~Chapter 2: GUN's Ultimate Life Form~

Mephiles was in the process of training in the obstacle course when the Commander's daughter stood by and observed curiously. He stopped his training and turned his head slightly so that he was glancing back at her.

"I would prefer to train alone," he said to her, sounding irritated.

"I'm only watching," Cynthia responded, indirectly refusing to leave.

The hedgehog turned completely to face her. "Didn't your father tell you to go elsewhere?" he asked her.

"He's busy and I was by myself," Cynthia excused. "I don't like being alone."

"Well, you need to get used it," Mephiles told her plainly, turning back around. "Now if you don't mind, I need to complete my training."

As Mephiles proceeded with his training, Cynthia remained where she was and watched him. Mephiles glanced at her from the corner of his eye and grunted, deciding to just finish the training. Once he was done he headed out of the training room, staring at Cynthia as he left. Cynthia watched him leave, deciding to follow him seconds later.

Almost instantly Mephiles noticed her, stopping and turning around, looking quite annoyed. "Don't follow me," he ordered.

"Why not?" Cynthia asked him. "You don't have anywhere to go yet. No bedroom, no quiet area... You don't even know your way around this place!"

"You're not being my tour guide," Mephiles told her before she got any ideas. But Cynthia grabbed his hand.

"Come on!" she giggled, running with him. Unwillingly Mephiles followed, feeling the urge to just throw this human child into the wall.

...

Commander West was calculating Mephiles' results from the training course, having observed him via a camera. That was when he was approached by a familiar rookie soldier, Abraham Tower.

"Sir," Tower began nervously. "Are you sure that Project GULF is... safe?"

The Commander turned to face him. "Of course he is," he answered confidently. He didn't use a harsh tone on Tower since he was aware of his past aboard the ARK. Tower had been raised in the base after the ARK invasion twenty years ago, suffering from PTSD. He held a grudge towards Shadow, blaming him for the death of his loved ones aboard the ARK along with various others. The Commander understood that his hatred and fear of Shadow is what made him so cautious about Mephiles.

"How can you be certain?" Tower asked, sounding worried. "The substance he was created from originates from the Black Comet... He's probably much worse than Shadow...!"

"If he proves himself to be a threat, then we'll deal with him appropriately," the Commander planned in order to ease the young soldier. "Here on Prison Island we have the correct facilities for dealing with sudden threats."

Tower looked unsure, but let out a sigh of defeat. "If you say so, sir..." he replied quietly.

The Commander turned back around so that his back was facing Tower. "Now return to your duty, soldier. There are other priorities to be focusing on right now," he finalised.

"Yes, sir," Tower saluted before leaving the room hesitantly.

The Commander watched multiple CCTV footage on the large screen in front of him, standing in deep thought. He was then snapped out of his thoughts when he caught sight of Cynthia showing Mephiles around on one of the cameras. At first he was worried, but then calmed himself down. Mephiles was by no means a threat to anybody.

...

"Are we done yet?" Mephiles asked impatiently.

"Almost!" Cynthia chirped as she skipped along through the corridors. Mephiles practically dragged himself after her. He had decided that if he went along with her "tour" quickly then he'd be able to get it over with.

Cynthia ran into the command room, exactly where he father was. He turned to face her, not at all surprised that she had showed up.

Mephiles walked in a few moments later, glancing up at the Commander. His expression went from dark to guilty, recognising the Commander as his sole creator.

"Hello there, Cynthia, Mephiles," the Commander greeted, nodding to them. Mephiles silently nodded back.

Cynthia beamed happily. "Hello, father!" she chirped.

"I see that you're getting along with Mephiles," the Commander acknowledged. Mephiles did his best to frown at that statement; he really just wanted to be alone.

"I was just showing him around!" Cynthia told her father proudly, grinning.

The Commander smiled, glad that he had a daughter who was so confident. She was so much like her mother...

But then the alarm went off suddenly, causing all three of them to look at the large screen.

"Sir! There's a terrorist attack in Westopolis!" one soldier announced.

"Prepare all units," the Commander instructed. "We don't tolerate terrorism in our nation." The middle-aged man then turned to face Mephiles and Cynthia. "Mephiles, I'm not sure if you're ready for something like this yet, but if you're willing to go then you can go."

Mephiles almost instantly chose his answer, figuring that he'd probably have to babysit Cynthia if he backed out. "I'll go."

The Commander nodded, respecting his decision. "There's a helicopter outside for one of our units. You'll see it once you get outside," he directed. "Board that helicopter and stick with that unit. Understood?"

"Understood," Mephiles nodded, his voice low and quiet. He ran out of the room calmly.

Cynthia watched him leave, then turning to look up at her father. She noticed that he was focused on the screen again so that he could direct the units of soldiers, so she decided to head out to her room.

...

Mephiles was on board the helicopter, staring down at his feet. The other soldiers seemed to act awkward around him and were silent most of the time. When they did speak Mephiles didn't attempt to engage in the conversation, nor did he listen in to what they were saying.

For the whole flight Mephiles remained in the same position, only perking up when the helicopter had landed. He unbuckled himself and climbed out of the helicopter, standing with his unit. However, he turned his attention quickly to the riot going on in the streets. No longer interested in staying with his group, he dashed over to the scene.

"Mephiles!" one of the soldiers called.

Mephiles seemed to ignore the soldiers as they called for him, leaping up and roundhouse kicking one of the terrorists in the head. The terrorist was knocked down, but glared at Mephiles, eyes barely visible since he hid his face behind a bandana. Mephiles stared down at him, watching as he got up and pointed his gun at him, aiming for his head.

"What a joke," he growled. "Are the government really recruiting hedgehogs now?"

"More than just ordinary hedgehogs," Mephiles corrected with his usual calm tone of voice. He raised his hand slightly, a purple ball of dark energy beginning to form.

"W-What are you doing?!" the man who had threatened Mephiles questioned, sounding worried and afraid as he stepped back slightly. Mephiles looked as if he would be smiling right now, amused at the man's fear.

"I am returning to you what you gave to many people in this area," the hedgehog answered as the ball of energy grew larger. Then, without warning, Mephiles fired the ball at the man, inducing a large explosion.

Mephiles' unit, along with various other units, civillians and terrorists, witnessed Mephiles' attack. It was a bizarre blast which could not be compared to any others. Many seemed to simply stare in shock, unsure how to react.

Slowly Mephiles lowered his hand, staring down at the corpse of the man. He didn't appear to be bothered, but he was actually surprised himself; he didn't know that he had that much power.

Tower stared at Mephiles with wide eyes, standing with another unit. His unit decided to continue bringing down the terrorists once they had snapped out of their state of shock, but Tower remained frozen. He watched as Mephiles went back to attacking some of the other terrorists, striking most of them with regular attacks.

Suddenly, a terrorist had snuck up behind Tower and stabbed him in the back. Tower grunted in pain, collapsing onto his knees and holding his wound, which luckily wasn't as fatal as it could have been. However, it did hurt. Tower looked up and met the terrorist's eyes.

Before the attacker could do anything, he was struck down unexpectedly by Mephiles. Mephiles landed on his two feet once he had taken the terrorist down, glancing back at Tower. Tower stared in complete horror, still afraid of Mephiles. The dark hedgehog didn't attempt to help with Tower's injury as he continued with his solo assault.

...

The Commander had witnessed Mephiles' actions, trying to hide his look of surprise.

"Sir, Mephiles has taken down most of the terrorists single-handedly," a soldier told the Commander via a communicator.

The Commander paused before responding. "As long as the city is safe, then his actions will be praised," he said to the soldier. "But I think he needs to get used to his powers before doing anything like this again."

"Should we return to base, sir?" the soldier asked.

"Yes," the Commander answered. "Leave the rest up to the police. Any fatalities?"

"Affirmitive, sir," the soldier answered. "No exact number yet, but so far we have counted twenty fatalities, but there are certainly more."

"Damn..." the Commander growled. "As for casualties?"

"Over thirty," the soldier assured.

"Right. I shall prepare the medical sector for the arriving soldiers who have been wounded," the Commander assured, hanging up from the call. He sent for one of the other soldiers to pass the word on to the medics.

~End of Chapter~