FicWad

Shadow put on his jacket and headed out the door of his house in the mountains.

Shadow’s phone rang as he got into his black and red car.

Shadow sighed and answered the phone. “Yeah, Rouge, I’m kinda busy.” He said, starting his car. “Make it quick.”

“Another job, huh?” Rouge asked. “Is it legal this time?”

Shadow pulled the car out of his garage. “Are you at work?”

“Fair enough.” Rouge said. “Anyway, it looks like you lucked out and won’t have to go to the family wedding with me. I’m on a huge case. It’s either a smuggling or trafficking operation, so I won’t be able to go. At least that’s what I told my mom and sister.”

Shadow chuckled. “Well, if I find out anything that could be useful, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, handsome.” Rouge replied. “Talk to you whenever I can.”

Rouge hung up.

Shadow dropped his phone into the cup holder. “Maybe this will be a simple one.” He muttered as he started the car.
**
Shadow parked his car in front of a large eggshell white mansion and got out.

To his surprise two robots hovered over to him.

“Must be the owner of a tech company.” Shadow thought.

A red robot approached Shadow. “Good morning, sir,” It said. “Do you have an appointment with Dr. Robotnik and your name sir?”

Shadow closed the car door. “Yes, Shadow the Hedgehog.”

“Ah, Mr. Hedgehog.” The red robot said. “Right this way, sir.”

Shadow followed the two robots inside the mansion.

On the inside, it was a bare white foyer and some metal doors and gray tile floor.

Shadow raised his eyebrow. “He’s more minimalist than I am.”

Finally, Dr. Robotnik emerged from one of the doors. “Ah, Shadow. Right on time.” He said. “Quite impressive.”

“As much as I appreciate the flattery, I’d like to get down to business.” Shadow replied.

“Right.” Dr. Robotnik said. “Now, all you have to do is ship some merchandise to Port Mobius, dock fifteen.”

Six robots (including the red and yellow ones) carried a large wooden crate outside, to the car.

“You’ll get a bonus if you get there early.” Dr. Robotnik said. “Just don’t open the box.”

Shadow nodded. “That’s one of my rules.”

“Excellent. I’m glad we’re on the same page.” Dr. Robotnik said, shaking Shadow’s hand. “I may have more jobs for you if you do this well. I’ll send you the money as soon as you arrive at Port Mobius.”

Shadow nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as I get there.”
**
Shadow quietly drove down the highway, listening to the radio.

Something started bumping around in the car.

Shadow turned the radio off.

The bumping got louder.

“It’s not the car and this is a smooth road.” Shadow thought. He glanced behind him.

“He couldn’t possibly have a live person in the crate.” Shadow said.

The bumping continued.

“He could.” Shadow muttered. He pulled the car onto the side of the road and parked it. He got out and walked around to the trunk.

“Help us, please!” A muffled female voice cried. “Please!”

Shadow opened the trunk.

The crate was bouncing a little as someone was clearly beating on it from the inside.

“Sonia, it’s obvious they’re not going to help.” A male voice said.

“We have to try, Manic.” A different female voice said.

Shadow opened the box.

A human girl, a female hedgehog, and two male hedgehogs were huddled in the crate.

“Please don’t hurt us.” The human girl said, her voice shaking. Tears formed in her eyes.

“Why am I hauling you four in a box?” Shadow asked.

The green hedgehog shrugged. “We have no idea.” He replied. “Sonic, Sonia, and I were kidnapped right as we were leaving this shady club we had a gig at and we were forced to get in the box.”

“I’m Maria.” The human girl said. “My cousin is the one who’s shipping us to Tashistan by boat from Port Mobius.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a trafficking operation.” He thought.

“You’ll help us, right?” Sonia asked.

“Get out. We’re getting to the bottom of this.” Shadow said.

Maria and the hedgehogs climbed out of the trunk and got in the car. The hedgehogs gathered in the backseat while Maria took the front passenger seat.

Shadow got back in the car and pulled it back onto the road. “So what happened?”

“I was made to get in the crate after I found out Ivo kidnapped them and threatened to report him if he didn’t let them go.” Maria said.

“We were loading our gear back into the van, then I guess we got knocked out.” Manic said. “The next thing we remember is that we were locked in a room somewhere.”

“They took pictures of us, then shoved us in the crate.” Sonic added.

“I see.” Shadow replied. He turned down a side road.

Sonic looked out the window. “Where are we going?”

“My house, to regroup.” Shadow replied.