The Perfect Harmony of Hearts

Second Chapter Dedicated to:

Mema (of course)

AmyAddict1

&

Dalsson (and he BETTER be reading this!)

Chapter Two

Teaming Them Up

"Doom! Doom, urgent news at the boundary!"

"What is it, Black H? I am busy –"

"It's those Crusaders, Doom! Their forces have gotten stronger in the past few years, and their getting progressively closer and closer to HQ! I suggest we evacuate immediately and –"

"You are not the one to be making orders around here, Hawk! I am the one who holds the Kingdom in his grasp. Ever since we have taken control of this pathetic planet that they call Mobius, we have ruled with an iron fist! No one can undermine us now!"

"Yes, O Honorable Black Doom, but…Doom, have you seen them battle?"

"My Eye sees all, Hawk. I have surveyed their abilities, and I still believe they are no match for our forces, especially with our numbers."

"Yes, Almighty Black Doom…of course, Doom…"

"…Do you have something on your mind? I can sense all of your thoughts from here, and there is something bothering you."

"W-Well, Master Black Doom, we have noticed that a certain number of Zoids have been repeatedly raiding the areas just South of here, steadily getting closer and closer. Their attacks are fleeting and approaches sluggish, but they are still coming. It seems they are aiming for a final battle at the capital."

"Indeed…have you scanned the Zoids that have been salvaged?"

"Yes, we are in the process of analyzing as we speak…"

"Excellent! We shall soon find their Zoids' weaknesses and exploit them to turn the tide in battle. Continue with this, and report to me every twelve-hour cycle."

"Yes, umm…there is something else…"

"Speak your part, or dismiss yourself immediately."

"Yes, Controller of the Kingdom! Right away! I have noticed, personally, that a certain DNA structure is somewhat familiar – I have, in fact, encountered this Crusader individual's blood relations. The Crusader that destroyed the original Black Oak in its Geno Saurer was the 'father' of this one."

"Who is this Crusader you continue to refer to?"

"Here is the file I hacked into while skimming the boundary and picking up transmissions and such from the enemy. Can you pick up my thought patterns –"

"You mean this Crusader? You must be joking – I have slaughtered pilots more experienced than this one, and yet you are worried about this youngling?"

"Well, it is not 'worried' – more of a cautious behavior. After all, its bloodline has caused enough trouble for us. I would like permission to destroy it on sight."

"…Hm, it would seem you would like to make up for a past mistake, would you not?"

"…"

"After all, you allowed that Lightning Saix to destroy one entire team on its own, and you ran cowardly from it to save yourself."

"…Yes, All Powerful Black Doom, but I will redeem myself! I will not run away this time! This Crusader scum will regret joining –"

"Actually, I don't want you to kill her. Not just yet."

"...But, why, Doom? Isn't it an enemy?"

"Yes, but I would like to…study this specimen. After all, she is a rather extraordinary pilot, crippling three teams of three by herself."

"…Yes, I suppose it is…"

"Alright, you are dismissed. Oh, and Hawk?"

"Yes, Doom?"

"They refer to their reproducers in female terms, like we do. Also, if you fail to report back to me, or you kill her without my orders, I will personally tear your wings from their sockets and make you drink the blood that drips out of your veins as you lay bleeding to death on the sand."

"Yes, Master Black Doom, of course. As you wish."

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Shadowpaw rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms and scoffed. "No," she said, sarcasm dripping from her mouth, "I thought you just wanted to have a cuppa tea." She rolled her eyes once more and grumbled under her breath about 'hating these types of people', which was only silenced by the squirrel's piercing glare that quieted her for a moment. When she refrained from speaking, he sighed and motioned for the two to sit down. The black hedgehog beside her took a seat in a chair nearby while she decided to sit beside 'Sly' on the sofa, and as they made themselves comfortable Kussia glanced over at the fox and insisted, "Sly, can you explain the situation? I was never really good at these sorts of things."

Sly sighed a bit reluctantly, as if he had been expecting something like this, and he turned to face the specialists as they switched their attention to him with anticipation. He glanced at their faces, as if examining them and trying to read their souls or thoughts, before he cleared his throat and began, if a bit awkwardly.

"As you both know, we have been battling the Kingdom for more than a hundred years now."

"Oh, great," Shadowpaw grumbled to herself, not expecting someone to hear (or caring if they did), "a history lesson."

She received another glare from the gray squirrel and a curious look from the hedgehog beside her, and she rolled her eyes but shut her mouth to listen to the rest of the explanation. She did, however, examine the other specialist, curious as to why he was there with them. She had never seen this guy before, but any guy was trouble to her. She looked him up and down from the corner of her eye, examining the muscles he had under his sleek form-fitting specialist suit. His suit was, unlike hers, a black that seemed to make his fur even darker, and his symbol was plain on his breast as the sun was in the sky. The black cross was a bit striking against the pale crescent, its backwards curves showing a broken circle of light. It was a…strange combination, to say the least. Was he perhaps religious?

Sly cleared his throat, and, when all eyes were on him once more, he continued on, "Since the beginning, everything was pretty much black-and-white; either you were on our side, or you were on theirs. However," he sighed and shook his head, "it is not like that anymore. Many groups of people have split off into their own groups, trying to overcome the Kingdom to set up their own type of government in its place."

"Like GUN?" The hedgehog's suggestion was unexpected, but appreciated, by the red fox, as was evident by the slight raise of his eyebrow. Sly gave him a nod in affirmation and respect. "Yes, especially GUN. Although, at the moment, that other idiot is more of a hazard to us."

Shadowpaw smirked. That 'other idiot' was Dr. Ivo Robotnik, or, as everyone called him behind his back, 'Eggman'. He was a tall human with a portly belly and a bushy red mustache who commanded Zoids without pilots. He had them built with intelligence so they wouldn't need a pilot to assist them, but after his ideas were rejected by the Crusaders he broke off and started his own branch of the military. Eventually, he grew so obsessed with power and greed that he decided he would try to rule Mobius. Compared to GUN, though, Shadowpaw really didn't think he'd have a chance.

GUN was an organization led by the Commander, who was once a part of the Crusaders until some unknown reason made him decide to leave and make his own army. Shadowpaw didn't know much about him, except that he was 'hell-bent on revenge' against someone in the Crusaders. Who, she had no clue, nor did she care. She was just there to follow in her father's footsteps.

"Anyways," Sly brought Shadowpaw back to reality with the importance in his voice, "we – meaning Kussia and myself – have found that they are following our movements towards the Kingdom, most likely in an attempt to attack the Kingdom after we retreat to try to overcome them while they are down. This is unacceptable." He glanced at Kussia, as if for some confirmation of some sort. When all he received was a stare in return, he looked back to the specialists to continue.

"So, we have come to the decision to –"

Shadowpaw growled, impatience burning her fuse short, "Will you stop beating around the damn bush and come out with it?"

"– to put you both onto a team together."

S-H-A-D-O-W

The room fell deathly silent after that. Kussia looked at the red fox a bit anxious, as if hoping that he would have eased the news onto them a bit more…slowly. However, the mechanics wiz just stared at the two specialists, expecting some sort of reaction.

And he got one.

"…What?" The feline stared at him at first with confusion, as if she didn't understand him properly, but when it became clear that she did not hear wrong she seemed to grow a bit hostile. She growled and shouted, "Dammit, I don't need no damn team! I can work alone perfectly fine! I don't –"

"Shadowpaw!"

The feline stopped, her mouth left to hang open in a frozen protest as the squirrel glared her down. Soon afterwards, her jaw snapped shut and she returned the glare fiercely, determined not to be ordered around. Shadow had to admit, she had spunk, but she also had a bad attitude.

At first, it seemed that Kussia would get angry at her and start to yell as well, but then he suddenly calmed down, and with a sigh he put his hands together to stare at her normally. Her face grew puzzled, and she frowned slightly at his sudden change. Then, the squirrel cleared his throat to show he was going to speak and began to talk calmly, yet firmly, to her.

"Shadowpaw, your father was one of the most elite in our force." He kept eye-contact with her, as if daring her to look away first. "His powerhouse tactics were something not seen in any normal Lightning Saix pilot. And your mother," he nodded his head respectfully towards her, "was as good with the Lightning Saix as your father was with guns."

Finally, after a thick and heavy silence had fallen in the room, Shadowpaw tore her eyes away, the amber orbs shimmering with some old memory. Satisfied with his success, Kussia let out a short sigh before he carried on. "At first, they did not want to work together; your father was a rather 'lone wolf' type of person and didn't want a 'girl' to weigh him down. The same went to your mother, who didn't like the idea of dealing with a 'chauvinist pig' as a partner. They were…quite competitive at times, fighting constantly."

Shadow noticed that, at these words, a small smile flickered on her face, lingering for a moment before being wiped away quickly by some invisible eraser, as if she had never smiled in the first place.

"But, after a while, they saw each other's strengths and weaknesses that they could use to their advantage, and they overcame their differences to meet each other halfway." He smirked at her. "It wasn't long until they stood before the alter, either."

"They were quite determined people," he caught her mumbling, as if she had been there to see them like that before. Not getting what this had to do with anything, Shadow straightened up when Kussia turned to look at him. The hedgehog didn't say a thing, knowing better than to question authority at the moment, but his complaint stood clear in his eyes, to which the Alpha Rex sighed. He seemed to steel himself up for the challenge, and then he started.

"Shadow, you've just been kicked out of your team recently, as has Ms. Shadowpaw here," he motioned to the feline, who rolled her eyes at being called 'Ms.', "and you both have talents and abilities that, if combined, would be affective in battles and such. Your team would be a great asset to have in the battlefield, and many – well, many more – would come to respect you."

He paused for a moment, as if to let the idea sink in for a bit, before he continued, "Also, you have always said that you wanted a challenge." He smirked at the specialist and lightly taunted, "Wouldn't this be a challenge worthy of your 'expertise'?"

Shadow smirked at the squirrel. He was always finding a way to try to aggravate the hedgehog, and while most of the time he succeeded, today wasn't his day. "Well, if you put it that way," he glanced at the feline, who was glaring at the both of them, "I guess I'll think about it."

"Oh, you can think about it," Kussia said confidently, "but, either way, you both don't have much of a choice. I will give you a week to make preparations for your first mission, as a team." He chuckled at the look on Shadowpaw's face and told her, "Don't scowl at me. I'm pretty sure you can handle this knucklehead, with your experience."

Then, Sly grinned as if he had just been given a new Zoid and said, "In the meantime, you two should spend your remaining time here together, you know, to get used to each other!" He seemed to ignore the death-glare that the feline gave him, as well as the drop-dead look Shadow gave. He then turned to Kussia and saluted him with two fingers. "Nice talking to you, Alpha Rex, but I believe I must be off. Save me some of that pizza, will ya?"

Kussia sighed and shook his head at him as the red fox walked out. "Will you ever give me the respect I deserve?"

Sly smirked mischievously at the doorway. "Why, Kussia, whatever are you talking about?" He then waved slightly at him, winked at the specialists, and turned to walk off as the door closed behind him. When the door closed fully, Kussia's shoulders sagged slightly as he sighed again, as if he had had stress in them because of the fox. Then, he was back to his nearly regal position, and he nodded at the two specialists and said, "You may go, as well."

They both stood up and bowed in respect to his authority, did about face, and were about to leave before Kussia stopped them with, "By the way, Shadowpaw, you never gave me your symbol."

The feline stopped her brisk pace ahead of Shadow (she seemed eager to leave) and looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment. "I've forgotten. I'll think about it for my last week here." She scowled at her words and was going to keep going before Kussia stopped her again, "What about your parents'? Why not take up their symbols?"

She was quiet for a moment, her back turned to both of them so they couldn't see her thoughts from her face. It didn't seem like she would answer, until, without turning to look at him, answered, "I'd rather not…pick those up, Kussia. Leave them be." Then, she continued her trek through and out the door, leaving a puzzled hedgehog and a thoughtful squirrel. Shadow looked at Kussia questioningly, but all he said to him was, "Keep an eye on her for me, will ya? I don't want her getting into any more trouble."

S-H-A-D-O-W-P-A-W

She slammed the door shut behind her, throwing her helmet down onto the bed before stepping into her bathroom. She grumbled as she shed her suit, "I swear, it's as if the world's out to get me or something…"

Turning the knobs to the tiled shower, she glared at the wall as she muttered, "I don't need someone to baby-sit me! I can take care of myself!" She tested the water with her hand, then turned the knob a bit more. "I mean, didn't I take out three Kingdom guys on my own? Isn't that evidence enough?" She sighed, not understanding people at all, before she shed her socks and gloves and such to step into the warm oblivion that was a hot shower. She stood in the spray, wanting her stress to wash away like the dirt on her skin, and smirked at how ironic it was that she would like a shower. "If anything, I should fight to get in one like I used to!" She gave a short laugh, but it sounded more forced than she wanted it to, so she just kept silent as she took the soap and began to scrub to get the sweat that her suit had successfully trapped off of her. She had to admit, it felt good to be clean when she just stepped out of the shower.

After a while of silence, she muttered, "Seems like I'm getting forced into this, huh?" She knew that she wouldn't get an answer, since there was no one there to answer, and so she just replied to herself, "After all, I only have a week before I go on my next mission, and I'm teamed up with some stuck-up specialist who's got some nerve." She sighed, turning off the water and squeezing her hair-like fur on her head until it didn't drip as much. As she wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the shower, she shivered at the cold and quickly looked for something to wear. Foraging through her closet, she pick out a white tank top, gray sweatpants, and a black jacket to cover her arms, and after she put them on sat on her bed to think.

"Well, what's the worse that could happen? I mean, well, he could be a total meathead and have a head full of hot air, and I'd have to basically baby-sit him." She chuckled at the idea, feeling a bit better, and she grinned as she stretched her arms out over her head. "I won't let him break me! No one can cage me! I'm a free spirit, baby!"

Then, she heard a knock at her door, and she sighed and stood up to answer it. "Well," she mumbled before she got to the door, "here's the beginning of the week at Hell."

S-H-A-D-O-W

Shadow was standing against the wall in the Zoid hangar, his foot up to steady his back against the cold steel as he examined the paperwork for his Zoid. The sounds of many other Zoids powering up or shutting down echoed painfully in his ears, but he ignored them as he tried to concentrate. Three certain little kids, however, prevented that, if unintentionally.

"Hey, Simmy, ya wanna play tag?" Cream asked the little red squirrel that was her other cousin playfully, smiling as bright as the sun outside. They were sitting cross-legged not too far away from the hedgehog, close enough so he could hear them even over the loud noises around them.

"Only if Tails plays, too!" The little guy was shorter than Cream, being younger than her, and so he tried unsuccessfully to drag her behind him as they went up to the young fox-boy. Try as he might, Shadow just couldn't ignore them, and so he glanced over the papers to watch them discreetly as the rabbit poked Tails in the side.

"What?" He sounded a bit irritated, as if he was pouting. Cream giggled at him and asked, "Do you want to come play with us?" She was an undying fountain of love and happiness; it was surprising she never tired.

"No, I've got important work to do."

"Aww, but Tails, you're always working! Can't you take a break?"

"No! I have to keep maintenance on these Zoids, or I'll get in trouble!"

"Not even a little, teensy-weensy bitty break?"

"No!"

"You're such a sourpuss!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Shadow sighed and returned to his paper, but a new voice made his ears swivel to listen intently. "What's with all the yelling?" He looked up once more to see his new partner strolling along over to the children. He looked over her casual clothes and noted that she wasn't going to pilot a Zoid, and so that led him to wonder why she was there. Was she going to check on her Zoid?

"Cream called me a sourpuss!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yes, you did!"

She grinned at the children and taunted, "Aren't you a little too old to be fighting so childishly, Tails?" She smirked as he crossed his arms and pouted, and she ruffled his bangs and told him, "Geez, you're all mature and important! You're almost more mature than me!" She then pushed him out of his chair, and when he began to protest she just said, "A little exercise would do ya some good."

Cream and Simmy squealed and ran off, leaving Tails blinking for a moment in confusion before he caught on and ran after them, yelling, "Hey, why am I 'it'? That's not fair!" Shadowpaw watched them for a moment, a wistful look on her face, before she turned to look at the panel Tails was looking at.

Shadow raised the papers so she wouldn't see him watching her, and he observed the feline as she casual sat down and put her feet up on the desk and her hands behind her head. She got herself comfortable in the chair and sighed, as if she had been hoping to commandeer his chair, making the hedgehog roll his eyes at her. 'She's just like a child,' he thought as he returned to his work, 'and I will treat her as one. She's not even worth my time.' He then went to examining the paperwork, making sure that everything was perfect and nothing was wrong.

He stood there for a while, flipping through the pages and scanning each line, before he finished scrutinizing the Alpha Rex's work (he wanted to point out any mistakes and rub it in his face, returning the favor of course) and set it down on the table beside him and stretching his sore muscles. He could stand staying in spot for long periods of time, but his body paid the price, and so he did not bother hurrying his muscles to recover as he relaxed into a chair beside him. He could have sat in there earlier, but that would be a sign of weakness. And Shadow was not a weakling.

As he let his gaze travel around the room, he noticed the feline was sitting with the chair turned towards him, and realized she had been watching him for a while now. She sat in the chair cross-legged now, her back up against the leather as her sharp amber eyes inspected him like a predator would its prey. A bit angry at that analogy, he glared at her and crossed his arms, determined not to look away first. She showed she accepted the challenge when she crossed hers over her chest as well, her eyes burning with an intense anger and hatred. A bit pleased with her reaction, his eyes bored into hers, trying to make her flinch and back off. But she did not budge, and so the game went on.

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Shadowpaw actually felt a bit excited to meet his challenge, and she could feel the energy she got in anticipation to show him what he was dealing with. 'He might think that he knows me,' she smirked audaciously, 'but he has no idea.' She just smirked when he raised an eyebrow at her, which only served to confuse him even more. Enjoying the little game he had set up, she continued to stare at him, daring him to try something.

As the 'game' progressed, she took the time to examine him and see what she could expect from him. His eyes were a deep dark crimson, reminding her of spilt blood on pure white walls, and two spikes of red crowned the edges. Each independent spike on his head stood out on its own, bent at some odd angle or another, like boomerangs, to show how set he was on his goal. No matter how hard you threw him, he always came back at full force. Moving down his face, she examined that tightlipped frown of his, revealing concentration and determination that made her tingle with excitement. This hedgehog was a man of purpose, who would not stop to mess around or deal with useless matters. He would not wait for her or try to comfort her; in fact, he might try to harm her if the time was right.

He was a challenge, and she was willing battle him and show him who was boss.