Chapter Four – Diversion

Nothing was currently happening at G.U.N, but Shadow knew that was all about to change. He was being intensely watched but slipping both his observers and the cameras, which was incredibly easy, especially at the speeds he could now move at. Shadow had Super-Speed and Super-Strength before he changed, but now as a Vampire, those attributes had been enhanced even further. He no longer had his tracker either. He was now as fast as Sonic and as strong as Knuckles. This, on top of some serious teleporting, around the world and even to the Ark, everything was finally set up and now all he had to do was wait.

He picked his moment beautifully, when G.U.N. was at it quietest and secretly sent a message to the Ark.

Showtime.

Suddenly, alarms rang all over the Headquarters, as everyone raced to their emergency outposts. The agents raced to the briefing room, as General Xander called a emergency meeting. He was heavily panting.

"There has been a bomb threat underneath the main Mobian Authority building, their headquarters, in Empire City. Intelligence state the bomb is huge, several tonnes, large enough to level the entire city." He heaved. "They are sending us in to deal with this, as they are suspicions that the perpetrators are still in the area. The city is currently being evacuated now. Everyone move out." He ordered, and literally everyone did.

Security, agents, all the soldiers and field personal left, leaving behind a skeleton staff of administrators, technicians, catering staff, cleaners and a few guards. Shadow smirked. Perfect, as he left for the field, knowing the day wasn't going to end the way everyone was expecting.

Soon, G.U.N. was all over Empire City, but the urbanised metropolis was in utter panic. News of the bomb was everywhere and now people was desperately trying to get out. Shadow and Rouge had been paired together, on the ground in Empire City, as they had been tasked to track down the bombers but in the confusion of the crowds, the Bat lost complete sight of the Ultimate Lifeform. She swore. She had been asked on the quiet not to loose him, but when she sighted a possible bomber, she was no choice but to continue with the mission. He was wearing a pale blue hoody top and black trousers. But as she chased him through the city, she failed to catch him too. He twisted and turned, with incredible speed, and before she knew it, he was gone.

Having lost both her quarries, Rouge had no choice but to report back to the General, but then she sighted the bomber again, and chased him all over the city, loosing him for a second time. Again and again, he was back, toying with her, and the further threatening from the news caused yet further panic across the city.

It was pandemonium, and in the chaos, the bomb had had it time wired to get faster, the noisier it got. G.U.N. searched all over the city, in groups, down in basements of building and even in the sewers. After much searching, the group lead by General Xander finally found the bomb, in the sewer directly beneath the Mobian Authority building. The Badger immediately radioed for the professionals within the G.U.N. The Bomb Squad as he looked terrified.

The bomb itself was huge. A metre cubed, with at least a dozen metallic tubes. Cylinders all labeled T.N.T. The whole bomb was surrounded by wiring, and included pressure, sound and light sense, of which once triggered would immediately shorten the timer. It had less then an hour to tick and it was falling fast. The bomb wasn't exactly big enough to destroy the entire city, but the creator it would leave behind would effectively do so. Regardless, it would kill thousands of people. G.U.N. had to get it disarmed as fast, but as the Bomb Squad finally arrived and worked on it, they were seriously struggling.

It had some of the most complex wiring they had ever seen, and even breathing on the thing shortened the timer. It would take hours to disarm but they only had minutes. Frantically they worked. But as Rouge finally caught up with General Xander, her mission a complete failure, so was the Bomb Squad's, and the timer finally ticked to zero. The Badger ducked for cover, grabbing the Bat. He squealed.

"Look out." He screamed.

But nothing.

Both Rouge, the General and the Bomb Squad, all came out from their hiding places, they all stared at the bomb. Suddenly, one of the cylinders opened up along its length and sending out a pair of metal arms, it held out a white banner between them, which was proudly shown to all those there. It simply said 'BOOM!'. Suddenly, the entire bomb completely collapsed into a heap on the floor of the sewer, the clinking of the metal cylinders clearly indicating they were all hollow. General Xander heaved in pure fright.

"It's fake." He gasped. "The bomb is fake." He stammered, severely shaking. He had completely believed he was done for. Truthfully, they all did. But Rouge, still panting with fright herself, frowned.

"But why?" She stuttered. They all shrugged, having no idea. Suddenly, a G.U.N. agent immediately barged into the sewers with a communications radio. He skidded to a halt, looking deeply worried. He gulped.

"Sir, we're got a radio black-out on the Headquarters." He stammered. But the Badger just growled. General Xander rounded on the agent.

"What do you mean 'a black-out'? He hissed, but the agent looked terrified, deeply shaking. He whimpered.

"Sir, there's no communications, radio signals, video feeds, internet messaging. Nothing. It's like the Headquarters had just disappeared." He stuttered. This along with the fake bomb, lead the General to make one extremely frightening conclusion. They had been duped. He outright panicked.

"Everyone, back to base, as quickly as possible. We've been had." He cried.

The long journey back to the Headquarters, was utterly terrifying but by the time they had arrived home, it was to late. As they walked through the main entrance, the carnage that lay before them was fully there to see. The entire power had been knocked out, with electricity wire dangling down everywhere. Gas piped hissed all over the paces, and the lights flashed on and off slowly everywhere. But the eerie silence was deafening, as the returning agents quickly found out why no one was responding from the Headquarters.

Everyone was dead.

There were bodies everywhere. It should have been a bloodbath, but there none on sight. Each of the victims was clean, and obviously killed extremely quickly. Some had bullet holes in the foreheads, right between the eyes and others had what looked like bite marks to the neck. It was bizarre, and as Rouge walked though the Headquarters, her stomached churned as absolutely no one had been left spared. Cooks, cleaners, admins, everyone. Over a hundred people and it was obvious that someone had ripped though the whole of the Headquarters, slaughtering everyone in sight. Her eyes filled with tears.

General Xander was now way out of his depth. He knew that G.U.N. had been had, but even he had not expected this. His own eyes was full of tears, and even the couple of children visiting for the day, in one of the side bunkers had not been spared. Suddenly, he ran for the board room, and saw the carnage even there. Even the directors had tried to fight back, but against such incredible power they had failed and they had all been slaughtered, including the General Xander's own son. He was dead on the floor, his neck visibly crushed, as the life had been physically squeezed out of him.

He exploded in grief, cuddling his boy, the tears streaming. Everyone was crying, as they had all left family behind in the Headquarters. This was an attack on G.U.N. at its most ruthless, as the General picked up his son, and walked though the Headquarters, seeing yet more dead, he knew one simple thing.

They had been gone then a few hours, and to kill this many people, this quickly, was incredibly fast and ruthlessly efficient. Whomever it was, knew the Headquarters. It was an inside job. As Rouge ran though the Headquarters, she found herself alone as stumbled across the canteen area, again with bodies everywhere. Suddenly, her eyes fell on a wall of the large cavernous room, with a large callsign marked in blood, the killer making a statement. To never cross him again. She immediately recognised it, and ran for her life, straight out of G.U.N. to the only place she knew she could get safety. Tails' House. As she ran, she tripped over what looked like a camera, still recording. She immediately grabbed it, and hightailed it out of there, before anyone could stop her.

Several people saw her go, but no one followed, but General Xander then understood why when he saw the callsign for himself. He knew it. They all did. The killer wore it, in a deep, rich red, across his left shoulder. He gulped.

Shadow.

He'd slaughtered G.U.N. at it's most vulnerable, and that was then the organisation truly knew they had lost control of their greatest asset and that he had turned on them. That ruthless Black Hedgehog had squeezed the life of his own son, to get back at his father, but now the General wanted revenge. But something didn't make sense. Even with Shadow's incredible speed and power, that was no way he could have killed this many people in such a short about of time. As he stared at the callsign, he began to shake in absolute terror. Next to the callsign, was a handprint, also in blood, obvious from the Ultimate Lifeform himself. But on the other side of the callsign, there was a second handprint, same hand, slightly smaller. The Badger screamed in pure fright. He was right.

The Ultimate Lifeform hadn't been alone.

Taking on mighty Shadow The Hedgehog alone was one thing, but to take him on with an accomplice, that was another thing entirely, and it terrified G.U.N. Shadow would only have chosen the best of the best to be by his side. Someone incredibly loyal, and also a fellow killer. But as G.U.N. picked up the pieces, confusion reigned. The bite marks in nearly every victim's necks were just bewildering, and as the doctor's examined them, all of them had had their blood drained. General Xander frowned.

'Vampire.' He thought, growling. So Shadow had found the Vampire after all and had somehow befriended him. This now made things difficult as G.U.N. had been desperate to get their hands on that supernatural enigma. They sent Shadow after him, as they suspected he was the only one strong enough to potentially bring him in, but now they had a problem. The Ultimate Lifeform himself had worked out he was still being the mind-control. Well, the fact that he'd just slaughtered G.U.N.'s more vulnerable, immediately stated that yes, he knew, and wasn't very happy about it. Somehow he broken free from their control, found the Vampire, and took out their entire foundations, right out from underneath them. But if his friend was actually a real Vampire, then G.U.N. was in deep trouble, as Xander knew Shadow, and knew the mighty Black Hedgehog could be back to finish the job.

They couldn't fight the Ultimate Lifeform on his own turf. Confronting him on the Ark, just wouldn't work, he'd just kill everyone. He'd done it here, so why not there. So G.U.N. now had only one choice. To retreat and regroup somewhere else.

Rouge ran and ran, as fast as her legs would carry and in the middle of the night, she finally made it to the darkened house, and banged on Tails' door, in absolute panic. But the Fox wasn't alone, as Knuckles, Vector, Espio, and Amy were also there, all gently sleeping on the sofas. Sonic was gone was usual. The loud noises woke everyone, as Knuckles opened the door, only to have Rouge fling herself straight into his arms. Screaming in pure terror, the tears streaming. The Echidna frowned.

"Rouge?" He asked, but the Bat just outright panicked.

"Shadow's slaughtered the G.U.N. Headquarters. We were out on a mission to defuse a bomb in Empire City, which turned out to be fake, only to go back to find everyone dead. There are bodies everywhere." She stammered. Everyone screamed in horror. Knuckles gasped.

"What?" He gulped, but Vector frowned.

"Are you sure it was him, Rouge?" He growled, but the Bat nodded intensely.

"He left his callsign on the wall in blood. It was definitely him." She stuttered, but Tails frowned.

"Ok, that's really weird. I never thought of Shadow as someone who'd make such a bold statement like that. I always thought of him as silent and extremely subtle. Why would he would do this?" He asked. Rouge sniffed, and nodded. Time to tell them the truth.

"G.U.N. was still using the mind-control manipulations on Shadow that Gerald Robotnik had originally programmed into him. But what I want to know is, how the hell did he break free from that control to even do this?" She heaved. "He shouldn't have been able to. That programming was the only thing keeping him safe." She gasped. Everyone stared in silence. If that was indeed true, then the Ultimate Lifeform was now extremely dangerous indeed. Knuckles growled.

"We have to find him." He spat, but Rouge grabbed him.

"No, he'll kill you." She stammered, but the Echidna, now terrified, agreed. He gulped.

"So what to we do?" He asked, but he got cut across by Vector. He growled pointing at the camera, still in Rouge's hand.

"We find out what really happened. I take it you found that in the Headquarters?" He frowned. Rouge nodded.

"Yes, I picked it up as I fled. It was still recording. I have no idea if there's anything on it." She sniffed. Tails walked over and took the camera from her. He opened it up and took out the memory card. He heaved.

"Let's find out." He gulped, know that any potentially footage was going to be incredibly gruesome indeed. He was just glad there was no young kids in the room, like Cream and Charmy. They were both staying with Vanilla, allowing the Chaotix to help out here at the house. He was old enough to take it. He held his breath as he placed the memory card in his computer.

He found the video footage and pressed play.

Who says that Shadow The Hedgehog doesn't have a sense of humour? Well, since he was changed into a Vampire, he found out that actually he did, and as plans go, this one went without a hitch. Absolutely flawlessly.

He needed G.U.N. emptied, only the bare staff left in the Headquarters. He was going to destroy the organisation, but in stages. Send a message of pure absolute fear through them, to make absolutely sure they didn't cross him again. But even with the bare minimum of staff in the Headquarters, he'd still need help. He smirked. He knew Sonic wouldn't care. All Shadow had to do, was point the Vampire's nose in the direction of food, and let him eat. So long as he had blood, he didn't mind where he come from. But the Ultimate Lifeform heaved. Sonic was now very dear to him, a brother and knew that this plan, he was going to have to take complete and total responsibility for it. He didn't want Sonic being accused of anything. He was just a Vampire feeding, nothing more.

That meant doing something unusually brash for him, leaving his callsign, but if he wanted to leave G.U.N. fleeing from him, then that was what it was going to take. Plus it would definitely keep them off the Blue Blur's back. Making and planting the fake bomb, was relatively straightforwards. Slipping G.U.N.'s tither of him was easy, and for weeks he created the fake news articles on the Ark, which he knew everyone was immediately lap up. He knew how G.U.N. worked and knew exactly how to take advantage of them. But in the panic of the Empire City, he didn't immediately return to the Headquarters once he'd slipped Rouge.

He grabbed some clothes and gave the Bat the run around, before finally returning to base. He grabbed his revolvers and immediately shot out all of security as he arrived, a bullet between the eyes. He then took out the electrics, including the communications, dumped the clothes, and then finally began his rampage. There was utter panic, but as Shadow tore through the Headquarters, immediately killing anyone who dared to stop him, he was looking for someone in particular. He found the kid. The young Badger was hiding and squealed in terror, as Shadow dragged him back to the foyer, where he met his companion for the day.

Sonic looked bizarre in the panic, looking like he was dancing in front of something. Shadow rolled his eyes, when he approached, the young Badger still his grip, his hand around his neck. He growled.

"What's with the camera?" He spat. Sonic whirled round and giggled.

"Er, I found it. What's with the kid?" He asked, pointing to the Badger. Shadow smirked, lifting the kid clean off the floor, him desperately struggling against his almighty grip on his neck. He scowled.

"I had already suffered enough at Gerald Robotnik's hand with that dam programming, but his father believed I should suffer even more on G.U.N.'s behalf." He sniggered. Sonic blinked, he gulped.

"Er, Shads. Killing kids is not a good idea." He stammered. But Shadow didn't answer as he gritted his teeth and squeezed the young Badger's neck. He panicked even more. But Sonic sighed, throwing up his hands. "Ok, fine, but on your head be it." He snapped, and with that, Shadow nodded, smirking heavily, his eyes glowing a deep red, he then proceeded, without even breaking a sweat, to squeeze the life out of the young Badger, breaking his neck in the process. Within minutes, he was dead, as Shadow just dropped the body on the floor, completely uncaring. Sonic stared, having just watched the whole processed in pure fascination, making no attempt whatsoever, to stop the Ultimate Lifeform. He looked down at the body and whistled. He gasped. "Whoa! How strong are you?" He asked, looking back at him.

Shadow just smirked, shrugging, of which he immediately whirled round and grabbing his revolvers again, he shot out yet more security coming for him. Minutes later, they were all dead. Sonic again watched, completely unmoving, numb about the whole thing. He shrugged.

"My blood brother invites me out for dinner, and it turns out to be a killing spree through G.U.N." He sighed. But Shadow's smirk just broadened, as he nuzzled the Blue Blur. He sniggered.

"Not objecting, are you?" He hissed. Sonic looked up and shook his head. He heaved.

"Er, no, but..." He stammered, not entirely sure if this was the right thing to do. But Shadow growled.

"Then eat!" He spat, indicating one of the girls now fleeing from them, now getting rather impatient. He was on a time limit. Sonic's eyes lit up, as he looked at her. He smirked.

"What? Seriously." He asked. Shadow nodded, and when Sonic realised that he actually was going to take the wrap for this, his hunger got the best of him. Immediately, he vanishing, in a wisp of a blue blur and then equally as fast, he was back besides Shadow with the girl in his arms, a hand firmly around her neck. He was incredibly rough with her. She screamed and kicked him, hard. Sonic growled, stopping, holding her very firmly, his eyes glaring at her in a death stare. Shadow smirked, walking right up to her ear.

"I wouldn't have done that." He hissed, and suddenly Sonic opened his mouth wide, as his Vampire fangs erupted from his jaws, both top and both, and as he eyes turned red. Then at lightning speeds, he plunged them deep into her neck. She immediately stopped fighting as the venom instantly parallelised her, and Shadow watched licking his own teeth. He was planning on feeding, but later. He knew on exactly who. The board of directors. Sonic drained the girl of blood, every last drop. Her body fell limp and lifeless, in his arms, as finally Sonic broke free, panting heavily, dropping her on the floor. Sonic stood up straight and stretched, licking his fangs clean. He smiled.

"Oh, man. I needed that." He giggled, still breathing heavily. But Shadow just smirked.

"More?" He asked, of which Sonic was immediately all over him, drooling like a love-sick, very hungry puppy, tail wagging like crazy. He grinned.

"Oh, yeah." He beamed. Shadow then directly pointed behind them. Where there was a room with a glass front to it. He sniggered.

"Admin is that way." He leered. "Though." He paused. "I'm not sure how your going to get through the high-tech triple-layered security glass. It's a bind to teleport through." He added. But Sonic just stared though the room, and at the terrified girls inside. He smirked, his own red eyes fixed on them.

"Security glass, my behind." He hissed. "I can molecular vibrate through there." He added, rather coldly, to an absolutely astonished Ultimate Lifeform, as Sonic the immediately ran for the glass and didn't stop. He then dived for it, as his body exploded in a cloud of pale blue mist and blur, as he literally passed right through the glass. Within seconds, he'd somersaulted and landed on his bottom the other side. There was utter panic, as Sonic stood up to look at the frightened girls. He licked his fangs, now extremely hungry. He smirked. "Hello, ladies." He added, and he ran for one of them, and without a moments thought, plunged his fangs into their necks. He slaughtered them all.

Shadow watched him for a second and turned to face the camera, something of which Sonic had now completely forgotten about. He looked directly at it, utterly gobsmacked. He heaved.

"I didn't know he could do that." He stammered, his voice surprisingly warm, as though Shadow had temporarily forgotten himself. He heaved and then fixed the camera with a stern stare. He growled.

"Fox." He spat, his voice, ice cold again. Tails gulped as he watched the footage, as stunned as everyone else. Shadow continued. "Don't blame the Blue Blur. He's just in it for the blood. Yes, he's a Vampire, and personally I think you should know now, rather then later. I'm leaving this camera out for Rouge to find when she flees." He smirked, suddenly grabbing a girl by the throat as she ran past behind him, with super high-speed reflexes. He held her close, as she desperately struggled. He hissed back at the camera. "Oh, and she will flee." He added, extremely coldly, smirking with a look of pure evil in his eyes, as he open his own mouth and the Vampiric fangs exploded from his jaws, as he dug them deep into the girl's neck, his own highly potent venom doing it's job. A small appetiser before the board of directors.

Her blood was so good, that within minutes she was completely drained, Shadow letting her go, allowing her lifeless body to just drop. He was barely out of breath, as he licked his own fangs clean, loving his new life and freedom hugely. He too stretched, and then vanished, at incredible speeds.

But the camera kept rolling, as it recorded the two Vampires slaughter absolutely everyone left at G.U.N. There were done, only within minutes of them returning back to the Headquarters. They hovered for a moment in front of the camera again, Sonic swaying heavily. He was yawning deeply, baring his fangs, his stomach hugely bulging. Shadow wondered over, smirking, very proud, and scratched his brother on the ear, of which Sonic just purred and snuggled in close. The Ultimate Lifeform heaved.

"Come on. Let's get you home." He smiled, his voice very warm indeed, and then with an enormous flash of white light, they both vanished, as they teleported away. Suddenly the camera was violently moved, onto the floor, of which it caught glimpses of Rouge grabbing it and picking it up, before the battery finally gave out. Finally, the footage then faded to black.

There was utter silence. They all looked at each other, extremely frightened. Now Sonic's strange behaviour made perfect sense, but what do they do now? But before anyone could do anything, a small scream broke the silence, as everyone whirled round to look behind them. Rouge had been stood at the back of the group, and now she was utterly terrified, having been the one who squealed. There was a clawed hand on her neck, the other digging painfully in her side. His head was at her shoulder, hissing, his green eyes were fixing them with a cold, hard stare. His fangs weren't visible, but they all now knew they were there. Tears ran down Rouge's face, desperate to stay as still as possible so not to provoke the Vampire.

Sonic had got her.