Disclaimer: James Harrison is mine. None of the others are.

Chapter 10

Tails had been up all night trying to find anything suspicious on Umbrella. Any search he made came with the same results. Umbrella was a corporation looking into medicines and diseases. Independent, not backed by any particular government, and in every human country on Mobius. Not a thing suspicious about the corporation anywhere. He dreaded the moment Rouge called. Of course, when you speak of the devil... Tails answered his phone with a sigh. Soon, he heard Rouge's voice.

"Find anything, darling?" Tails' face flushed at her words. Sometimes, he agreed that the bat was too flirty.

"Not a thing," he sighed. "We should ask someone who has something to do with the company. They'd be able to tell us whether or not Umbrella's trying what the President thinks he's trying."

"He's pretty certain, Tails. He just can't do anything about it until we find him some proof."

Tails wanted to hit his head on something and yell in frustration at his point. He didn't doubt the President, not at all. But he couldn't find anything, and his own plan wouldn't help at all. Someone involved with experiments of the kind Umbrella was doing wouldn't just tell you.

"How'd he find out in the first place?"

"An old Umbrella employee. The man was insane. He said Umbrella was experimenting with dangerous things. Monsters and Diseases were two of the things he insisted were being created in some base they have somewhere. The President believed him, but nobody else did. They said the man was too crazy to be taken seriously."

Tails whimpered. That didn't help at all. If the President wanted him to find some proof, he'd have to have more to go off than that. Crazy scientists weren't exactly the best sources of information. A thought hit him and Tails sat straighter rather than slumping over his desk.

"You know where Eggman is? Maybe he could help us."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, sweetie." Worry dripped from Rouge's words. "Eggman isn't terribly trustworthy. You know that."

"It's a better lead than anything. The Chaotix wouldn't be any help, and their detectives."

"Of a sort," Rouge added. Tails laughed.

"Don't tell the President anything, okay? I'll tell you when I find something."

The phone was returned to its seat on his desk and Tails turned to hop off his chair and leave. Instead, he fell back into his desk. Black Doom floated in the center of his room. All three red eyes were trained on him. Tails didn't have to be an aura reader to know he was annoyed.

"Um... Hi?" Tails could feel himself growing more nervous by the second. A visit from Shadow's alien warlord father couldn't be a good thing.

"Where is Shadow?" he asked. "I came to check up on her, but she doesn't appear to be here."

Tails swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. There was no doubt in his mind that Black Doom would kill him if he told him what had happened.

"She, uh, Shadow..." Tails whimpered as Black Doom continued staring. "Sonic!"

Relief flooded his face as he noticed Sonic standing behind the alien. The hedgehog seemed confused, but anyone would have been.

"What's he doing here?" Sonic asked.

"I came to check up on Shadow," Black Doom responded. He turned to regard Sonic. "You should be at her side."

"I just was," Sonic explained. "She's somewhere else for the time being. With a friend. Nothing's going to happen to her." Sonic walked passed him to Tails. "You know where Umbrella's head office is? I need to pay them a visit."

"No." Tails' shoulders slumped. He hated being unable to help Sonic. "That's one of the things I can't find. I was going to ask Eggman if he knew anything about the corporation."

"Why is this Umbrella so important?"

"They took Shadow for experimentation," Sonic said. If he'd been paying closer attention, he would've known not to answer. Before he could realize what had been said, a large Black hand was wrapped around his body.

"I thought you said she was safe," Black Doom growled. Sonic's eyes widened. He'd never been threatened by an immortal alien king before. It wasn't something he enjoyed.

"She is!" Sonic shouted. "The princess of Soleanna won't let them hurt her. They chose the wrong kingdom to bring her to."

"A human? You left my daughter in the hands of a human?" The grip around Sonic tightened. The hedgehog squeezed one eye shut. Now he knew just where Shadow's temper came from.

"A friendly human. Didn't you hear me? She's helping Shadow. Without her, Shadow would probably have some needles stuck in her or something."

Black Doom dropped Sonic to the floor. A heavy sigh was heard as he looked upon Sonic. At least he'd gone after her. It wouldn't be too hard to forgive him now. Only so long as nothing happened to her. He left the Mobians in the room, confused by the alien's actions.

"I had no idea he actually cared about Shadow," Tails said.

Sonic shrugged. He had nothing to say on the matter. Black Doom was a mystery. The way his mind worked was one Sonic didn't want to think about. A hedgehog came from the room Black Doom had gone into then. Horns and completely red eyes stood out as oddities. He looked at the two, head held in a high, regal manner. When he spoke, sharp teeth were barely visible past his lips.

"What's the plan?"

"What?" Sonic couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was already in trouble for losing himself and killing Commander Towers. He didn't need to work with human enemy number one.

"I'm helping. Unlike what you all seem to think, I do care about her wellbeing. She is princess of the Black Arms."

Tails thought for certain he'd fallen asleep and was having some strange dream influenced by recent events. It wasn't normal for an alien overlord to offer his assistance without wanting something in return. The entire situation in the first place wasn't normal, but the fox considered this new turn beyond strange. Not to mention his appearance.

"Won't people now there's something different about you?" Sonic asked. "I mean, you look like some kind of demon."

Black Doom held his small black nose high in the air and looked own at Sonic.

"As long as we dispose of these horrible humans threatening my child, I couldn't care less how I demonic I look."

Tails had had too long of a night. He stood and went to the doorway.

"I'm going to take a nap. Call if you need me to look something up. Rouge can tell you why I was up."

Sonic watched his little brother leave the room. The fox was leaving him alone with Black Doom the Demon. It wasn't fair that he was the only one who had to deal with him.

"Are you going to call the woman or not?"

Sonic gave him a glare and lifted the phone. Dialing the number, he hoped she wasn't in the middle of something.

"That was fast, sweetheart," she said.

"It's Sonic, actually," he said. "I need you to tell me what Tails was doing all night."

"He was trying to find anything that would give the President reason to shut down Umbrella. He didn't find anything. Umbrella hides its secrets pretty well."

"Why couldn't you just go in and find out?"

"We don't even know where their main base is, Blue," Rouge laughed. "That makes things difficult. The corporation is in every capital of every human civilization on Mobius. About the only thing we can do is ask people who've been helping them. And they're not likely to talk."

Sonic was beginning to hate this situation.

"Would they talk if an alien warlord were threatening to kill them?"

Rouge was silent a long few moments before responding in a worried tone.

"Why would you ask that? We don't have an alien warlord."

"Black Doom paid us a visit. He wants to help." Sonic ignored the sounds of protest from the other end of the line. "Since Shadow is his daughter, I can't very well turn him down."

Rouge knew he was right. But the last time anyone had seen the alien, he'd been attempting to make a meal of the people living on Mobius. It was hard to trust someone like that regardless of who they were related to.

"I'll keep trying to use G.U.N.'s resources to help out. The President says Umbrella's up to something that could kill just about everyone on the planet. We need to do something about them before they put whatever they're planning into motion."

"I'm gonna do something about them all right," Sonic said. His tone was dark, darker than Rouge had ever heard it. "You know my number."

Sonic hung up the phone. Noticing Black Doom's smirk, he frowned.

"What?"

Black Doom shook his head.

"You're harboring darker thoughts than usual," he said. "I'll never understand what it is about love that makes someone act so different from their normal."

"If it weren't for my love, Shadow would probably be lying somewhere with some sicko jabbing things into him."

"If it weren't for your love, Shadow would not be in this mess in the first place."

"He's immortal. Someone was bound to go after him eventually. Even without my falling in love with him." Sonic could already tell that this was going to be along mission. "If you want to blame anyone, you'd have to blame yourself anyway."

Black Doom glared at Sonic, who refused to meet his gaze. The overlord may have been less imposing now, but three red eyes glaring at you from the face of a horned demon was still something to be worried about. Sonic started out the front door as Black Doom followed him with his gaze. The demonic hedgehog followed behind with a huff.

The annoying hedgehog was right, he had to admit. If it weren't for his race's needs and rituals, Shadow would never have gotten pregnant. It wasn't as though he'd been there to explain the dangers of love and why it should be avoided at all costs to Shadow when he was younger either. Black Doom hated reflecting on the bad decisions he'd made. He was beginning to think this most recent one would be added to the list.

"Shadow has chosen you for his mate," Black Doom began.

"Any way you can find where Eggman is for me? That'd be a real help."

Sonic didn't want to go wherever he'd been trying to go with that statement. They were helping each other due to a common affection for someone. That was it. No father-to-boyfriend chats were necessary. Sonic sped up in an attempt to show more urgency. Truth be told, he could only be so urgent when he had no idea where the fat scientist was.

"Do not run from this,' Black Doom growled at him. Nevertheless, he sent Doom's Eye to look. "As Shadow's chosen mate, you need to understand that-"

"I know, I know. He's immortal; I'm going to leave him alone at some point in time. He's an alien, so weird things can happen around him. I already know all that."

"That is not what I am trying to say. I want you to understand that as his mate, you are a part of my family."

That stopped Sonic in his tracks. Being a member of Black Doom's family wasn't something he looked forward to. When he turned to look at Black Doom, the hedgehog was completely serious. A silence engulfed the surrounding area as neither said another word. After what felt like a day to Sonic, Black Doom spoke again.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for some time now. I just could never bring myself to-"

"Part of the family. I know." Sonic shot him a smile and a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I'll get used to it."

"Sonic,"

"What do you want now?" Eggman was sitting in one of his pods again, hovering a few feet from the ground.

"Eggman." Sonic turned to look at his nemesis. "How much do you know about Umbrella?"

"Didn't I tell you that already?"

"There isn't anything more? Just that they had an interest in Gerald's research?"

Eggman stroked his moustache in thought. He had learned quite a bit since the last time he'd run into Sonic. There was one small problem with handing the information over to Sonic.

"I have no reason to tell you," Eggman said. "There's nothing for me to gain."

Black Doom felt a snarl coming. Sonic's arm in front of him surprisingly held him back.

"You really want them taking all your glory?"

Sonic hoped it would work. There was only so much he could do. Eggman thought it over once more, sighing before speaking again.

"What do I get in return for this?" A smile broke across his face. "You know I won't help you for nothing."

This is what Sonic had been dreading. If he didn't come up with something the scientist would want, they had wasted their time.

"You may have their headquarters," Black Doom said. "To use as you see fit. Sonic shall leave you alone there, and you can do whatever you wish."

Sonic looked at Black Doom. Hitting him on the arm, he got ignored. Black Doom was keeping his eyes on Eggman awaiting the human's response.

"Sounds fair," Eggman muttered. "Sonic won't bother me there... And I'll be rid of the only rival I've got."

Sonic raised a ridge at Eggman's muttering. A red shoe began tapping on the ground as Eggman went over all the pros and cons of the team-up. Black Doom simply stood, having all the patience in the world despite the situation.

"Very well. But I want to be a part of this." Sonic and Black Doom nodded their agreement. "When do we begin?"