Chapter 10: Dog Pile

Zero had arrived at the outskirts of G.U.N. headquarters with his blade in hand. "Looks like I made it before that black coat up there. Now just to find Shadow and the others before…" He is interrupted by a shocking blow to the back.

Deuce stood behind him with his shock gloves on. "About time you showed up here, old friend."

Quatro stood on top of Zero digging his heel in his back. "Don't bother trying to get up."

Zero reaches for his blade only for someone to grab it.

Juan points the blade at his former leader. "Such a shame it had to come to this, Zero."

"It's not too late to stop this, Juan. You don't have to follow that man's orders."

"We know that. This was our decision from the beginning."

"What?"

Juan kneels down looking Zero in the eyes. "We have our goals just like you did when you sided with that Egghead two years ago. If following someone else's orders is what brings us closer to our goal, so be it."

Zero struggles to get up. "I can't let you do this."

Quatro forces him down harder. "How much longer?"

Deuce looks up at the sky. "She's due to arrive in mere minutes. As long as we have him here, no one else will know."

"I agree. It's a nice way to keep them in the dark."

Juan looks up. "That voice!"

Quatro readies his protective energy barrier. "Where is he?"

Deuce charges his gloves. "Who cares. He's going for what he did those years ago." He was then struck down by a Chaos Spear.

Zero looks around. "Where is he?"

Quatro strikes the jackal in the head. "Shut up, traitor!"

Shadow then leaps down striking the energy barrier with his Chaos Spear shorting it out.

"Ah! No!" He tries to swipe at the hedgehog only to be struck down with a boot to the back of the head.

"Hmph. That one always seems to put them in their place."

Juan growls as he tosses several explosives at the ebony hedgehog.

Zero tackles Shadow saving him from the explosives. "Thanks for coming to help."

Shadow stands up helping the jackal to his feet. "We have a common cause, Zero. Even if we may not be eye to eye, there's a bigger threat."

Juan snarls. "I will no let you ruin what we have in store!" He grabs the blade and charges at the two.

Shadow grabs Zero and warps away from the attack.

"No! He still has the emerald!" He then realizes something. "Wait,…that's exactly what the boss wants."

Zero then lands on top of Juan retrieving his blade holding it to his head. "Stand down, Juan. You've lost."

Juan laid there as he starts chuckling. "Actually,…our job here is done."

Shadow looks up seeing the flying object. "Looks like they were just stalling us."

"Have fun with number six." He is then warped away along with Deuce and Quatro.

Zero readies his blade as he sees number six crash into the heart of the headquarters. "I must warn you, Shadow. This one isn't going to be easy. I've seen what she's capable of."

Shadow looks at him. "She?"

"It's a robot of your friend, Blaze."

"An evil bot and a fake kitty. This is going to be doubly fun."

"You have a soft spot for cats?"

"We'll discuss this later. Let's go."

Zero nods as he and Shadow charge into the building in search of their enemy.