Chapter Six – Explorations
It was decided that the group should split up. Shadow was right. G.U.N. would indeed come looking, so they had to make it look like, at Tails' House at least, that everything was completely normal, and that nothing was going on. It couldn't have been further from the truth, but they had to give that impression. Rouge, Espio and Vector left the house together and went to the Chaotix Detective Agency. There Rouge was relatively safe, and they had fully encrypted communications with Tails' House. From there, they could plan on how they were going to stakeout out that facility.
Amy was send home, and ordered not to breath a word of this to anyone. The Blue Blur growled at her. It was very clear that if she did, he'd kill her, or if not him. Shadow. Their lives literally were in their hands. She nodded, skulking home with her tail between her legs. Better to get out while she still could. But there was a more pressing matter.
Sonic himself.
He was a pureblood Vampire, and Knuckles, who daren't leave the Fox alone with him, was desperate to know how he ticked. Just how dangerous was he, and if not him, Shadow? He was still frightened, but had to keep his cool, but it quickly became apparent that Sonic was extremely sensitive to heightened emotions in someone. Panicking around him, would just get you bitten. He did like his quiet, but as a nocturnal predator, that was understandable. But Knuckles gulped.
That bite.
Those fangs were terrifying. The teeth themselves could do a huge amount of damage on their own. A pair of over an inch long fangs protruding from the top jaw, where his incisors were supposed to be, and a second pair of fangs, half the length, protruding from the bottom, to hold the victim in place. There were long, multiply streaks of deep yellow venom along his tongue.
Tails was examining it. He was completely covered in medical gear. Facemask, coverall including hat, goggles, apron, and latex gloves. He'd taken these super precautions, not because of the teeth, but the venom, desperate not to get any of it on him. He knew it was potent, he just didn't know how much. Knuckles had grabbed Sonic from behind, around the throat. They had noticed that, yes, Sonic did indeed have Super-Strength, but against Knuckles, when push came to serious shove, was actually much stronger. But the Blue Blur wasn't happy, but he willing held his jaws open, blood red eyes glaring, tears running down his face, ears folded back, desperately fighting the deep urge to bite the both of them.
Knuckles noticed and was comforting him as best he could. Sonic had agreed to do this, because he desperately wanted the trust of his friends again, like what he used to relish and enjoy, and unfortunately, this was what it was going to take. But he warned them about his instincts. Vampire instincts are extremely powerful. So strong in fact, that even Shadow had succumbed to them, even against his mighty will. But they never completely controlled the Vampire. Once safe, they would immediately calm down. He told them of the warning signs that his was loosing to them, as Knuckles began to panic, as Sonic's claws erupted his hands, as he was beginning to fight against the Echidna's grip, during the examination. He panicked.
"Tails, can we hurry this up. I'm loosing him." He gulped. Somehow Sonic's jaw was still open, as the Fox was in deep concentration. He frowned.
"Just a little bit longer." He hissed, his tongue between his teeth. He was collecting droplets of venom from the ends of Sonic's fangs. He was using a sterile medical stick to take the venom off the fang and into a test tube. He got several drops for analysis. He heaved, looking the Vampire deeply into his red eyes. "Easy, Sonic, just one more droplet of venom, and I swear Knuckles will let you go." He smiled, placing a hand out to rub his nose. Vampire noses were extremely sensitive to touch, that was why they rubbed them on everything, and in Sonic and Shadow's case, on each other. Rubbing a Vampire's nose, sent tingles straight down their instincts, and was surprisingly calming to them, if their weren't so heavily wound up. But it did mean getting dangerously close to the teeth and venom. Sonic deeply purred and then blinked in acknowledgement. Suddenly, he squealed, now seriously fighting his instincts, and somehow managed to calm his body down. Knuckles was impressed, but they could both hear him heavily panting through his open jaws. But they had a matter of minutes. The Echidna gulped.
"Well done, Sonic." He praised, stroking the Vampire, but he growled. "Tails." He hissed. But the Fox was was still in deep concentration as finally, another venom droplet was forming on the fang. He frowned.
"Almost got it." He breathed, as he steadily removed the droplet and added it to the test tube and promptly sealed it. He heaved. "Now." He nodded, of which Knuckles promptly swung Sonic around by the scruff of the neck, him now badly hissing, and pointed his nose towards the open front door, and let him go. Sonic's, whose instinct's were desperate to get away from his captors, immediately ran for it, and was gone, and enormous sonic boom behind him. Both his friends were left panting with fright. That was close, but the Blue Blur had done exactly as he was asked, and maybe he could be trusted after all. They both stared at the deep yellow Vampire Venom on the test tube. What exactly were they dealing with?
Sonic was gone for several days. Neither Tails or Knuckles were surprised at this, as the Vampire had said that this might happen, as the examination was going to seriously shake up his instincts. But he'd done it, and no one got hurt. Sonic was deeply proud of himself, as he was in, what was now, his favourite hunting spot in Capital City, in the dead of night. No one really cared at all about that city, because he and Shadow had been hunting here for months now, and no one battered an eyelid. The random bodies with Vampire bite marks just got dumped in mast graves along with everyone else who died here, the local police force just wanting them gone.
But Sonic and Shadow were extremely careful about who they drank. They only ever picked off the street vermin. Tramps, homeless, and in Shadow's case, prostitutes. The people on the very bottom rung of society, that nobody cared about. Sonic's was skulking on the deep shadows, his instincts heavily flaring, and his stomach rumbling. His perfect night vision, spotting a victim. Time to calm everything down with some food, as he dug his now aching fangs deep into his neck, draining him dry.
He let him go, as the body fell dead, panting hard. He now felt so much better, but his stomach still rumbled, and he was now keen to eat his fill, before heading back home. Pushing the body out of sight, he disappeared into the shadows again, to hunt for further prey. He heaved, feeling desperately lonely. Hunting with Shadow was so much fun, but now, alone, it felt like just a necessity. A means to eat. He felt so bad. That these people had to die here, just to quench his hunger, so his friends could live. It didn't feel fair, but unfortunately, Sonic didn't have a choice, as he disappeared into the deep darkness of the city.
Rouge stayed at the Chaotix Detective Agency, and taking Shadow's advice, she didn't return to G.U.N. She sent in her resignation letter from Tails' House, which was immediately accepted. No surprise. The Ultimate Lifeform has scared her out of G.U.N. but it did prove that she had nothing to do with it. If she had, she wouldn't have resigned, wanting to spy on the organisation from within. No and now, hopefully, G.U.N. would leave her alone. But the spying was happening, just on her terms, not theirs.
But G.U.N. did come looking at the Fox's place, and unsurprisingly, found nothing. She smirked. She knew the trio. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. They were good, and showing that absolutely nothing was untoward was right up their street. But Vector got wind of the fact that they had examined Sonic as a full Vampire, which meant the teeth. He was a large, green-skinned Crocodile with spiky red scales down his tail and golden-coloured eyes. His belly, snout and arms are light green, while the rest of his body is dark green. Vector wore small, black shoulder pads, white gloves with black-and-orange cuffs, embellished with gold buckles as well as black shoes figured with white and orange colours. He wore a gold chain around his neck, serving as his trademark accessory alongside his pair of black-and-grey wireless headphones, and the Crocodile is rarely seen without one or the other. He heaved.
"Brave souls." He praised, to much agreement of Espio and Rouge, but they all knew it had to be done. They needed to fully understand Sonic to stand any chance of truly befriending, and then ultimately, trusting him. Then, maybe, if they learned how one Vampire ticked, the more willing, then they stood a chance of surviving the other. Shadow. But it was a few days later, that things really got strange.
Eggman.
His death made international news, front page headlines around the world, and even though there were expecting a coverup, they weren't expecting what they got. Espio's eye widened. The purple Chameleon had a yellow horn between his gold eyes. His muzzle and the heart-shaped pattern on his torso are peach in colour. He had a ridge of three black spikes going down his spine and a coiled tail. He wore dark purple shoes with black accents, metal-reinforced arm bracers, and white gloves with dark purple pads on the backs. Around his wrists and ankles are bandage-wrapped cuffs with gold studs on the lower bands. He gulped.
"Accidental poisoning." He stammered, looking around, as the newsreel on the television ended. They all stared at each other. There was no mention of Shadow, Rouge or even G.U.N. They had been expecting that Shadow would, at least, have been accused, as a suspect, leading to a worldwide manhunt, but nothing. But Vector was heaved. "But he murdered the guy." He spat. But Rouge frowned.
"I know. But I think G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities want to keep a lid on this as much as possible, not wanting anyone to know their true plans. They know Vampires exist, well, one anyway, but they don't know who it is. They think he got to Eggman, hence the poisoning line, with the Vampire Venom. The accidental death ploy is to stop people from looking further into it, as a possible murder case would. But if Shadow is right, and they want to capture the Vampires and corrupt them against us, then they will have the ultimate weapons, to force the rest of us into line." She stuttered, terrified. "But I don't think that would happen. In reality, millions would die. Sonic and Shadow would just slaughter everyone. What G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities don't know and what I now suspect, is that breaking a mind of a Vampire won't make them obedient. The instincts are just too strong. When Shadow was in Tails' House, I saw him completely succumb to them, when he interacted with Sonic, and he never bends to anyone or anything out of choice. Corrupt the Vampires, their minds will break, but they'll cease to exist and the instincts would just take over, turning them into." She stammered, of which Vector gulped hard, cutting right across her.
"Mindless Monsters. Killing machines." He cried, and then gritted his teeth. "We need to stakeout that facility." He spat, everyone agreeing. Only then would they really know what was going on.
After leaving Tails' House, Shadow headed for the Ark, and immediately ran straight for the main computer console. He pointed the space colony's power cameras at G.U.N. Headquarters, and to his delight, saw them in utter panic. He smirked. That will teach them to cross him again but he had a hunch that this wasn't the last he'd see of them. There was more going here, hence he suspected he may have to completely destroy them all. He hadn't intended to, not in this first round, just take out it's foundations. Shake G.U.N. to the core. Well, he succeeded, as he saw everyone grieving down in the Headquarters. He smirk broadened in evil glee, but then he caught himself in a nearby mirror. He stared.
He looked identical as he did before, and yet he felt so different. He'd overheard Sonic's confession of what he'd done to him, and now he was deeply curiously as to what had actually happened. Time his analysis his own D.N.A.
He was gobsmacked, his jaw hitting the floor. His new Vampiric D.N.A. was reading completely differently to his old D.N.A. on file. If Shadow didn't know any better, it looked as though they were two entirely separate people. That's why he felt so strange. Not only was Gerald's preprogramming was gone, but everything was gone. His genetic engineering, which was obvious to see on his D.N.A., the chemical locks on his brain, his emotional restrains, even the Black Arms blood. Everything had been melded together, and then exploded as pureblood Vampire. His D.N.A. looked as though he'd been born one. Correction. Reborn one. All the abilities and powers acquired from his original creation he'd kept, but they then had been enhanced by the Vampire D.N.A. he'd been given.
He searched his original D.N.A. for Vampire. He found it. It was a small amount. Just enough was added to enhance his Super-Speed beyond the normal. That was it. But despite it's insignificant presence, it had enhanced more then just the speed. Shadow could smell Vampire on Sonic long before anyone else, and the instincts were there, just dormant. He was stunned that Sonic could even smell it on him, but considering, as he knew now, how incredible Vampire senses are, he wasn't that surprised. He thought his old senses were good before. He smirked. Not even close.
He heaved, rubbing his face, finding his nose rather sensitive to touch. It sent tingles though his instincts. He shuddered. His new instincts have been an absolute pain to control and sometimes, quite frankly, he couldn't. There were so strong that Shadow's fights against them yielded nothing. But often he didn't actually want to fight them. They lined up so perfectly with his preexisting killer instinct, that they really put the joy in the hunt. Now, not only was he now completely free, with free-will, but so too were his emotions and they had been all over the place, especially with his blood brother.
Yes, even he'd noticed the sudden warm in his own voice, and it blew his brain. Before, he physically couldn't put any warm in there, due to the emotional constraints but now, it screamed every time, clearly showing that he did actually care. He did before, it just didn't show, and the sudden sense of humour. Well, that was just fun, especially winding up his blood brother and his friends.
Sonic. The Vampire now meant the world to him, giving him this unbelievable gift, but he was desperately struggling seeing his friends as nothing more then food. Truthfully, that's all they were, but the Blue Blur, they were so much more then that. Shadow, still feeling heavily indebted to Sonic for this change, incredibly undeserving, knew exactly how to make it even, certainly in his eyes. If the Blue Blur didn't want him to feast on his friends, then quite simply, he wouldn't. Shadow did want their trust again, and if making such a promise again, was what it was going to take, then so be it. There were many more people out there he could feed on.
He smirked. The blood. Wow, he loved it. He didn't need to eat as much or as often as Sonic, but the utter joy of draining someone dry, thrilled him more then anything, though the fangs and the constant weird taste of his own venom had taken some getting used to. He didn't bother testing his own deep, dark orange Vampire Venom. He didn't need to. It perfectly did it's job and so long as it killed and quickly, he didn't really care. He frowned, now curious, as he set up a body scan, and got in it. He blinked. It was again completely different to his previous scan on file, which is brought up side-by-side on the monitor. He gasped. Everything had changed. Feeding directly off Chaos had left Shadow with barely any stomach, and specialist organs just under his skin, all over his body, to process it. Now they were all gone, his stomach was significantly larger and his body was perfectly designed to highly efficiently process the haemoglobin in fresh blood, which was what nourished him.
He looked back in the mirror and deeply relaxed, which is found surprisingly easy. Suddenly, his fangs retracting back inside his jaws and the sharp redness in eyes settled, them going back to the stunning crimson they were before. He smirked, incredibly evilly, on the outside, absolutely identical. On the inside, everything had changed. He growled. Yes, he was definitely paying the Blue Blur back for this, and as he looked down as his wrist, he hissed.
Suddenly, he exploded his fangs and dug them deeply side his own wrist. He pulled away, opening a compartment on the computer console and allowed his own blood to pour into it. Once full, he licked his wrist, which immediately stopped the bleeding, and within minutes the wound had full healed, looking as though the bite had never even existed. No scars, marks, nothing. Shadow blinked. He could self-heal before but not that fast. He smirked, yet another Vampire quirk. Suddenly, he attacked the computer, reprogramming the entire Ark, within an inch of it's life. Time to take back what was his.
But it took far longer then expected and by the time he was done, nearly a week had past. He swore, turning the Ark's cameras back on the G.U.N. Headquarters. He should have been watching them but he got so heavily distracted, that he'd forgotten all about it. The trucks of personal had already left so Shadow had missed his opportunity to follow them to their new Headquarters. He swore again. He knew they'd leave, he frightened them enough into moving on. But to where? A search of the surrounding area with the Ark's cameras gave nothing. He looked at anything that could give a possible hint as to where they could have gone. He growled, frustrated.
He knew better, but it seemed that his new Vampire body was much more easily distracted then his previous highly engineered form. He hissed. Never again, but still, as he thought, suddenly having all this freedom, he wasn't that surprised he got distracted. Again, something he'd have to get used to. He heaved, as the Ark's camera failed to find anything. It looked like he'd have to go down there and see. He didn't particularly want to, but if he really wanted to know the truth about that organisation and his corruption theory, he have to investigate.
He relaxed again, removing his fangs from his mouth and out of sight. That was getting easier. Hiding his true form. Suddenly, he concentrated and then vanished into thin air. There was a flash of bright white light and suddenly, Shadow landed. He immediately hid in the shadows. He wasn't far from the entrance of the G.U.N. Headquarters, and surprisingly the place was quiet. All of the carnage that Shadow had left behind on his last visit, had been cleared away and everything was spotless. But there was no one around. A few guards at the front, but not the hive of activity it used to be. He slipped pass them into the foyer, down into the tunnels and bunkers. The whole place had been cleared out. G.U.N. had vanished. They had moved their Headquarters to somewhere else, and they had gone extremely quickly.
This had all been preplanned. Shadow shrugged. That would make sense. If the first Headquarters became compromised, then better to quickly run to a second, and get back up and running as soon as possible. But where was the second Headquarters? Looking around, Shadow had no idea. There was nothing to give him any indication as to where it was. Here, it looked like they were just finishing clearing out, and within days, it would be abandoned. He growled. He needed to track G.U.N. down and fast. He wasn't finished with them yet. Suddenly, he heard deep voices walking towards him, as Shadow immediately dived for the shadows and out of sight. He didn't see to whom the voices belonged to but he definitely knew them. They stopped very close to him, but didn't see him, them having no idea he was even there. One was General Xander, the Badger's voice still broken, obviously still grieving the death of his son, and the other voice, was new, but Shadow knew him, having only met him the once. The Chief Executive of the Mobian Authorities himself, Lionel. He was an enormous Lion, in a dark, grey suit, with a jet black mane and angry flaming red eyes. Shadow hugely despised him, but to be honest, everyone did.
He silently waited as they passed his hiding place. But Lionel was fuming.
"Any luck in finding that dam Ultimate Lifeform yet?" He spat. Shadow sniggered, hissing slightly. Good description. But the Badger whimpered, sniffing hard
"No, nothing, sir. He's just disappeared into thin air. We've searched Eggman's territory, remote logged into the Ark and visited that two-tailed Fox's house, nothing. They haven't seen anything." He explained. Shadow smirked. They hadn't remote logged into the Ark at all. He now had complete control of the space colony and had sent them a fake feed. But the Lion wasn't happy. He growled.
"And you believe them? Shadow has been known to join them in fighting Eggman." He hissed. But General Xander just gulped.
"That is true, sir, yes. But there had been rumours flying around for months, that their relationship had become incredibly strained. Differing opinions in tackling the Human, and the Ultimate Lifeform was no longer welcome there. So the Hero of Mobius and his friends not seeing or even being involved with Shadow is entirely plausible." He summated.
Shadow smirked. That was completely true. He had been seriously pushed his luck with Sonic and company, just before he was changed into a Vampire. They had only just reconciled, so no one outside of the group knew, hence them letting him into the house, when he was first tracking down the Vampire. Shadow had been wanting to murder Eggman back then, and obviously they didn't, and so they had kicked him out. A series of coincidental events which now seems to playing right into his favour and getting G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities off their backs. Lionel smiled, satisfied.
"Very well." He hissed. "They obviously know nothing." He heaved. "Anything on the Bat?" He asked. Again, the Badger sighed.
"Rouge?" He asked, the Lion nodded. He heaved. "I don't think she's involved either. I saw her run from this place in terror as soon as she realised it was Shadow, and we got her resignation within hours. If they were working together, she would have stayed. He scared her into fleeing, not wanting anything more to do with him. Sir, she's dropped off the radar, but we haven't chased it because I believed Shadow took out G.U.N. alone." He explained. But the Lion raised an eyebrow.
"Alone?" He asked "He had an accomplice." He hissed but the Badger stared at him. He gulped.
"The Vampire?" He stammered. The Lion nodded. General Xander when white. "Sir, we still don't know who he is, and unfortunately, any further examinations can't be done, as the vile of Vampire Venom was found mysteriously empty, but he slaughtered most of the victims. Bike marks on nearly every corpse. I don't know what Shadow did to him, but the Vampire did exactly what he wanted. The electrics were out, so no footage was caught of them, and the handprint, the Vampire left behind, yielded nothing either." He heaved.
Shadow frowned. Well, that was interesting. They couldn't tell the difference on the victims that there was actually two Vampires from the bike marks. Not just one, as Shadow had drained his own fair share of people. He smirked. Seemed that he and the Blue Blur were more alike then he'd realised, despite the fact that they definitely not related. Extensive D.N.A. testing had been done on the pair, when Shadow very first showed, and it had all proved negative, even with all the Ultimate Lifeform's genetic engineering. The only they had in common was that they were both Hedgehogs, or this case Vampires. It meant that Shadow could now portray both if he needed to. He smirked broadened, that suited him.
But the Lion growled.
"So, in other words, find the Ultimate Lifeform, find the Vampire." He hissed. Shadow sniggered. Right and yet so wrong, in so many ways. But Lionel snarled. "I want that Vampire. If the Ultimate Lifeform can influence him, then so can we. The Mobian Authorities can't go ahead with it plans with either of them on the loose. As events have recently proved, we would just be slaughtered. The trails with the new recruits have proved highly successful. The corruption machine using the five Chaos Emeralds, had been breaking those students with ease, giving us expendable, loyal soldiers. Any luck in finding the other two emeralds, we will need them to have any chance of taking down the Ultimate Lifeform and his Vampiric friend." He hissed. But General Xander when white.
"Yes, but..." He stammered, but the Lion rounded on him, roaring. He growled.
"But?" He spat. The Badger whimpered, absolutely terrified.
"Sir, the Hero of Mobius had one Chaos Emerald." He stammered. But the Lion thought.
"Ok, not that surprising." He growled, but the Badger when white.
"And Shadow has the other. He never goes anywhere without one." He gulped, to extensive swearing from the Lion.
Shadow gulped. Not anymore. He surrendered the Chaos Emerald when he no longer needed it. But now, he had to get it back. Both, in fact, and urgently. He heaved. His brother was not going to like it, but Shadow feared what underhanded tactics the Mobian Authorities would use on the Blue Blur to force him to hand over the emeralds. With that corruption machine, they would definitely threaten to break one of his friends, which in turn, would severely anger his instincts, potentially revealing him as a Vampire. He growled. He now had to keep the Mobian Authorities away from Tails' House as much as possible. They had gotten away with it once, a second time wasn't going to happen. Lionel heaved.
"That is problematic." He growled. "There wasn't the any plans on breaking the Blue Blur, but I guess needs must. He would take Shadow down for us." He sniggered. Then he rounded on the Badger. "Get those Chaos Emeralds, and then we can move onto Phase Two." He ordered, of which the Badger immediately ran off as the Lion, then turned and walked the other way.
Shadow's temper exploded as he roared in silent anger, his Vampiric instincts desperately wanting to tear that Lion's throat out. His eyes glowed as he deeply growled under his breath. The Blue Blur was his, and his alone. Sonic had chosen him, as blood brother, and absolutely no one was touching him. His friends were of no threat to him, and now Shadow was missing him, finally realising just how highly-social Vampires actually were, and why Sonic really gone after him. Vampires had evolved to work together in teams, especially the males, to bring down prey and find food, especially for the females during breeding. He sniggered.
Maybe getting his brother involved might be advantageous, but he'd have to time it, beautifully, to get the most out of his comrade. Unfortunately, Shadow didn't find out where G.U.N. new Headquarters were, but that didn't matter as he vanished with a large flash of bright white light. They would come to him. But he landed right in the middle of Tails' House, making everyone jump, including his brother. Shadow scared him right out of his skin, causing his to bare his fangs, defensively hissing. Tails just stared as Knuckles heaved.
"Next time, warn us when your planning on doing that." He spat, as he put his arm around Sonic's torso from behind and began stroking the top of his head. Sonic immediately responded, purring, nuzzling into the Echidna's hand, calming right down. Shadow raised an eyebrow. He stared.
"Apologies." He heaved, truly meaning it, and then his cocked his head at the Echidna. "That's impressive." He smirked. Knuckles nodded. Seeing the look in the Ultimate Lifeform's face, immediately relaxed him. His fangs were gone, and there was warmth in his eyes. The harsh redness was no longer there. He genuinely now wasn't a threat to them. Knuckles heaved, still somewhat shaken by Shadow but smiled.
"Yes, we've been working a lot with him." He heaved, but suddenly he backed away from Sonic's nose. He squealed. "Hey, hey, no licking. His tongue is covered in venom." He gulped. "It's extremely potent." He gulped. "We analysed it. One drop would kill dozens of people." He stammered. Shadow blinked. If the Blue Blur's venom was that deadly, then his own must be off the charts. Now he understood why they were so frightened of him, but appreciated how calm and still they all were now. It looked like they had learned a lot about Vampires while he had been gone. But Sonic's instincts had still completely gotten the better of him. Shadow grabbed Knuckles's shoulder, as he smirked broadened. He squealed, but kept quite still, desperate not to make any sudden movements. Shadow sniggered.
"May I?" He asked, with a hint of a purr on his voice, to the Echidna's utter astonishment. He nodded, as Shadow let him go, and walked right over to his brother, who was still desperately licking his own nose, and placed his hand in the way. Sonic was immediately all over it, licking and purring like crazy. He smirked. "Your not the only ones learning how Vampires tick. We are highly social, group predators. Hunting for blood as a pair is significantly more efficient then alone, as I have since learned." He hissed. He'd missed Sonic, more then he realised. But Sonic just giggled as his instincts settled.
"Your coming round, Shads." He grinned. But the Ultimate Lifeform just rolled his eyes. He leered.
"So what if I am, Vampire. This time, it's my choice, rather then your persuasion." He hissed. "As we learn more, this place is becoming a much more pleasant. I understand why you sort friendship, in those that would normally be deemed as food. You were lonely, and if you really don't want me to harm them, then consider it done." He smirked. Sonic immediately grabbed the hand, pushed it aside and scrambled to his feet, facing his comrade, eye-to-eye. He was gobsmacked, gasping.
"Shadow, you gave me your word as a Hedgehog. Are giving it to me again as a Vampire?" He stammered, knowing exactly what that meant. Shadow's word was his bond. He never broke it, ever, whatever species he was. No matter what happened. They all stared with bated breath. Shadow's smirk broadened.
"I am." He heaved, meaning every word. "I enjoyed the trust and acceptance you afforded me before I changed. I had it nowhere else and I wish for it again." He admitted. That was true. They had indeed trusted him, even if they didn't approve of his methods, hence their disagreement before his change. Suddenly, Sonic threw his arms around him in an almighty hug. Shadow growled as it wasn't exactly comfortable. But Tails heaved.
"You do realised that won't happen overnight." He sighed. Shadow nodded. Yes, he knew, but Knuckles frowned.
"Why are you here?" He asked. Shadow scowled, pushing his brother off of him.
"G.U.N. are on their way back." He hissed. Everyone panicked. Sonic gulped.
"Why?" He asked, and Shadow then recounted word-for-word what he'd heard in their Headquarters. He knew it was safe to talk here. Always was. Any attempts to bug the place was a complete waste of time. Sonic always sniffed them out and destroyed them, and checked almost daily. Everyone was gobsmacked, but Sonic frowned.
"Rouge is staking out the training facility with the Chaotix." He informed. "But what's Phase Two?" He asked. Shadow shrugged.
"I have no idea, but I not liking the sound of it at all. I suspect that with seven Chaos Emeralds in that corruption machine, it would be powerful enough to break significantly stronger Chaos Creatures." He growled. But Tails heaved.
"Hence Phase Two." He gulped. "And as they gain control of those, it will avalanche as everyone succumbs and the Mobian Authorities gain full control of the planet. I suspect they wanted Eggman dead, to get him out of the way." He admitted, of which Sonic just hissed.
"Oh, I wouldn't be surprised." He growled. But Tails panicked.
"Sonic, the Mobian Authorities and G.U.N. mustn't find out your a Vampire. They will hunt you right across the planet if they did, potentially putting all our lives in danger. They would think nothing of corrupting or even killing all of us to get at you." He gulped. Shadow nodded.
"Agreed." He hissed, rather coldly. Suddenly, the Fox perked up, looking directly at the Ultimate Lifeform. He grinned.
"Shadow, I still have the two Chaos Emeralds and I am going to give them to you." He smiled, but Knuckles exploded. He growled.
"Tails." He hissed, but Tails immediately cut across him. He snapped at the Echidna.
"No, Knuckles, hear me out. Shadow, take the emeralds and get them far away from here. You said earlier that G.U.N. and the Mobian Authorities still don't think we're on speaking terms?" He asked. Shadow shook his head.
"No, why?" He wondered. Tails' smile turned into a full on grin.
"So, then let's not be. I have an idea."