CHAPTER 6

Hey everyone! This chapter took me five tries to get right. Please review and let me know what you think. I'm sure you guys can find something that I can clean up or maybe explain a little better. Also, later in the chapter, there is reference to music. The metal song is 'The Fire and the Fury' by Firewind, so you can listen to it during that part if you like. There is also a quick reference to Hayley Westenra, who is a beautiful singer. And for all you guys out there who have been waiting for romance, it has finally arrived! Sort of haha. Anyways please enjoy!

Victor stepped up onto the sidewalk and glanced around. It was dark, so he assumed it was night time, although he guessed that since he was in another dimension, this could be day time. He mentally decided that he would treat this place as if it were Earth, to save himself some sanity. He didn't see any shops open and no one was out walking around, and tried to think of how to best go about finding Zulu. Many questions were running through his head however and it was making it difficult to think of a plan. Was the E.M.P. caused by him showing up here detected? Was it smart to wait here and see if anyone showed up? Would whoever showed up be friendly or hostile? Should he evade and play it safe? So many questions and not enough answers.

The sound of loud engines approaching forced him to make a choice. He ducked into an alleyway and crouched behind a dumpster. He saw three black trucks drive by and heard them screech to a stop. He listened as the truck doors burst open and many boots hit pavement, quickly spreading out. He kept still and waited, wondering if they were here for him.

"Alright! Search the area! Seems another person has traveled through a portal, so be on your guard, they will most likely be hostile and dangerous!" Victor overheard an officer order.

"Yes sir!" Many men answered as one. Victor listened intently as they began their search. They were noisy and weren't trying to sneak around, which gave him the advantage. He had noted the ranking officer's mention of "another" person, so they were aware of Zulu, and they didn't seem friendly. His heightened hearing picked up a conversation the officer was having with someone which sparked his interest.

"Sir, I thought agents Shadow and Rogue were assigned to dealing with the E.M.P. activities. Why are we out here looking?"

"Agents Shadow and Rogue have, pardon the play of words, gone rogue. They have been covering for the man who previously arrived here and lied about their findings. Now, continue searching." Victor wondered who these agents were but was interrupted from thought by two men entering his alley. Victor decided they were not friendlies and waited for the right moment. As the barrel of a gun appeared from around the dumpster Victor stood and grabbed the gun with his left hand, in the same moment performing a quick chop with his right hand and smashed in the man's Adam's apple. The man let go of his gun as he crumpled to the ground and Victor crouched back behind the dumpster with his newly acquired gun.

"We have a man down!" The other man in the alley yelled to the others. "We got a hostile over here!"

Victor took aim and fired, putting a bullet through a man's head. He adjusted his aim immediately and dropped three more instantly. Bullets pinged off of the dumpster but he didn't duck down. He continued firing, conserving ammo by shooting one bullet at a time, each finding its mark. He had already eliminated 15 men when he saw three new arrivals enter the fray. The first two looked like hedgehogs, one blue and one black with red highlights. The third he recognized as Zulu. The three quickly tied up the men shooting at him in melee combat, allowing Victor to advance out of the alley and join in.

"Zulu sir!" He called. Zulu turned to him and nodded.

"Victor! Engage via non-lethal attacks only!" Zulu barked, catching Shadow and Sonic off guard.

"Yes sir!" Victor replied, changing his fighting style accordingly. "Careful, I believe the drivers are still in the trucks! There's also an officer around here somewhere!" Victor called out.

"Sonic!" Zulu demanded. "Take out those truck drivers! Shadow, disengage and find out where the ranking officer has slunk off too!" Zulu's tone was full of authority and offered no disagreement or compromise, so Sonic and Shadow did as they were ordered. Zulu and Victor quickly finished off the remaining men and waited behind one of the trucks. Shadow showed up first.

"No sign of the officer, guess he ran away." Shadow reported. "What got into you anyway? This guy appears and all the sudden you start ordering ME around?" He growled. Victor stepped forward but Zulu grabbed him.

"Easy Victor." Zulu chuckled. "Sorry about that Shadow, it's just when I was in action with my team and dosed up with drugs that was how I lead. Being in a fight with Victor again must have triggered one of those lasting side effects of the drugs we were given."

'Oh yeah, we are supposed to try and keep him out of stressful situations.' Shadow remembered. He noticed Zulu had a sad look on his face and was staring down at his hands. "I understand Zulu, don't worry." He turned to Victor. "I'm Shadow by the way." Victor replied with a grunt and a nod.

"He doesn't talk much." Zulu stated, looking slightly better. Shadow felt a shiver run up his spine as Victor stared at him with cross hair like eyes. At this moment, Sonic sped up to the group.

"Hey guys, I was chasing one of the trucks, but it was too well armored for me to do anything, sorry." He reported, glancing nervously at Zulu.

"No worries, that's probably how the officer slipped away from the fight earlier." Zulu replied, patting Sonic on the shoulder. "Sorry about how I was earlier, I can explain on the way back." Sonic smiled and gave him a nod.

"Sure thing! Also, who's this guy?" He motioned to Victor, who glared down at him. Surprisingly, Sonic seemed mostly unfazed by Victor's eyes. "Man, you look like one mean dude, I bet you're a softy on the inside though!" He commented. Victor growled, causing Sonic to jump back. Zulu laughed.

"This is Victor… in my opinion… the most dangerous member… of my whole team." Zulu managed to gasp out between laughing fits.

"Woah seriously!?" Sonic exclaimed. "Sorry bud!" Victor glared down at the hedgehog speaking to him, wanting desperately to rip off the creature's head.

"Yeah." Zulu said, finally calming down. "It's best not to get on his bad side, but as long as I'm around you'll be fine."

Victor observed Zulu closely as they returned back to wherever they were going to stay. He noticed Zulu was different around these animals, but still genuine. This side of Zulu he had never seen before. 'You were an assassin at the end of the war, and dragged from jail to go through a brutal program that made you a weapon. What type of man are you Zulu?' Victor thought to himself. Soon, they arrived back at what looked like a big laboratory and an airplane hangar. More animals were waiting for them and greeted them all warmly. Victor stood back and watched. The blue one, Sonic, was tackled by a pink hedgehog. Zulu and Shadow were greeted by a sultry looking bat and a tall rabbit. The others, a two tailed fox, a cat, an echidna, and a silver hedgehog, crowded around them.

"Hey Victor, get your ass-OW!" Zulu beckoned to him but was interrupted by the rabbit jumping up and smacking him on the head. "Sorry Vanilla…" Victor heard Zulu mutter and he walked over to him. He felt all their eyes drawn to him as he stepped up beside Zulu.

"So, we have been joined by my teammate Victor everyone." Zulu gestured up to Victor. "He doesn't speak much, preferring action over words. I hope you will all welcome him as you did me. Don't take anything he says or does personally, just know that he had earn my respect and trust just like everyone else on my team." Zulu gave Victor a nod, and was surprised when Victor responded.

"Thank you sir."

The next morning Zulu brought Victor to the hangar for the morning training. Victor watched intently as Zulu sparred with Sonic and Shadow, impressed with how much Zulu had improved, but not showing it. Suddenly he remembered something he had brought with him. He reached into his pocket and grabbed Zulu's iPod. When he had snuck into the lab after the ambush to tap into Jarving's phone records, he had found it in their barracks. He wasn't a sentimental man, but Zulu had used it quite effectively in their training, using the music to get them into a slow or fast paced tempo, so he had grabbed it in case he had a spare moment to train himself.

He pulled it out when there was a pause in the action and tossed it to Zulu.

"What the…holy shit! You found this?!" Zulu exclaimed. "Oh Hell yeah! Tails!" He yelled.

"What is it?" The fox hurried in.

"I need a speaker!" Zulu said giddily.

"Uh, sure. Be right back." He gave Sonic and Shadow a quizzical look but they just shrugged. He left for a moment and returned with a speaker. "Will this do?"

"Let's see." Zulu examined it, finding a cord and slotting it into the iPod. "Damn right it will. Alright, time to really train, I hope everyone here likes metal."

"Metal?" Sonic asked. "What's that?"

"Only the best type of music out there!" Zulu replied, obviously a little too excited about this.

"What's it sound like?" Shadow asked a bit skeptically, unsure of Zulu's enthusiasm. The look Zulu gave him made him gulp as he replied with a violent, dark look clouding his features.

"Metal is the sound of violence and aggression…incarnate." Zulu growled. "Now, get ready Victor." Zulu selected a song and hit play, the fast guitar kicking up right off the bat as Zulu and Victor walked towards each other. They paused six feet apart, staring each other down as a layer of drums picked up the tempo. Then, as the guitar built up with a few chords, they lunged at each other, colliding as the guitar and drums joined and began a fast paced riff. Victor and Zulu became blurs, striking once per beat, and accelerating.

"Amazing." Sonic said in awe.

"I'm counting at least four strikes per beat." Shadow estimated.

"Woah!" Silver gawked, walking into the hangar. "What is this music, and how are they moving so fast?"

"I'm not sure, we will have to ask when they finish." Shadow replied, unable to take his eyes off Victor and Zulu. After a few minutes the song changed completely into a serene peaceful sound, almost meditative. Victor and Zulu slowed down and finally stopped, dripping with sweat and breathing hard. Zulu and Victor were covered in bruises, surprisingly, Victor was sporting more.

"Geez you guys, that was insane!" Sonic pumped a fist in the air.

"I can see what you mean about metal, the sound is quite provoking." Shadow commented.

"Ah that felt great!" Zulu stretched. Victor was impressed with Zulu's speed. He had become much faster in the time they had been apart. Victor knew he would have to up his game.

"Hush…..Lay down your troubled mind…" Zulu walked over and shut off the iPod. "Sorry Hayley, I'll meditate to you later."

"Hayley? Who's Hayley?" Silver asked, giving Zulu a smirk, hoping to find something he can tease him about.

"Geez you animals know nothing about good music do you?" Zulu said, turning up his nose and pretending to be snooty. "Hayley Westenra was to be my future wife." Victor gave Zulu a look like he had sprouted four heads.

"So you like metal and Hayley?" Sonic asked, very confused about Zulu's musical preferences.

"I liked the metal." Shadow muttered.

"Anyways, where's Blaze, Silver?" Zulu asked, trying to hard not to smirk as the hedgehogs cheeks got red.

"Where did that come from?" Silver shot back.

"You think I missed what you were trying to do asking about Hayley?" He laughed. "Speaking of, I saw that greeting Amy gave you last night Sonic." Zulu chuckled.

"Shut up! She's crazy about me, but it only goes one way." Sonic defended.

"Right." Zulu gave him a look before turning on Shadow. "And don't think you get to be left out of the fun, I see you hanging out with Rogue but it seems so professional, so maybe you already have your eyes on a girl hmmm?"

"Oh please, why would I waste my time with petty romance?" Shadow growled. Victor watched quietly and sighed to himself. Zulu was a natural at bonding with anyone he was around. Victor, although not an open and friendly person in the slightest, appreciated and respected Zulu's ability at befriending anyone. He was a good man at heart, and Victor wondered if he himself could find joy in something other than killing.

The afternoon progressed with Knuckles arriving and getting his lesson of the day from Zulu, followed by Sonic, Shadow, and Silver getting a chance to fight Victor. The animals noticed Zulu's behavior had changed since Victor had appeared, but it wasn't in a bad way. The man seemed happier and a bit more childish, or maybe he just seemed that way when compared to his taller, more unapproachable counterpart.

"Well guys, looks like it's that time." Zulu said, checking a clock on the hangar wall.

"I can't make it today." Silver replied. "You got Victor here though, and he hasn't met Cream yet."

"Dang, alright, let's roll grump bump." Zulu chuckled, glancing over at Victor. Victor rolled his eyes at the name and stood up, following Zulu out of the hangar.

"Who is this Cream?" Victor asked, wondering if it was another animal.

"Well look who learned how to speak! Cream is Vanilla's daughter. I've been walking her home from school for the past few days and helping her with her homework." Zulu smiled. "If you hurt her, I will rip your throat out." The sudden change of tone gave Victor a jolt. The malice and violent intent within Zulu's voice was clear. Victor was suddenly very curious of who Zulu had grown so protective of. He gave Zulu a quick nod.

"Course I can't really blame you if you scare her, since you're kind of stuck looking that way." Zulu continued, getting serious. "Anyways, I brought you along in case more G.U.N. agents show up. I usually have Silver along, so if we get caught up in something I will engage and you will get her to safety, understood?"

"Yes sir." Victor growled, irritated about getting babysitting duty. Suddenly a strong force impacted his jaw and dropped him to his knees. Victor grunted in surprise, looking up to see Zulu standing before him with fire in his eyes.

"Don't give me that bullshit sass." Zulu snarled. "I've played nice so far, but now is a good time to straighten things up. Maybe it was ok before when we were a team and it didn't really matter how we acted. I could tolerate the disrespect and flippant attitude then, because I knew when shit hit the fucking fan all we had to do was kill our way out." Zulu bent down right in Victor's face. "Well guess what? Your lone wolf, fuck everybody else attitude isn't going to fly with me anymore. It's not just about surviving a mission or killing all of our problems anymore, because we are not Jarving's puppets anymore, and there are more people's lives at stake than just ours now!" Zulu yelled in his face, passion and bottled up fury pouring out. "I don't give two shits about your background, or what you think you are. I don't know why you act like this quiet tough guy who will hurt anyone indiscriminately but you need to get over it, or at least open up about it, and do it quick. You're better than a mindless weapon, so start acting like it!" Zulu stood up straight and turned away from Victor. "Get on your God damn feet!" He barked. Victor jumped to his feet instantly.

"Yes sir!" Victor's mind was reeling. He had never seen Zulu blow up, but he never wanted to again. He stood completely still, not daring to move or sway in the slightest. He was still processing what Zulu had said when Zulu spoke again.

"Let's go, we are close, and think hard about what I said, don't think I haven't noticed that you've been more talkative and respectful recently, I know there's a nicer guy in there somewhere." And with that he was walking. Victor walked behind him in a daze. Zulu perked up as they approached the school, excited to see Cream. They got there right as the bell rang and kids exploded out of the school. Victor quickly spotted a cream colored bunny bound up and jump into Zulu's arms.

"Hey you!" Zulu smiled. He gently gave her a squeeze and lifted her up, letting her climb onto his shoulder.

"Hehe!" Cream giggled, glancing over at Victor. "Who's he?" She asked, voice trembling a bit.

"He is another member from my team. His name is Victor." Zulu answered gently. "He is very loyal and trustworthy."

Cream hid behind Zulu's head. "He's scary…"

"Don't worry, he scares me too. Just give him a chance like you gave me ok?" Zulu chuckled.

"Ok…" Cream replied hesitantly.

"Good, now, how was school?" Zulu began walking her home with Victor close behind. They chatted about her teachers and highlights of her day until they got to her house. Zulu unlocked the door with the key Vanilla had given him and they all went inside. Victor immediately wandered off.

"Hey, where did Victor go?" Cream asked.

"He is just checking the house. It's a habit we have." Zulu replied, giving her a reassuring smile. "I however, am able to control myself." He added in a monotone voice that made Cream laugh. They walked to the dining room table and laid out the work she had been assigned to do that night. Victor entered the room as they started on her English homework.

"All clear sir." Victor reported. Zulu gave him a quick nod before giving Cream a wink.

"He was attacked by a kitchen appliance once, so he says. Now he scours every house he enters in case there is an evil piece of furniture or hardware dwelling within." Cream burst out laughing, missing the hard glare Victor gave Zulu. Victor gabbed a chair and dragged it to a corner of the room where he had a good vantage point to see anyone approaching from outside. Zulu helped Cream with cleaning up her handwriting and grammar. They had finished that and were halfway through her Math when Vanilla got home.

"Hello you guys. Oh! Victor, didn't know you came today." Vanilla warmly greeted them.

"Momma!" Cream bolted over to Vanilla giving her a hug.

"Goodness, hello my dear!" Vanilla kissed her on the head. "How goes the homework?"

"Great! Zulu helped me finally understand long division!"

"Did he now?" She gave Zulu a smile. "Thank you so much for helping her."

"Not a problem Vanilla, how was work?" Zulu asked.

"Oh, you know, busy and stressful. So darling, what would you like for dinner?" She asked Cream.

"Macaroni!" Cream squealed.

"Well goodness me, alright." Vanilla chuckled. "You boys want to stay for dinner?"

"A chance to try Vanilla's cooking? How could we say no?" Zulu answered.

"Yay!" Cream exclaimed, hopping up and down.

"Perfect, I'll get started then." Vanilla headed for the kitchen and Cream hopped back to the table to finish her Math. Victor was lost in thought throughout the whole exchange about what Zulu had said earlier. Zulu was right of course, and everything he had said struck home with Victor. Seeing how Zulu was around Vanilla and her daughter Cream was strange for him, but it made sense. Zulu was a caring, protective, sociable person. Victor thought very, very hard, trying to replace Zulu with himself in this situation. A thought of how far he could punt the little rabbit crept into his head but he forced it out, a new feeling of disgust filling the void it left.

"Dinner is served." Vanilla said, bringing out some plates.

"Let me help with that." Zulu offered, getting up and disappearing into the kitchen, returning with a huge pot full of cheesy pasta.

"Oh, thank you Zulu." Vanilla smiled, a slight blush touching her cheeks as he leaned over her to set it on the table.

"No problem miss. Yo, grumplestiltskin, come sit." Zulu beckoned Victor, who rolled his eyes and sat beside Vanilla at the table, with Cream and Zulu sitting across from them. Cream was giggling from Zulu's namecalling as Vanilla spoke up.

"Well this is just lovely." She smiled. "Thank you Zulu for again taking time to walk Cream home and help her. And Victor, I hope you have enjoyed your time here so far. Now, let's dig in shall we?" Zulu served Cream a big spoonful of pasta since she was unable to reach. Victor observed them quietly as Cream shared more details about her school day and Vanilla talked about her work day in more depth. They were like a happy family, he thought. He suddenly wondered something and watched Vanilla out of the corner of his eye. She was staring at Zulu as he shared a story from his childhood. The way she was looking at him, a warm smile, slight coloring of her cheeks, could she?

It was late by the time they had finished the dishes after dinner. Cream had cleared off the table while Zulu had assisted Vanilla with the cleaning. Victor had now returned to his corner of the dining room and Vanilla was organizing some of her patient files from work, while Zulu helped Cream finish off her homework. Cream put her pencil down and leaned onto Zulu's arm.

"Done? Alright let me have a look." Zulu scooped up her papers and looked them over. "Well done Cream." He glanced down at her and smiled, noticing she was already half asleep. He set down her papers and gently picked her up. Cream clutched onto his shirt and nuzzled her face onto his shoulder. Vanilla quietly entered the room and smiled at the sight. Zulu carefully carried Cream upstairs to her room followed by Vanilla. Zulu stepped into her room and looked around, seeing many stuffed animals littered about the room. Vanilla watched from the doorway as Zulu delicately placed Cream onto her bed and tucked her in.

"Goodnight Cream." He whispered to her. As he stood up she reached up her arms to him and he leaned down again. Cream wrapped her arms around his neck in a gentle hug.

"I love you Zulu." She murmured softly and let go of him. Zulu gently kissed her on the head.

"I love you too Cream, thank you." He stood up and walked over to Vanilla, who was smiling and gazing at her daughter. They quietly walked downstairs and found Victor waiting by the door.

"Alright, Victor, let's head out, thanks for dinner Vanilla." Zulu smiled as he opened the door.

"Oh, uh…Zulu? One moment please?" Vanilla asked.

"Sure thing." Zulu motioned Victor to continue outside and shut the door, guessing what it might be about and not wanting Victor to get offended. "If it's about Victor, I'm sorry I-"

"No, no it's not about him…" Vanilla replied. "It's about Cream…"

"Cream? Is something wrong?" Zulu replied. Vanilla could clearly see his concern and giggled.

"No, what she said to you up there in her room, and how you responded, means the world to me as a mother. The way you treat her and act around her, you don't know how much I appreciate it."

"Oh." Zulu said, scratching the back of his head. "It's the least I can do. I should be thanking you both really. You two have been so welcoming to me ever since I got here, and have helped me feel better about myself, showing me I'm not just the mindless weapon I thought I was."

"Such a gentleman." Vanilla sighed softly to herself. "Could you…um…do one more thing for me?"

"Consider it done." Zulu replied with a smile.

"Could…um…could you kn-kneel down?" She asked timidly.

"Kneel down? Sure." Zulu dropped down onto his knees. "How's th-" Vanilla didn't let him finish as she stepped forward and hugged him tightly, resting her head on his shoulder. Zulu blushed bright red and didn't move, unsure of what to do. Vanilla then stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek before stepping back from him.

"I…uh…well that's never happened to me before." Zulu managed to say. "That was…well…" He blushed and smiled at her. "Just give me a warning next time." He stood up and opened the door. "Sweet dreams Vanilla, see you soon." She gave him a smile and shut the door behind him, resting her head against it.

"Cream may not be the only one." She sighed.

Zulu walked out to the street where Victor was waiting. He glanced around and looked up at Victor.

"So, have you thought at all about what I said?" He asked.

"Yes si- I mean Zulu." Victor muttered.

"Ah, gonna call me by name now huh? Good, I prefer that to sir. Sir makes me sound like I'm better than you." Zulu chuckled.

"Well you are the leader."

"Leader schmeader." Zulu laughed as he started walking. "We are a team. Teams are created because the whole is greater than each of the parts individually. We all had our strengths and weaknesses."

"Your weakness being that you come up with the shittiest jokes ever?"

"Are you actually trying to throw jabs at me?!" Zulu exclaimed in mock shock. "Victor! Who knew you had a funny bone!"

"Yes, be amazed." Victor replied in monotone. "Course I probably won't have it for much longer."

"Oh is that so? And why, pray tell, is that?"

"Because I would feel amused stabbing you with it and saying that I killed you with the funniest part of my body." Victor replied in a bored, uninterested tone. What he didn't expect was Zulu to collapse to the ground laughing hysterically. After a minute or two Zulu calmed down enough to stand.

"Woo! Great one!" He cried, throwing his arm around Victor's shoulders. "You know." Zulu said, turning serious. "When I first got here, I felt like a horrible person. I had met all these kind animals and they were all so friendly and nice. Yet there I was, a weapon, a killer, intruding on their world." Victor noticed Zulu's voice grow solemn. "Cream and Vanilla have been like angels, giving me a different view of myself. When I blew up on you earlier, I don't want you to feel like I did. I'm sure you feel that way, and have felt that way for a long time. This is a whole new page for us. We are out of the program, out of the war zone. I know there's more to you than killing and violence."

"You're right Zulu. I just need some time."

"Don't sweat it. I want you to do it for you, not for me or anyone else here. So take your time, figure out what's going on with you at your own pace. You're a fellow brother in arms, don't hold back, talk to me if you need to."

"You know, for being such an annoying asshole at times, you really can be a mature leader when you want to be." Victor admitted.

"Glad we could close the rift between us a bit, because we are gonna need to be on the same page for what we are up against." Zulu said seriously.

"Agreed, so what's the plan?"

"Starting tomorrow, we take the offensive." Zulu growled.