Note: Shorter one this time, yet it leads into the temporary involvement (albeit, involuntarily) with GUN. Officially at least. And yes, Octavia is going to be quite pathetic here, yet it is for her evolution later. Even if it is the point of her character, I do want to balance between good and bad of her, even if she's displaying her less than desirable qualities here. But later, what she says here does hold significance later and leads to her and Shadow getting on better terms with each other.

Chapter 12: Arrangement

© of Sega/Sonic Team

It appeared that he may have spoken too soon.

The cool air felt good on his fur after the blazing heat he had experienced, both internal and external, the howls and wails of the burning creature still ringing in his head.

After he somehow 'felt' that the creature's presence leave him and a good radius, along with several other residing creatures in the rescue base, Shadow made quick to make himself scarce, once again needing time to process all that had just occurred. Something that he predicted would, unfortunately, be a common occurrence. Despite all that had occurred here, he found that, in his long-distance travels, forests were amongst some of his favorite places to go. Dense and easy to hide, but open enough to where he could get a good view of the skies above. And, in the case of this forest, a view of the ocean. He ran his gloved hand over the aged trunk of a nearby tree, its uneven bark catching at the fibers of his glove as he felt up and down.

'And…' he heard her voice echo. 'Some plants can live up to hundreds of years. It even says here that there have been trees that've been around for thousands!' she sounded so excited and intrigued as she said it, even if she was talking to little more than a vegetable about the contents in the botany book. She would have loved it here.

Yet there was no time to dwell on that now. Besides, wasn't he supposed to be moving on from such things? There was nothing else to go over regarding that. He knew what had occurred, why she wasn't here to experience the planet.

'Or as to why, let alone how, you ended up in the capsule in Eggman's hidden fortress, let alone why.'

He was moving on. And the first step was moving on away from here and to-

His ears perked up, the sound of heavy breathing from behind registering to him. He emitted a low growl, though no one came out. He then brought his hand upward, his fingertips growing orange. 'Be careful.' A voice rang through his mind. 'Remember the heat.' He pushed it out of his mind, however, and the energy on his fingers continued to intensify. Besides, he couldn't feel the heat anymore. Nor could he hear any voices. 'Any? No, you know better than that.' He grunted again, biting his lip. "Don't think I can't catch you." He finally spoke. "And if you make me come collect you…" still, nothing. "Fine." He raised his hand, the energy taking shape into dart-like projectiles.

"Ok, ok!" a female voice shouted, its source jumping out from their hiding place and holding her hands up in surrender.

Shadow released a long, clearly irritated sigh. "Do you need it spelt out for you? I want NOTHING to do with you!"

Octavia bit her lip, knowing well this was coming, though that didn't make it any less difficult. Especially with what she had been…or rather, what she had just tasked herself with. "Yes…I'm well aware. But-"

"And where is he hiding? You couldn't have reached me alone."

Octavia bit down harder, the blue hedgehog close by, though he was staying clear out of this. As he told her on the way 'You want him, you do this yourself.' She then remembered the sudden seriousness in his tone 'But whatever happens, you and you people keep your hands to yourself. Understand?' the way he said that still chilled her somewhat.

"Look, I just…" the human woman began, pausing to contemplate her words. "I just want to talk to you."

"About how I may or may not be behind all this?"

"No! Not at all!" she proclaimed. "Listen, I'm sorry about that. I really am." She began to draw closer. "I didn't…I was wrong to-"

"Spare me." Shadow interrupted. "What do you want?"

"Wh-What?"

"You wouldn't be telling me this if you didn't want something from me."

"N-No! That's not true at all! I- "

"Speak, or I'm leaving." Though why he hadn't already escaped him. It wasn't as if he held any interest in what she had to say.

Octavia stopped herself for a moment, a low sigh exiting her. "I need your help."

"On what?"

He wasn't going to like this, he could tell. "Well…not long after you took off, some guys from the base in Grand Metropolis received the rescue base's message and came." Shadow remained with his back turned to her. "Everyone…" she paused again, this getting the hedgehog's attention, he turning to face her. From what he could see, she appeared to be distressed when she had gotten to this portion of what she wanted to tell him, though it seemed she wasn't entirely able to tell him. "Well, most are ok." Most? "But that's why I came." She shifted uncomfortably. "I…kind of told them what had happened when you and I were-"

"Chaos-"

"No, wait!" she leapt and hooked onto his waist, both disappearing. Though they didn't go far, the hedgehog and human reappearing only a few yards away. "You don't understand!"

"What's there to understand?!" Shadow retorted. "You told them!?"

"Of course I did! I had to! I have to report something like this!" she felt him beginning to peel her off of him. "No, wait, wait! There's more! I meant to say it earlier!"

"As far as I'm concerned, you've said enough!" Shadow told her, ready to toss her off and warp out of here.

"They're missing!"

At least, he was. "What are you talking about?"

"You know how I said most of the people inside were ok?" he nodded, the human woman continuing. "Well…it seemed that the building's generators were taken out after something tripped the alarm." Though upon hearing what she would say to him, the Ultimate Lifeform began to wonder if such a thing was in any way unintentional. Though, if not, then it hinted at his potential underestimation in these beings. "And it, as you know, shut off the power. This locked a lot of people in these panic rooms of sorts, like protective areas for…anyway, when they were opened up…" she paused again, taking in a steady breath. Some of them were…empty." Empty? How'd…it was then that it came to be Shadow's turn to pause, he looking to the tips of his fingers. Fingers that once held concentrated Chaos Energy at their tips. "And…and that's when I told them about what had occurred last night. And now, they want to take us back for questioning."

"…especially me." Shadow finished for her, she in turn nodding.

"Please, Shadow." She drew closer, lowering herself to her level. "Just…just one session. That's all I'm asking." She then got down on both of her knees, then she lowered her hands to the ground. He was somewhat taken aback by this. She was LITERALL getting down on her hands and knees. "Just answer a couple of questions…and I swear, you can go free." She told them. "And…as a bonus, you'll never have to see me again? Doesn't that intrigue you just a little?"

Every instinct he had told him to make a break for it, to run. Or better yet, utilize the boundless energy he had just been given (remember the heat), but instead, to his surprise, Shadow found himself simply standing there, watching as the young woman lowered her head to further drive just how much she wished for him to accept her offer. It struck him, just why was she so desperate, better yet, why was she coming to him in such a way, begging as if she were some pauper? Where was this source of desperation coming from?

"Please." She told him. "Please, just this one, last thing. I promise, it's the last." She lowered her head down further, she seemingly sounding as if she were on the verge of tears.

A part of Shadow urged him to not heed her words, that this entire thing was a farce. She wasn't truly distraught, and even if she WERE to shed a few tears, they wouldn't be genuine. She was playing him for a fool. Run!

And yet, he found himself continuing to stay. Continuing to listen to her words. Continuing to remain quiet. Until…

"…tell them they have five minutes at most."

…

The helicopter flew over the expansive, technologically advanced city, Shadow looking down upon it as they went past. He remembered it well, one of the first stops that he, Rouge, and Omega had made after his seemingly 'second' awakening and subsequent visit to the Oceanside Palace in Seaside Hill. They were on the trail of Eggman, seeing as his robots were stationed in the previous two locations, as well as this and several others. It was even here when they encountered the three detectives, so 'so called' detectives that called themselves the Chaotix and got in a small tussle with them. Though, to be fair, he wasn't the one to instigate that fight. Rouge and especially Omega seemed to be more eager than he. If anything, to his surprise upon reflecting on it, he was more of a follower than anything. He even was willing to play bingo when they arrived to the aptly named Bingo Highway. Though given what he had done regarding Doom when they first met, along with being in this very helicopter now, perhaps he was something of a follower. Though, only if it served him at most.

And if this went well, hopefully, this would at least get those blasted GUN flunkies off his back.

The helicopter flew to the top of a towering skyscraper with a flattened top and landed, he seeing another flying not close behind. It seemed that even now, they still wished to 'contain' him away from others. The aircraft landed atop of the flattened top of the building, and there was a suddenly dip that momentarily startled the black hedgehog. Then, the top began to sink, the mist and sky disappearing and being replaced with metallic walls and thickened steel cables that indicated he had just entered a large elevator. Down, down, down the helicopter went, the pilots nor Shadow saying a word. How long their descent lasted, he had lost track of, yet after a near eternity, it finally stopped. The pilot got up from his seat and exited, opening the door for Shadow.

"We'll escort you. Don't think of running off either."

Shadow glowered, though, begrudgingly, he complied, hopping out and following the pilot and co-pilot through an automated door and down a long corridor of grey, the tiled floor and ceiling, along with the walls bearing the same color, the entire area giving off quite the claustrophobic feel. Then, at long last, they seemingly reached their destination, another automated door that opened and held a simple table and a couple of chairs. "Wait here." The pilot ordered. "We'll come collect you when it's time." Shadow entered and the door closed behind him, leaving him alone in the small, confined space.

Immediately, the hedgehog hated it. Spaces such as these…he far from cared for them. Ridiculous, he declared to himself, as really, what could four walls do to him, no matter how small the space was. Still, confinement in itself always unnerved him, a twinge of nervousness assaulting him as he continued to survey his surroundings. He fidgeted in discomforted, immediately beginning to pace around the corners of the room, the bright light hanging ahead nearly blinding and stinging his eyes whenever he looked upon it.

He got the feeling this was going to take a while.

…

And a while it took indeed.

Honestly, how long did they intend to keep him hauled up in here? The clock stationed in the room had shown that an entire hour had gone by, and still, nothing! The urge to simply warp out of here came to his mind more than once, though…like it or not, he DID give that foolish woman his word he'd come.

Still, that didn't mean that he had to completely comply with their terms.

A blue hue overtook his body and he warped out of the room, reappearing in another. Another more crowded room with a couple of familiar faces. There were two chairs stationed nearby, empty, yet clearly used recently given that they still bore a small sense of heat to the cushions as he felt. "Couldn't wait another second, could you?" a voice said from behind, Shadow whirling around to see a human man with aged, clearly tired features with silver hair and duel colored eyes, one icy blue and one hazel. "Either way, it's good you're here. I'm dying to hear your side of the story."

Note: Looks like the head man himself has decided to pay this base a visit! Shadow's in for a bad (or given how things have been, a worse) time.

Any feedback is welcome, as they are the main motivator for me to keep going. That said, thank you all for your support, and I hope to hear from you in the future!