on his stomach and making him smile as he saw Amy Rose's head pop up on his left shoulder.

"You excited for today?" Amy asked.

"You'd think I would be," Sonic sighed as he folded his tie over. "It's weird to think that we get reinstated a week after Avery announced his retirement."

Amy smiled. "That's more exciting as he's going to announce his replacement today too."

"I know."

"And the possible return of the Prowers being able to make implants for the emergency forces as well," Amy smiled. "It's a shame I can't go with you as... well, I haven't saved the world several times."

"Try delivering spicy chicken to people," Sonic said lightly. "I spent the last year or so doing that. I'm going to miss raking in those tips."

"And I'm going to miss the friends and family discount," Amy smiled, kissing Sonic's cheek. "How are your legs doing?"

"Not as pretty as yours are, but I've been upping my runs lately," Sonic said. "Been going for a bit longer on the treadmill, and my kicking power has improved lately. Good thing we had access to our headquarters still."

"You just couldn't stop murderers, drug dealers, thieves, muggers, attackers... feel free to stop me at any time," Amy giggled. She felt Sonic's back slump a bit, so she rubbed his belly gently. "Hey... you're going to do great. You get to fight for the good side again, with legitimate backup."

"I feel like Shadow should be there," Sonic said. "That was the plan from the start. Me, him, Tails, Knux... that's how it was always going to be. But what happened happened and we can't change that. I've tried talking to that miserable son of a gun since he swung by Knuckles and Shade's wedding but it's like he disappeared completely after that."

"Well, his new job does require him to be super deep undercover. Who knows how many people he's helped? It's almost a shame that a lot of others won't know the good that he's doing."

"True." Sonic said, looking over his tie. "Fuckin' thing..."

Amy giggled. "Come here, you."

Sonic turned to face her, smiling at the engagement ring he'd put on her finger, recalling when he'd proposed to her several months ago. Amy had to go back to work after the school's summer break was over, and she'd spend most of that time with Sonic. They took a romantic trip to Aqua Lake and Sonic proposed to her before they returned to Green Hill, the ring itself being a silver one with a lavender coloured jewel in the middle surrounded by a square of smaller, lighter coloured gems, making it look like a rose.

"Shame you can't stay around much longer," Sonic said. "You've got work soon. And you can't exactly ask Sally to fill in for you."

Amy nodded. "I know. I'm just happy that the kids and their parents bought the excuse that Sally finally went on that backpacking trip."

Sonic's eyes widened as he gave Amy an impressed look. "That's actually pretty clever."

The pink hedgehog smiled and nodded. "I feel bad about lying to the kids, though."

"Clever, beautiful, and has a conscience... so glad I made the choice to ask you to marry me," Sonic smiled.

"And I'm glad that I said yes," Amy smiled, pulling him down for a quick kiss. She finished up his tie as the kiss broke, her hands padding down his jacket. "There... you look great. Now you go and get your job back while I go do the more important work of educating the future."

"Just make sure that that future doesn't eat paste and dunk girls' hair in paint," Sonic said with a chuckle. "I'll see you later."

With that, he gave her one last hug and kiss on the cheek before taking his leave, exiting the apartment door. He made it to the front of the building and saw Knuckles' car waiting with the owner sat in the driver's seat while Tails was sat shotgun, and they both waved over at him as he walked over and got into the back seat.

"Driver?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, sir?" Knuckles replied, putting in a posh British accent.

"Take us to Green Hill Police Department, please," Sonic said. "I hear something big's going down."

"Right away," Knuckles replied, soon dropping the accent. "Any music choice?"

Tails raised his hand. "Hot Water Music?"

"Bold choice," Knuckles smiled. "Let's go!" he proclaimed, starting the drive as the music played.

On the outskirts of Green Hill...

Shadow the hedgehog was sighing as a light bulb dangled above a dimly lit room. Sat down at a table was Beau, a Mobian snake and known drug dealer who once handled a section of Westopolis, eventually upgrading to selling the drugs in other cities. He was holding an ice pack to his forehead to lessen some swelling that had occurred, and he sighed up at Shadow, shaking his head.

"I told you before, I don't know anything about The Black Market," the snake sighed, his Southern drawl dripping from each syllable.

"You have been saying that for close to a year now," said Shadow, crossing his arms. "And I still don't believe you."

Beau chuckled. "Why? What reason would I have to lie to you?" He gestured at the mirrored door behind Shadow. "You've got guards outside ready to kill me at any time, I know for a fucking fact that you've got a gun hidden on you somewhere, and even if I could get out of this room, I wouldn't know the first place to go where I could leave. Security here's tighter than your lips."

Shadow shook his head at that. "Ignoring that one... we won't stop until we get what we want from you."

"I told you everything already, man!" Beau said, closing his eyes in frustration as he felt a headache coming on. "Damn... that really hurts... that's the last time that I piss another one of your grunts off. He did not like my attitude."

"I can't imagine that many people do," Shadow said. "You deal in drugs, one of the many things used to hurt people. It's disguised as something that'll make them feel good, but that shit destroys a lot of lives."

"In Westopolis, it can improve them," Beau said.

"Yeah, but you weren't just dealing in Westopolis. You've had routes to Green Hill, Scrap Metal, even Aqua Lake."

"Drug boats are easy to come by these days," Beau shrugged. "Look, I can't tell you what you don't already know. Congrats, I sell drugs to people and often take them myself, which is something that I'd love to do right now. But it doesn't matter if I'm stoned or sober, I don't know a fucking thing about The Black Market that you don't know. I just know that it exists, and surprise surprise, you know that too."

"I know that they have some sort of plan brewing, right?" Shadow asked, turning on his heel and walking to the mirror. "All that you have to do is tell me what it is."

"And what, you'll let me go free?" Beau asked.

"No, I'll turn you over to the proper authorities," Shadow said. "I hear that we're getting a new captain at Green Hill. They may not be so lenient with the choices that they make regarding their prisoners."

"Wait, so, this under the radar group is going to send me to one of the key departments in Mobius?" Beau chuckled a bit, putting the ice pack down. "You do realise that that would expose your entire operation here, right?"

"We didn't get exposed when we dangled that carrot in front of you and caught you," Shadow retorted.

"Speaking of... I'm sure that I've asked this before, but why me?"

"Well, let's see," Shadow said, clearing his throat. "Lara and Nack are both dead, Manuel and Martin are both missing, and I don't even know where those two guards have gone off to."

"Well, newsflash, bright eyes: I don't know where they are either. I have had no contact with the outside world since you first locked me in here. I haven't been able to since you took my phone and have removed any and all internet privileges from me, and what's worse, I didn't even get a free phone-call. That's a must in a prison and I'd very much like one."

Shadow teleported quickly to appear in front of Beau, and he gave a small smirk as he saw the snake's briefly panicked expression. "Ah... that gets you every time."

"It's fuckin' scary, that's why," Beau replied.

Shadow shook his head. "Look, we're not a prison. We're Anti-Light. We take drastic measures to put the worst of the worst away, for good if needed."

"Or if possible," said Beau.

"Oh, it's always possible," Shadow said. "In fact, there's a high possibility that I could put you away right now. We've been interrogating you for a year and the only thing that you've told us about The Black Market is that you know that they exist as well."

"Well, congrats on being all caught up," Beau replied. "I'm glad that we're finally on the same page."

Shadow nodded to the guards behind Beau. "That may be the case, but that doesn't mean that I can trust you."

Before the snake could reply, his eyes rolled back into his head as a needle was pushed into his neck, a drug being injected that instantly made him fall asleep. Before his head could hit the table, the guards quickly grabbed under his shoulders to drag him over to his bed in the corner of the room, laying him down on it before one of them pressed a button on the wall next to it, causing an array of electricity to shoot out from the top of the cell. It beamed to the bottom before slowing down, formulating a wall made of solid light.

The black and red hedgehog turned to exit the room, looking around the corner to a room that the mirror was hiding. He looked to see Sally and Rouge both there, and he sighed. "So, how'd I do this time?"

"You tried your best, but there's still nothing," Sally said. "Every time it's just a slight variant on the same conversation. He knows about The Black Market, we know about The Black Market, rinse and repeat. It's not getting us anywhere."

"I agree with Sally," Rouge said. "It might be time to give it up, Shadow."

"Well, we can't just keep him here and hope for the best," Shadow said. "I might have to take more drastic measures..."

Sally looked over to Rouge, who shook her head. "Yeah... not sure that's a good idea. We want information. We don't want Beau dead."

"Why should we care so much about a literal snake's life when he's always too willing to throw it away?" Shadow hissed. "And besides, I don't want to kill him. But I will make him wish he was dead. All that I have to do is ask Calvin, right? He'll give me what I need."

"He will, but please..." Rouge sighed, putting a hand on Shadow's arm. "Don't let this consume you. You're going to go insane."

Shadow closed his eyes. "He's... he's part of the reason that... she's..."

"I know," Rouge said, rubbing the hedgehog's arm gently. "He was involved. You got the guy who killed Maria, but Nack's influence is still being felt. I know that you want answers out of Beau, but that's not the way to get them. We've got all that we can out of him."

"We could try and get someone new," Sally said.

"But how?" Shadow asked. "We don't know where any of them have gone, and I am not going back to Westopolis any time soon."

"No, but you are going to the Green Hill Police Department, right?" Sally asked with a smile. "Something about a reinstatement?"

Shadow's eyes widened. "Shit... I almost forgot."

Rouge smiled at his reaction. "You know, I find it strange how you can get reinstated as a freelancer."

"Doesn't mean that I'll stop working for Anti-Light any time soon," Shadow replied. "It'll just be a bit harder to split that time."

"Hey, we'll handle some of the interrogations for you," Rouge said. "Maybe even an op or two of our own. We've got a good amount of Nack's guys in the cells here."

"I know," Shadow nodded. "I just wish that we could get something more out of the biggest player that we have right now. God... Beau's the biggest player we have. That was always a doomed omen."

"We'll see what we can dig out of him," said Rouge. "You go on and get, okay?"

"Will do," Shadow nodded. "See you guys whenever I see you. I'm just going to pick something up from my room really quick and then I'll leave."

The two girls nodded at that, and Shadow gave them a small wave as he left the room, turning to go through a door and entering a wide hallway. It was all painted almost completely black, save for some lighter grey that signified where the doors were for the cell block. As Shadow walked to the end of the hall, he entered a large round room which had doors that led to other halls as well as a big elevator in the middle. The rest of the facility was also mostly black, again save for some grey and some specks of white.

Shadow stood on the elevator, going up to the only other floor of the entire building. It was where the agents' rooms were held for the most part, as there were a total of six corridors. The four in the middle led to rooms for the agents, the one near the bottom led to a small entrance way that was one of the only ways out of the building, and the last corridor near the top led to Calvin's office, which is where Shadow was walking into.

The black and grey lion turned with a grin as Shadow walked in. "Ah, Shadow! Good to see you. How did the interrogation go?"

"The same as always," Shadow sighed. "The same answers, the same responses... I feel like I'm just running in circles with this guy. I've asked him about The Black Market and Jem and I keep getting nothing back. Actually, it's part of why I'm here."

"How do you mean?" Calvin asked.

"Well, no doubt you've heard about my interrogation methods. I haven't had a chance to try any of those since I first got here," Shadow said. "I wonder if it's because I've been too nervous since the thing with Z-"

"Don't bring up his name," Calvin said, cutting Shadow off. "Every time you do, it just brings up that horrible memory again. It was so long ago now. And besides, he was kind of a piece of shit."

"Yeah, and because of what I did, my friends lost their jobs," Shadow said. "That's what hurts the most. Not killing the guy. The fallout of it."

Calvin pursed his lips, stroking his chin. "I'll tell you what. I'll pull some strings to see if I can get you some extra tools to use on Beau."

"You'll pull strings? What, do you have people in Westopolis that could help you?" Shadow asked with a slight smirk, a bit nervous when Calvin didn't share in the mirth.

The lion let out a little chuckle, though, and he shook his head. "Not from there. Like you, I had a bad experience up there... I don't want to even think of asking anyone from there for help."

"I know. And believe me, I don't want to go back up there either," Shadow said. "But-"

"It's fine," Calvin sighed. "I'll get you what you need. You just get moving."

"Thank you, sir," Shadow said.

"You know I hate that," Calvin chuckled. "Too formal. Just Calvin will do."

"Sorry. Force of habit," Shadow said. "I'll see you later."

The black and red hedgehog then left the room, heading to the corridor where his room was and looking over some stuff there. He grabbed a small compact pistol to holster in his ankle just in case, and he quickly strapped that on while he remembered. He attached a knife to his other ankle, via another holster, and as he strapped it in, he looked to see the photo of himself and Maria on a small desk next to the room's bed. He picked it up, smiling.

"Hey. Uh... so, that year and a half is over as of today," Shadow said to the picture, looking at Maria's face on it. "I'm getting reinstated, and I'm still going to be working for Anti-Light as well. I can do twice as much good that way. I just hope that I don't stretch myself too thin." He paused and cleared his throat. "We got the same old same old from Beau too, so no progress there, but there's a chance that that could change. I just need to be patient." He smiled sadly. "I'll see you when I get back."

He placed the picture back down and nodded, sighing to himself and rubbing it softly with his hand before tapping his chest. On command, the nanotechnology in his body slowly formed over him, coating him completely black save for some bright white lines acting as a visor for his eyes. He tapped his chest again, making the armour disappear before leaving his room and, eventually, the base itself.

In Westopolis...

Two gruff looking men were driving an armoured truck through the east side of the city of Westopolis, ready to deliver crates full of weapons to a Mobian bull named Manuel. They stopped at the usual drop point but they were surprised to see a red salamander named Jem sitting on a bench, with Gerren and Martin at either side of him. The deliverers knew who they were, though, so they stopped the truck, the driver getting out to speak to him.

"Where's Manuel?" the driver asked.

"Manuel is currently at home, making sure that his daughters are getting a good education," Jem said. "He can't well provide that for them if he's out here picking up some guns."

"He was always here when Nack was," said the driver. "But Nack's been dead for a year, so I guess that doesn't matter. I just didn't expect to see you pick the weapons up."

Jem nodded. "Manuel would ask for different people to drop the guns off, right?" The driver nodded, so Jem continued. "There's a good chance that, last month, a couple of other men dropped off weapons expecting to meet the bull himself but instead they wound up meeting me."

"You almost make that sound threatening," said the driver. "But yeah, we have some good guns here for you. Tested them ourselves, we have extra ammo reserves, and we even packed some extra grenades."

"I don't need that many explosives for my plans today," said Jem.

"Ah, I'm glad that you mentioned that," said the driver. "The grenades are special. You can set them to do stuff other than blow shit up."

"Oh. Then that works perfectly with my plans."

Jem quickly pulled a silenced pistol out of the sleeve of his jacket, firing right between the driver's eyes, sending a splatter of blood onto the ground as he fell dead. The other passenger in the truck panicked and made an attempt to scoot to the driver's seat, but Gerren opened the door and pulled the would-be driver out of the truck, dragging him by his collar over to Jem.

"What do we do with this one?" asked Gerren.

Jem shot the other driver dead as well, two bullets to the head to make sure before firing another at the first body. "I don't want anyone interrupting today's proceedings. The people who dropped these weapons and this truck off have more guns and more vehicles."

Martin looked around. "They didn't bring backup either. Not sure that was entirely wise of them."

"They didn't, but we will," Jem said, turning to Gerren. "Go to the prison and get some men. Drive to Green Hill."

"Why?" Gerren asked. "What's so important about today?"

"Well, our old friends are getting their old jobs back," Jem replied simply. "We can't have them thinking that it'll be easy. They're getting reinstated today, and it's going to be a big one. I don't want them thinking that their first day back will be easy."

"I saw some news today too," Martin added. "Apparently, the old commander over there is retiring. They're announcing his replacement today."

Jem smiled, then turned to Gerren. "I want you to do me a little extra favour while you're up at Green Hill."

Gerren grinned widely. "I'm all ears."

At Green Hill Police Department...

Knuckles' car pulled up, and already in front of the department a lot of people were sat down and waiting. As Knuckles killed his car's engine, Tails hopped out and sat next to his girlfriend, Cosmo, holding hands with her and smiling. Sonic and Knuckles then sat with them, looking up to see a small stage with a podium with several microphones attached to it. Nearby were some camera crews and reporters as well, ready with microphones and tape recorders, and finally, Avery himself walked down the middle past all of the seats before going up to the podium. Lastly, sat off to the left of Avery were Amadeus and Rosemary Prower, who gave Tails a wave, and to the right were Lupe, Simian, and Ash.

Avery cleared his throat and was about to speak when he spotted Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, and he smiled. "Well, it's good to see you here. Or seventy five percent of you, at least."

"It's good to see you as well," Sonic smiled back.

The former commander smiled again, clearing his throat. "All right, is everyone ready to go?" He looked to see some nodding, and when a cameraman gave a signal to confirm that he was filming, Avery began. "So, Green Hill, today is going to be a very pivotal day for us all here. First of all, I'd like to not only confirm my retirement, but I have selected my replacement. Reminder that this person won't be an acting commander until I come back. They're going to be leading this department for the foreseeable future. And that person is none other than Lupe the wolf."

Lupe stood up, surprise on her face as the crowd applauded her. She walked up and hugged Avery, and he smiled as he stepped back to let her take the podium, and she cleared her throat. "Wow, I... I don't know what to say. I didn't even know if I'd be picked for the position. Thank you, comm- erm... Avery." She chuckled a bit and the crowd laughed. "It's going to take a lot of getting used to."

Avery nodded. "It took me a while too. So, would you like to say some words?"

"I would, yes," Lupe said, clearing her throat. "So, I'm your new commander. And I hope to lead the police force with as much confidence and pride as Avery did. And I think that I speak for all of us here when I say that I'll miss him at the helm. With that in mind, I'd like to thank you all, and I'll do my best to do right by you."

"We don't doubt that," Knuckles muttered. "She's going to nail it."

"Oh, totally," Tails said, fist-bumping the red echidna. "I've got faith in her."

Avery had taken to the stand, Lupe giving him another hug which caught him off guard and made him chuckle as he returned it before she sat back down, hugging Simian and Ash for good measure. Avery then started to speak again. "Next up, I am proud to announce that the Prowers will be able to deliver their implants much more safely in the city and they are partnered with us again. With that in mind, they will be afforded all of the safety and protection that they had before. Mr and Mrs. Prower, would you like to say a few words?"

Tails' parents both stood up, giving another wave to their son who again waved back before Rosemary began speaking. "We'd like to thank you all for putting your trust back in us. We know that after what happened, the times between haven't been easy for us at the shop. A lot of people in other cities have had to be denied implants due to what happened. But with that in mind, we made a business decision."

Tails rose an eyebrow at that. "All right, this is new..."

"We're going to focus on putting our implants into hospitals," said Amadeus. "With what happened a year and a half ago, a lot of people got hurt and still are affected today. We will still be giving more battle-ready ones to military branches, but we'd like to focus more specifically on emergency services for the time being."

"That's a very noble cause, actually," Sonic said, turning to Tails. "Does wholesomeness run through your veins instead of blood?"

Tails smiled. "It's just how we're made, I guess. I wasn't told about that, but it's a pretty smart choice. I'm not even mad, honestly."

"That's a good use for them, I think," said Avery, smiling. "Congrats to you both and it's good to have you back."

"Thank you for letting us back in," Amadeus replied, he and his wife soon taking their seats again.

As the brown bear started to get to the last part of his speech, he spotted Shadow walking down to take a seat with Sonic and the others. "Just in time," he said under his breath. "Now for our last announcement, which fits as now all four of them are back, I'm happy to announce that the freelance agents of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow will now get their full privileges back as well. As before, they'll operate under their own rules provided that they can cooperate not just with us here in Green Hill, but in any city they choose to help. Now, I'd like to invite them up for a few words of their own."

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails all stood up to move, and Shadow almost got up to join them when he looked up to the roof of the building, seeing something glint up there. He was distracted by Sonic's hand pulling his arm, and he joined him and the others up on the stage, the blue hedgehog going up to the podium.

"Well, it's been a while and we were pretty busy in the time off," Sonic said. "But that's not what's important. What is is that we're going to do our best to help all of you like we did before."

"And again, not just here," said Tails. "We'll help other cities like we did before. And we'll still help like we used to. I can't guarantee that Sonic will delivery drive for Jade Mountain any more, though."

"Hey, I could still do that. No discounts, though," Sonic said, getting some fake boos from the crowd. "And while we're here, Shadow has rejoined us. Do you want to come up and say some words, man?"

Shadow nodded, standing up. "Hey, everyone. Um... I feel like I've apologised a lot and I've done a lot to make up for the mistakes that I've made. But that doesn't mean that I'll stop trying. I hope that you can all treat me with the respect that I earned from you in the first place." He turned to Amadeus and Rosemary. "And I'd like to apologise to you as well for what I did. So thank you for giving me another chance."

"Just use it well," Rosemary said with a smile.

Shadow nodded, stepping back. "Thank you."

Avery stepped back up to the podium. "All right, boys, if you wouldn't mind retaking your seats." He cleared his throat. "Now, I'd like to thank you all for coming out here. I'll be taking questions from the reporters now, no doubt they've waited long en-"

His body suddenly slumped forwards onto the podium before falling off to the side, the crowd all gasping as the others sat on the stage looked to the fallen Avery. Amadeus got up and checked around his body, seeing a small tranquilliser dart in his neck. Shadow took another chance to see the glint on top of the roof, and he was about to teleport up when he heard a noise next to him, turning to see a grenade rolling down the aisle.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Shadow yelled, diving to the side.

The grenade gave a small explosion, but instead of fragmentation, smoke poured out of it, followed by another grenade doing the same thing. Without hesitating, Shadow put on his nano-suit, and he recognised the lights on his friends' suits as they copied him. They heard gunfire, some of which was started to bounce off of them, and Shadow looked through the smoke to see gunmen wearing masks of the freelancers.

Shadow turned to where Sonic was. "There's a sniper up on the roof. I've got to get a clear path up there."

Sonic nodded. "We'll try and put these guys down. And as team leader, I'm making the decision of lethal force."

"Smart thinking," Shadow said.

The black and red hedgehog then quickly teleported up to the roof, seeing the sniper making his way to the left side of the building, busy tying a rope to a harness. Shadow quickly ran over and pulled on the rope, making the sniper look up at him with a scared glare before Shadow willed the mask of his suit away, reaching to grab his knife and put it against the sniper's rope.

"Wait!" The sniper said. "You'll kill me if you do that!"

"That's kind of the point," Shadow replied. "So if you don't want to fall to your death, start talking."

"I'd sooner fall and become street pizza," the sniper replied.

"Ah. Thanks for letting me know," Shadow said. He reached over and grabbed the sniper's back, pulling him up and over onto the roof, climbing on top of him and putting the knife to his throat. "Tell me who you work for."

"I don't know. I was just asked to knock out the commander so those other guys could steal those foxes."

"Steal? What for?"

The sniper coughed. "I ain't telling you..." He closed his mouth to push something out from under his tongue, then he bit into it, started to spew out blood as his eyes rolled back.

Shadow put his fingers to the sniper's neck, feeling the pulse fade away. "Fuck... fuck!" He growled, standing up. He looked over the edge of the roof, snarling back at the body. "I'll come back to you." He teleported down to join his friends, the smoke having mostly faded away and giving him a better look at the attackers.

"Ah, all four of them are here," said the one wearing Knuckles' mask. "Good."

Sonic growled at the four of them. "What is the meaning of this?"

"We got a message from our boss for you," said the one wearing Tails' mask, appearing to have a female voice. She held out a phone and handed it over to Sonic. "For your ears only, handsome."

Sonic shook his head, pressing play. "I'm going to assume that this is one of the freelance agents. And as this is a prerecorded message, please refrain from talking back." There was a brief pause before it continued. "This is Jem. I trust that you're wondering why I did what I did. Well, if this plan was a success, you're all still alive and nobody else was hurt. But I needed a certain pair of you for my own reasons."

Tails turned in panic, seeing the seats where his parents were. He turned back around as he heard a vehicle driving off. "Mum... dad..."

"I don't plan on returning Amadeus or Rosemary Prower any time soon, so I'll get to the point," Jem's voice said. "I don't ask for much. I just want the heaps of implants that they've been sitting on and waiting to be delivered as soon as possible. If you do not reply appropriately, my messages will get worse for all four of you as well as those close to you. I'll give you as much time as you need to give me what I want, but don't think that time is going to be on your side. The more that you delay it, the worse that it will get. Tick tock, gentlemen."

The recording stopped, and the remaining kidnappers kept their guns on the four freelancers before aiming at the people around them instead. That forced the four to stop any attempt at following, and the kidnappers were soon out of sight, getting in another car and driving away.

"This is not good..." Tails sighed. "This is so not good..."

"T-Tails?" a voice whimpered.

The two-tailed fox turned, seeing Cosmo on the floor, holding a hand to her shoulder, blood oozing past it. "Cosmo!"

Sonic quickly pulled out his phone. "This is Sonic the hedgehog outside of Green Hill. I need an ambulance right away."

"I'll be... okay..." Cosmo said, her eyes getting drowsy. "I feel... sleepy..."

Tails took off his suit jacket and put it around the wound in Cosmo's arm, trying to keep pressure on it. "Stay with me... you've got to stay with me..."

Knuckles looked around and called out. "All right, they've all left. Let's give Cosmo and Tails some room. Are there any more wounded?"

"Avery's still out," Ash called from behind the podium. "But he's breathing. And so is everyone else, it seems."

"Okay, good, that's a good sign," Knuckles said. "All right, we're all going to wait for the ambulances to get here and get you all checked up on."

Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose, stumbling next to Sonic. "Well, newly reinstated team leader... what do you make of this?"

"It looks like we've got our work cut out for us," Sonic replied. "We'd better get to it." He looked to see Tails still with Cosmo, and the blue hedgehog swallowed nervously before he heard the sound of ambulance sirens in the distance.

So, uh... yeah. First chapter of this here third story of the series. It was a lot of fun to do. I'll try and balance it against one-shots, so expect a request next time, but I'll try and do bits of work on this story along the way. I hope you all liked it and I'll see you soon for a request, and then possibly more of this after that. Until then, take care, and stay tuned.