This is a doozy to put out... Here, we'll be addressing the reason why the president wanted Sonic's presence back in his country. Speaking of which, how awkward do you think it will be to keep referring to locations as 'the place' or 'the country' or even 'the continent'? Anyways, hope you'll enjoy this chapter! Review Responses will be at the bottom.

Chapter 21

"The city?"

Sonic nodded as he set down the plate full of chili dogs onto the table. "Yeah. Tails and I have to see the president about our trip. Plus, it will be a good chance for you to see what the city looks like."

"Central City is where the president is," Tails added through a mouthful of toast while his free hand fiddled with his Miles Electric. "It is also where two of our friends, Amy and Cream, are currently residing. They frequently visit us during the weekends or holidays."

"And it is also where one of the Chaos Emeralds is stored!" Sonic interjected with a bright smile despite the twitch under his eye. "Perhaps we should check it out today. Here Tails, want more toast?"

Shadow looked more interested upon the mention of the Chaos Emeralds while Tails snorted and sent a knowing look towards the blue hedgehog. "Why yes Sonic, I would like some more toast," he replied cheekily, holding out his empty plate.

Sonic glared back playfully and placed a slightly-more-burnt toast on the plate. Tails smirked back and maintained eye contact while he bit into the burnt side, chewing pointedly. "Hmm, tasty."

"What are you two doing?" Shadow asked exasperatedly, noticing the sparks flying between the two mobians.

"Oh, nothing at all!" both Sonic and Tails chirped cheerfully, turning towards Shadow with equally bright smiles. The black hedgehog made a small wince and he immediately turned away, mumbling under his breath about not wanting to deal with whatever the two brothers were up to. He quickly finished his own plate and stood up, taking it to the sink. Behind his back, Sonic and Tails shared a mischievous smirk.

Once breakfast was done, Tails got the Tornado 2 out of the Blue Typhoon. It took its place at the start of the runway and set itself against the catapults that would give it enough lift force for takeoff. He jumped into the cockpit while Shadow followed suit in the second compartment. "Sonic, you coming?" the two-tailed fox asked, seeing as Sonic had not boarded the jet-like plane.

"Nah. Flying's fun and all, but it's been a while since I ran. Gotta stretch these legs out you know," Sonic replied with an excited grin. "See you outside!" With that, he sprinted back upstairs and outside of the house. He stopped in the meadows and waited eagerly.

Tails put on his seat belt and pressed a button for the runway doors to open, revealing the clear blue skies and the ocean ahead. He pressed another button and took hold of the control wheel. "Takeoff in three, two, one!"

The propellers started to spin rapidly while the catapults released. The Tornado 2 sped across the runway and took to the air, quickly gaining altitude. Shadow glanced at the shrinking ground, curious to see how Sonic was planning to make the trip. In the cockpit, Tails counted down quietly.

"Three, two, one…"

Behind them, there was a loud boom and a visible ring spreading out. The sound and the force of air reached the plane, giving it a boosted lift as Tails took advantage of the slipstream. Shadow recovered and stared awestruck at the blue streak that shot off ahead. He knew Sonic was fast, but he never realized just how fast. It made their usual races look pathetic in comparison. "What was that?"

"That was Sonic," Tails replied, glancing briefly over his shoulder. "He hasn't had a chance to break the sound barrier for a while. He didn't want to do it on the island since that would mean breaking a lot of trees. That's the reason why we live further out from others."

Shadow nodded in understanding and watched until the blue streak disappeared over the horizon.

The landscape below gradually changed from the wilderness to the cityscape. Grass and trees diminished, the brown earth replaced by concrete and tarmac of streets. Shadow watched the change in intrigue, turning in his seat so that he could take in the sight of the tall skyscrapers, the busy-looking streets and the myriad of colors and activity bustling about.

He had never seen so many humans and mobians before. The thought that he would soon be down there among the masses made him tense in anticipation and anxiety.

A bright blue line of light drew his attention and Shadow turned to see Sonic, the blue hedgehog running not only on streets, but also on the buildings. As the Tornado 2 descended somewhat closer to the skyscrapers, Sonic suddenly made a sharp turn and started racing right up one of the taller buildings. At its apex, he jumped off, arcing right over the Tornado 2.

"HEEEEYYYYYYYYY!"

Shadow snorted when he heard the yell. He couldn't see Sonic through the blue corona of energy that surrounded him, but he was quite sure that the speedster was probably grinning like mad. Gravity soon took hold and Sonic hit the ground still running.

Red eyes kept watch as the blue hedgehog performed more stunts, taking on any form of architecture ranging from the straight and geometric to the loopy and curvy. A delighted laugh from the fox rang out when Sonic paused for a moment on top of a skyscraper, enough that they could see him clearly when he spread out his arms and comically fell over backwards, pretending to fumble with his fall before curling into a ball and hit the ground rolling.

The stunts continued until they reached their destination. It was a large white building, though unlike the others Shadow saw, it was not squeezed in amongst other buildings. Rather, this one boasted a large expanse of space.

Inwardly, Shadow analyzed the reason behind this space. From what he heard and understood, the president was someone with great power and influence, like a leader. And as a leader, perhaps this space was a show of their power, as it was a far cry from the others back in the city that were forced to share territories with how closely built their dens were. Though a part of him that was more pragmatic criticized the space as it doesn't seem to be used for anything productive, unlike his hunting grounds back on the island.

"Are all human leaders this extravagant?" he asked the two-tailed fox.

"It is their way of showing their wealth and power," Tails explained while maneuvering the Tornado 2 to land in a free space. "In their minds, being able to afford more luxuries and materials than others showed that they are able to live more comfortably and thus having a higher status. It is like having the most amount of meat and water, or the most amount of territory."

There was a gust of wind and Sonic came to a stop next to the Tornado 2. The blue hedgehog was grinning widely, blue energy still fizzing in his quills. "That was a good warmup," he laughed, almost bouncing in place. "I'll have to visit some of the Zones afterwards. Nothing like a good challenge to get your blood pumping. Wanna come for that too, Shadow?"

"Yes," Shadow agreed as he unbuckled his seat belt and stood up. Red eyes narrowed when he noticed the approaching humans. He jumped off to stand next to Sonic, back straight and chin tilted up.

"They're the president's men," Sonic explained quietly when noticing Shadow's posture. "They're just here to take us to him."

"Sonic the Hedgehog," one of the men spoke up in greeting, nodding towards the hedgehog. "Tails the Fox," he continued, also nodding towards the two-tailed fox. He noticed the black hedgehog standing among them and almost did a visible take.

"This is Shadow, a friend of ours," Sonic introduced quickly, picking up on the surprise.

"I see," the man recovered. "However, he will have to wait outside. The president will be meeting only the two of you."

Shadow's quills bristled at the insult. His eyes narrowed and the men took a half-step back almost unconsciously. Sonic grinned nervously and quickly intervened. "Ah, about that…you see, Shadow is…also a part of the meeting! His input is very necessary! Yes."

A panicked look briefly flashed across Tails' face, but he quickly hid it before it could be noticed. The men on the other hand looked somewhat surprised, but acquiesced to Sonic's words. "Very well then. If you would please follow us, we'll take you to the president."

As the group headed inside, Tails walked close to Sonic and Shadow. "Shadow, please, whatever happens, do not tell them about your pack," he hissed quietly, taking care not to mention the name 'Black Arms'. "The people related to your past – they will definitely be at this meeting. If they hear about your pack, they might try something against them."

A low growl rumbled at the back of Shadow's throat, threatening and alert. He hadn't been made aware of this until now. "Explain, fox."

"We will, we promise," Sonic whispered, hand reaching out and brushing briefly against Shadow's. "But not under enemy's eyes and ears."

At those words, Shadow forced himself to relax, the growl fading away. Despite the affront he felt for the situation and the impatience to have it explained, he could stand to wait. Especially if doing so meant his pack would be safe.

The man that greeted them led the way to the president's office while the rest of the men, six of them, made up the rear guard. As they entered the leader's lair, Shadow discreetly glanced around. The place wasn't quite bustling, but it wasn't inactive either.

There were other humans roaming about. All of them seemed sharp and commanding in their colors of black and white, though there was a clear difference he could see between the men that he knew to be the guards and the other men that seemed to be guests of the human's leader. There were also females, dressed differently with brighter colors but nonetheless carrying the same prideful aura.

And there were other humans that seemed subdued in comparison. They were moving about, cleaning the areas of the house. Among them, Shadow sensed a few that reminded him of camouflaging predators, pretending to be weaker and lesser than they really were. He could tell by the way some looked up and glanced at their group, revealing a flash of the wolf behind the disguise before the veil fell back down and they returned to appearing meek.

And finally, there was another entire faction. They all bore a similar symbol on some part of their clothes, a symbol that made Shadow's vision flash and his temples ache in warning. He avoided staring at that symbol directly, not wanting to show weakness by losing himself, but still keeping watch of the humans' movements.

To him, they seemed like the guards, yet there was something more. Something that hinted at blood and conflict. Some of the humans of that faction had confidence and pride that reeked of arrogance on some level. When they marched close to their group, Shadow could feel the urge to bare his teeth at them. That urge only increased when he noticed the dark looks the humans were shooting at not just him, but also at Sonic and Tails.

Sonic kept glancing at Shadow. As if finely tuned to his moods, the blue hedgehog could sense the tension rising whenever the GUN men came close. "Not all humans like mobians," Sonic whispered, making a step that appeared as casual as ever to stand closer to Tails, almost pushing him right between the blue hedgehog and Shadow. "It is now against the law to cause trouble over that, but as you can see…"

Shadow made a small nod in understanding. He also noticed the movement from Sonic and moved to accommodate the smaller fox.

Thankfully, the group soon reached their destination. The six men lined up uniformly on both sides of the hallway while the leading man knocked on the large doors at the end. There was a pause before a voice called out, "Enter."

The doors swung open and the man spoke, "Your guests have arrived, Mr. President." He stepped to the side to allow Sonic, Tails and Shadow into the room before making a step backwards, the doors closing behind him. As he did, the man that was inside the room, the president, looked up from his screen and took notice of the mobians.

"Sonic, Tails, good to see you," he greeted, before noticing Shadow. The only sign of surprise was the blink he gave in response. "And this is...?"

"Shadow," Shadow introduced himself, staring straight at the human before him. Despite the height difference, the president could not deny the commanding aura the hedgehog before him exuded. It was similar to the other countries' presidents, leaders in their own rights. Red searing eyes bore holes into his form before they relented and the president nodded in understanding.

"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you, Shadow. As the President of this country, I welcome you." He turned to Sonic and Tails, both watching the exchange with wide eyes. "Would you all like to take a seat? This will be somewhat of a lengthy discussion," he spoke up, bringing their attention back to the present matter.

"It's alright prez, we're fine," Sonic replied with a shrug, Tails nodding in agreement with a grunt of assent from Shadow. "What's the important thing you wanted to talk to us about?"

The president stood up, folding his hands behind his back. With all the seriousness that the situation deserved, he said one name. "Doctor Eggman."

Shadow observed as the single name caused the two mobians to straighten up. It was subtle, but he knew what to look for, in the way the casual tilt of Sonic's head was gone, the way Tails' hands stopped fidgeting. The president tapped something on the blue screen and suddenly, the curtains of the large window behind him drew close and the room dimmed. The glowing screen then projected what appeared to be a video.

"A week ago, we were doing maintenance when our...technicians, discovered these video feeds. They were taken at different dates, through a time period within a month." The president pressed play and the video started. There was a blue flash and the president paused the video. He zoomed in, the tech helping to make the image clearer until there was something recognizable.

"Metal," Sonic said as he stared at the image of his robotic counterpart. Unlike some other versions, this Metal was without much change to his root design.

"Yes, Metal Sonic," the president agreed, closing the video. "He has been seen, and in places where his presence spells disaster for us. The locations of these feeds, all of them have one thing in common." He pulled up the list of locations. Two videos from Westopolis, one from Central City. "There was also mention of his sighting coming from my agents watching over Cryptic Castle and Iron Jungle."

"These locations, no..." Tails breathed out, eyes wide with realization.

"Dang it," Sonic cursed under his breath, realizing it the same minute as Tails did. "Eggman's after the Chaos Emeralds."

"And sad to say, but he has already obtained those that are in the mentioned locations," the president sighed, pulling out another window that showed an image of what appeared to be a display case with a round-cut gemstone in it. "We've discovered that the Chaos Emeralds have been replaced by fakes, the reason why we discovered the theft this late."

Eggman was being smart about this. Usually, he would have just busted into the museums and vaults without a care for being spotted. The scientist always had a flair of the dramatic and the theatrics. The fact that he was being this sneaky was concerning at least.

"Five Emeralds already..." Sonic muttered. "He's up to something alright. It'll be a race to get the other two Emeralds at this point."

"The other two Emeralds. We know the location of one. It is still in Westopolis; Metal Sonic hasn't obtained it yet," the president informed them, pulling up the image of a vault. "This is where the Green Chaos Emerald is. The other, the Red Chaos Emerald, we have no idea of its location. Our men are trying to locate it, but we haven't found it yet. The only thing we fear is that Eggman might have already obtained it."

"Six versus one, I don't like the odds of this," Tails murmured.

"Indeed," the president nodded solemnly as the projection disappeared and the curtains opened, allowing the room to brighten up. "Eggman is on the move. We'll be keeping our eyes open and our ears to the ground for any sign of his plan."

"We'll do the same as well," Tails nodded.

The president then sat back down at the desk. "With that settled, I would like to hear about your research of the island. Have you found anything noteworthy?"

"Not at all," Tails replied, the only sign of his anxiety in the way his tails twisted around themselves briefly before untangling quickly. To a stranger, it would probably look like a natural movement rather than a sign of anxiety. "There was a higher Chaos Energy level, but it seems no different from the Zones. In fact, I would say that despite the higher level of Chaos Energy, we saw no strange phenomenon. Not even Rings. If you wish to know the finer details, I have sent a report ahead."

"Ah yes," the president nodded. "That's good to hear. I'll be sending the report to Commander Tower as well." He then waved a hand, a gesture that prompted the security guards to open the door. "That will be all."

"Alright then! See you, prez," Sonic waved with a friendly grin before whirling around and just about marching outside, Tails and Shadow following close behind. It wasn't until the three reached the Tornado 2 and were out of nearby earshot that Sonic's friendly face disappeared. "This ain't good Tails."

"Which part? The part about Eggman already having five of seven Chaos Emeralds, or the part where Commander Tower, who is also the Commander of GUN, is apparently also involved in the investigation of Shadow's island?" Tails asked, too calmly to be natural even as his hands flew across the plane's control panel, starting up the propeller.

"Both," Sonic groaned, waving his hands about in frustration as the two hedgehogs boarded, Shadow taking the compartment while Sonic taking to stand on the wing of the Tornado 2. "Well, maybe the second one more than the first. Eggman is something we know how to handle despite the odds against us. But Commander Tower..."

"It might just be coincidence," Tails tried to go for an optimistic approach as the plane took off, rising into the sky before heading in the direction of the skyscrapers. "Just because GUN is involved..."

"Tails, this is just like in the movies," Sonic cut in while ignoring the look Tails gave him for referring to movies of all things. "GUN, the guys who seem to be behind every little thing involved in the ARK, is also involved in the island where Shadow, who is also highly involved in the ARK, happened to land at," the blue hedgehog pointed out. "Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. And I'm starting to feel it might be enemy action."

"We won't know for sure until we find out what GUN is up to with concrete proof," Tails pushed back, emphasizing the last two words. "Right now, all we have is speculation. Wait until we find out what's really going on before pointing fingers."

"I believe Sonic has a point," Shadow interjected, getting tired of the two talking over his head (almost literally in this case). "GUN. I may not know the people personally, but there is something about them that sets me on edge." 'And it is not just because of how they look at us,' the black hedgehog thought to himself with a frown. 'There's something about the symbol they wear that is oddly familiar. Whenever I think of it...'

Shadow clenched his fist, even as his face went blank.

'I have the urge to tear their spines out and gut them open.'

"In any case," Sonic spoke up, his words cutting through the slight red haze Shadow was seeing. "We'll agree to avoid GUN personnel. Right now, why don't we-?"

The question was cut off when an explosion rang out. Their heads whipped in its direction and spotted the column of smoke emerging from the center of the city. Small forms buzzed about, shooting beams of light that caused destruction wherever they landed.

"Ah, I guess we'll have to leave sightseeing for another time," Sonic sighed, stretching out his arms. A grin crept up on his face despite his words. "Looks like Eggman decided to show himself this time. Tails?"

"On it," the two-tailed fox nodded as he steered the plane towards the explosion.

Review Responses

GuardianDragon98: Well, there's your answer!

SharpDragonKlaw: Thanks for the review, and hope you and your loved ones are safe as well! And perhaps in the future, Shadow will have the chance to get better at cooking. In the meantime, Tails will just have to pray that he is 'conveniently missing' whenever Shadow cooked.

Note that the 'technicians' the president referred to are hackers, white hat hackers. An open secret.

So anyways, things are coming to a head. Our heroes are going to have to deal with two things at the same time; Shadow's past related to the ARK and GUN, and Eggman's master plan (coughEclipseCannoncough). How will they handle being pulled in two directions?

Also, I made Sonic more paranoid than usual. While I was typing this chapter, I had half a mind to make him just happy-go-lucky, like saying how despite Eggman already having a headstart, that they could still turn the situation around, or perhaps Sonic not realizing the connection between GUN, Shadow and the island.

It's the same thing for Tails. Despite his young age, I made him more in control of himself, the biggest example being how he easily lied to the president about there being nothing more to the island other than a slightly higher level of Chaos Energy. I tried to tone that down by giving Tails nervous traits, like the twisting tails, the somewhat long babble about there being no Rings or strange stuff happening, and just stopping his explanation and referring to the report he sent ahead. I imagine that if Tails didn't have to lie, he would babble, but it would be more of an excited babble than a nervous one. But in this case, he didn't want to give things away, so he just told the president 'Read the report, don't ask me!'

And Shadow. I had thought of just leaving him behind, either back at Tails' house or at the Tornado 2 while only Sonic and Tails went ahead because he wouldn't have much he could speak of, but I don't think Shadow would be content with that. He would either have the mindset to go exploring on his own or just straight out come along with Sonic and Tails simply because he wanted to meet the humans' leader.

So yes, this chapter was a doozy. Glad I'm done with it! What about your opinions? How do you think Sonic, Tails and Shadow should have reacted?