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CHAPTER 12: Thieves of Babylon - Part 2
Station Square - Undisclosed Bar
~September 27, 19:19~
The bathroom walls and floor were caked in a layer of grim, stained with an unknown substance, and reeked of sewage. Even the stall walls were filthy, dilapidated. One had even collapsed, obscuring a broken toilet that sent an endless gush of brown, rancid liquid throughout the small space. The sound was like a roaring waterfall in the quiet. Amy stared at herself in one of the cracked mirrors, and couldn't recognize who stared back. Dark, ebony fur covered her from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes. Her quills had been cut a few inches to make her look more like Betty. She had also been told to not put any sort of product in her quills and to avoid washing them if she could. After two days of neglect and flat out purposeful dirtying, her quills had gotten to the right amount of ratty that was needed for the mission.
She turned to her side in the mirror, examining the new wardrobe that she'd picked out with Rouge that was good enough to pass for Betty's sense of style. A red leather jacket, her skirt and crop top. Almost makes me second guess my taste in fashion, she turned fully then and twisted her shoulder so that she could see the large, black, embroidered rose on her back. It had become a symbol of strength for her, a reminder that she was a changed person. She sucked in her breath, puffed out her chest and counted to ten. She could do this. She would be fine. She nodded and stepped out of the bathroom into the hall.
Instantly her nose was assaulted with the scent of tobacco, cheap booze, and vomit. The choppy, static sound of an old jukebox playing heavy rock rumbled beneath the noise of coughing, belching, and clinking of glass. She shivered and allowed herself one more moment of disgust before she needed to get into character. Betty Bang loved spending her evenings in greasy bars, Betty Bang wouldn't wrinkle her nose, or cry from hot smoke. Betty Bang would walk through the bar like she lived there in the slippery, tattered leather booths.
Amy walked past several booths, her knee high leather boots clicked along the dirty linoleum floors in what seemed like a siren call to the males in the joint, as most of them turned to watch her trek through the bar. Internally she felt their slimy gazes and wanted to run from there faster than Sonic running on free chili dog day. But she wasn't Amy Rose, she was Betty. She breathed deep and kept her head held high, giving a wink every now and then to an admiring eye.
She hated that they had to meet up off G.U.N. campus in such a seedy bar, but there was risk that if she left G.U.N. on the same day of their meeting with the Babylon Rogues that their cover would be blown. In fact, ever since she and Shadow had changed their appearance to match that of the twins, the two hedgehogs had been quarantined to Team Dark's headquarters just to ensure that no one saw them walking around as the twins in a place they shouldn't be. Being stuck with a quiet, grumpy hedgehog under the same roof… that had been a super fun couple of days. Rouge and Omega still carried on their duties at the main HQ, and the bat seemed to enjoy poking fun at the two hedgehogs whenever she was home about their "cohabitation." Even this bar had been Rouge's suggestion, and now Amy understood the slight mischievous smirk the bat had as she told them where to go.
By the time she made it to the far corner where she and Shadow had agreed to rendezvous, she felt like she'd aged a few years. She collapsed into the booth and pulled out her phone. The screen lit up showing a picture of herself holding up the certificate of completion from G.U.N. academy. In it, her quills were pulled back and she was wearing the formal G.U.N. uniform. A crisp, dark gray blazer, white collar shirt, and black pencil skirt. She had smiled from ear to ear for the picture, feeling light, successful, complete. The sight of it encouraged the ghost of a smile, but it couldn't match the smiling Amy then. Her smile now held a sinking melancholy that tugged at the corners of her lips. She had been alone that day. Watching as her fellow cadets grinned from ear-to-ear at their family and friends, embracing them and receiving bouquets of flowers. Unlike them, she had stood there off to the side, her posture perfect, and her arms folded around the hard frame of her achievement, watching them. Even now, she hadn't known if she was waiting for someone, hoping for someone to show for her with flowers in-hand, or if she'd simply tried to find her own joy from watching the others.
Alone. Just like how she was at this bar right now. She was always -
"Hey. Shouldn't you have turned that into Rouge before coming?"
She looked up to see two fierce emerald eyes staring down at her. Her heart skipped a beat for a minute, and she felt nostalgia hit her like a tsunami wave, chilling her from her toes to her nose. In an instant, all of her careful preparation and hardening of Betty's character flew from her mind, and shock filled her.
"Sonic?"
The eyes narrowed into a darker glare, and a growl emitted from the male as he plopped down in the booth across from her.
"Do I look like that bumbling imbecile to you?"
Amy blinked and felt her cheeks flush. Of all the people in her life, his voice was the most unmistakable. She had just called Shadow the Hedgehog the one person he probably hated as much as Eggman, "Sonic." Embarrassment washed over her, she couldn't believe she'd made such a mistake, and she knew she had to fix it quickly. Otherwise, she was terrified that he would make it nearly impossible to work together on the mission.
"S-sorry! I-I just -"
"Save it. Although I don't like admitting it, this damn style makes us look a little too similar for my tastes."
Her heart skipped a beat. Did he just… let it go? Immediately her face smoothed out and her heart rate dropped from full gallop to a leisurely stroll in two seconds flat. With the worst out of the way, she was able to study him more. He was right, his quills had been straightened from the usual up-curve they had. His quills were a little longer than Sonic usually had them, but they had the same shape. But it was his eyes that really made them look like twins. If it wasn't for the fact that his fur color was solid black, she could've sworn he was Sonic's body double.
This is not good for my heart.
"Omega disagrees with that statement. Sonic the Hedgehog and Agent Shadow are as different as day and night."
Amy flinched at the unexpected sound of Omega, and looked around for her robotic friend, but she didn't see him anywhere. She heard the sound of metal ting-ing together like small bells, and she looked to the right just in time to see a metallic hawk descend from the ceiling and onto Shadow's shoulder. The hawk looked like a true wild bird, a long graceful beak, and delicate looking wings covered in feathers. If it wasn't for the shining silver of metal and the red glow of robotic eyes, Amy would've mistaken it as for the real thing.
"Wow, Omega! You look so handsome!" She beamed brightly, again leaving her Betty persona behind.
"Handsome. Accessing the data from Amy Rose relation file, sub file, Starry Nights…"
Amy watched the bird tilt its head as it processed. This new body was definitely more expressive than his usual bulky, tank-like one.
"Analyzing complete. Thank you, Agent Rose for the compliment."
Amy smiled brightly at the bird, and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, "You're welcome, Omega."
Shadow had stayed silent throughout the whole exchange, choosing instead to watch the mannerisms of the girl in front of him. He didn't quite understand her. No, that implied there was some measure of comprehension, he definitely did not understand her. Her emotions seemed to change as quickly as a snap of the finger, and yet he had this weird suspicion that most of them were not real. As though she hid other intentions behind that sickeningly bright smile. It bothered him, especially since that time in the elevator a couple days ago. It made him feel like she was always scheming and planning, and he didn't know whether her intentions were good or nefarious.
"Omega, I didn't realize you had a pet name for Betty," Shadow gritted his teeth and stared at Amy pointedly, "Don't you think that's a little odd, Betty?"
At the sound of his voice, Amy visibly flinched and he could see her cheeks flushing beneath her peach colored fur.
"You're right, sorry Sh - I mean - Benny~"
Shadow nearly choked at the tone she used, he coughed and looked at her. At the exit of the name, her whole demeanor had shifted, and he could've sworn he felt the air around them become electric with some unknown allure. Her eyes were half lidded, a look he had seen many a time from Rouge.
"Right… well as long as you understand…" He couldn't meet her eyes and instead chose to cover his discomfort by plunging his hand into his leather jacket to pull out a small square box. It was metallic and when he snapped open the lid, two small circles rested in velvet. He reached up to his ear and pulled out his old ear piece. He rarely removed it, but Techno had insisted that he use the ones she'd just given him. Something about more advanced stealth technology and better handler control. He honestly didn't care, he just did as he was told.
After removing one of the circles he slid the box across the table to Amy. She blinked in surprise and glanced down at the box.
"That's our communication device for the mission," Shadow explained as he put his own in, "Rouge can control the power. She can turn it off if they scan for bugs without being suspicious, and we can turn it on again when it's safe to."
Amy nodded, and plucked hers from the case. He stared at her as she fumbled with the small piece before sticking it in her ear. Her eyes widened a bit,
"I can barely feel it! Usually these things irritate my ears but this one is comfortable."
Shadow grunted in acknowledgement and tapped his ear once to turn the device on.
"There's my favorite Hedgie," the irritating voice of Rouge slammed against his ear drum and he flinched.
"Could you turn the volume down, bat? You know how sensitive my ears are," he growled out of the side of his mouth.
He heard a chuckle which slowly lowered in volume as he listened.
"Okay, grumpy."
Amy grinned across from him, and Shadow felt a little heat rise to his face as he realized that Amy was listening to the conversation. He stood up abruptly and cocked his head to the door.
"Come on then, let's get this over with."
Station Square - Pier 97
~September 27, 20:03~
After checking with Rouge and leaving their personal belongings with her, Amy and Shadow walked down Pier 97 until they reached the end. Shadow turned and leaned his back against the wooden railing, closing his eyes. Omega, who was perched on Shadow's right shoulder, watched their surroundings, his glowing red eyes adding an eerie, evil hue across their quills. Amy leaned forward on the railing and looked out at the sea. She took a deep breath and admired the salty tingle that tickled her nose. She realized that she never really spent much time at the sea, firstly because Sonic wasn't a fan, and then because she had been so focused on her studies. But as she stood there, taking in the silver sparkles on the dark water, and the steady crash of waves on sand, she realized she quite liked it. She promised herself to come back and visit more often.
"Heads up."
She glanced to the side to see Shadow with his eyes still closed, but his long pointed ears were angled to the side. She looked in that direction and didn't see anything at first. Nothing but an empty pier shrouded in the dark. But then suddenly there was a gush of wind and two dark figures dropped from the sky in front of them. It'd happened so abruptly that Amy nearly flinched despite Shadow's warning. She had to force herself not to react alarmed as that wouldn't have been very "Betty" like. She watched as the two figures approached, saw that they were bird Mobians, and as they drew closer she watched as the feathers on their arms flattened and smoothed out, leaving just their gloved hands at the end. "Bird" Mobians were few and far between, and it was even rarer for them to have the ability of flight. Since there were so few of them, there was a legend that they are descended from another planet, and their genes have diluted over time. So she found it fascinating that these two had such a rare ability, and it was something she had never seen in person before. The feathers must only plume when they need them to.
"Well, well, well," the voice was peppy and husky with boyish charm, "I was surprised to see your interest in this little heist, Miss Betty." As his voice purred out the name, a mischievous grin spread across his face.
A cold chill rushed up her spine. Amy wasn't sure if it had to do with him already knowing her name or the very familiar look he gave her. Her eyes shifted to look at Shadow, but if he was alarmed, he wasn't showing it. A part of her wondered if maybe she'd just misheard him when Rouge confirmed her worry,
"Why does he know you? I thought Snow picked these identities because they didn't know about the twins."
Amy gulped and did her best to smirk knowingly at the hawk as he sauntered closer. Looking over his handsome features, she couldn't lie, her heart skipped a little. He had a sharp, but elegant, beak which was curved in a knowing smile, and his blue eyes shone like sapphires in the night. He was only slightly taller than her, and his forest green feathers were wind whipped as if to mimic the ups and downs of the wind or the torrential waves of the sea. He was leaning in far too close, and his scent filled her nostrils with the fresh crispness of rain and the bright smell of warmth, like the sun. She imagined if clouds had a scent it was this.
A part of her couldn't help wondering if it was her imagination. Normal mobians didn't smell like rain and sun. His head cocked to the side and his grin deepened, making Amy blush. Too late, she realized she'd been staring like an idiot when she was supposed to be working!
She tried to come up with something to say but was saved by an exasperated sigh next to him,
"Really, Jet? Is this girl another one of your… adventures?" Her question was mocking and her purple feathered arms crossed her chest. She stared at Amy without hiding her judgemental gaze. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with long feathers pulled back into two tails from her head, and sharp stormy blue eyes. Jet chuckled dismissively, never taking his eyes off of Amy. He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Amy. It took everything in her not to flinch. She was Betty, not Amy. Betty knew this touch. Betty would let him wrap an arm around her without so much as a how do you do. This was natural for Betty. Amy would just have to get used to it.
"Hmm, what can I say, when I see a spicy thing like this one, I just can't help myself," his eyes shifted to look her over with a sharp gaze. Amy had the strange feeling like he was undressing her with his eyes.
This is fine, Amy told herself as she struggled to relax under his gaze, I got this. Betty's got this!
"Besides, you know I have a thing for hedgehogs," He grinned down at her, and she tried to return the smile, but something must've been off with her expression, because suddenly a small light of suspicion flickered on his face. His eyes narrowed and his voice came forth with a slightly dangerous edge,
"Why am I getting the distinct impression that you don't remember me?"
Amy glanced over at Shadow, but the aloof male continued to stare at them without expression, no help offered in his cold emerald gaze. Worse, Rouge was commenting on possible strategies to move forward. They ranged from Jet bluffing about their relationship, to simply abandoning the undercover mission and reassessing how to move forward from the safety of the headquarters. Distantly, Amy marveled at Rouge losing her cool so quickly. She was even more shocked at how calm she felt in the face of her superior's lack of faith in her. It was as though the expectation of failure actually motivated Amy to take control of the situation. Besides, what were the consequences of her failure?
She could die, but what did that matter? That'd been a possibility for years, when had that ever stopped her? She could be tortured and be ridiculed as a failure. Well, what was one more incident? If this mission was doomed from the start then she would try to go as far as she could.
Let no one say Amy Rose wasn't willing to play a little Russian Roulette.
She broke her silence with an exasperated sigh before roughly shoving Jet away from her. Her lips only twisted into a crazed smile, one of her eyes squinted and her lip twitched as though she was unhinged at Jet's shocked look.
"Should I? Why should I be expected to remember one of the many 'friends' I've had? Do you remember every one of your little… 'adventures,' as you put it?" She noticed Wave flinched slightly, but she couldn't worry about that right now,
"Don't think you're special to me just because of a cocky grin and a couple free shots of tequila. You're just one of many to me."
Silence permeated the pier, and suddenly the gentle crashing of the waves had turned into loud bashes on her nerve wracked mind. Amy felt like she was being pierced from all directions by the four pairs of eyes that drilled into her. Finally, after staring at her with narrowed eyes, Jet's face broke into a grin and he shrugged. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a mocking pitiful look.
"It was whiskey sours, but I guess it would be easy to mix up, since you seem to get around so much."
Amy felt her cheeks flush hot red like a chili pepper, and she was about to defend herself when a deep, and pissed off voice growled from beside them.
"Get yer hands off my sister."
Suddenly Jet's hand was whipped into the air and Amy's view was cut off by long quills. She was surprised by how fast Shadow had moved, and by the odd inflections he put into his voice as he took on the Benny persona. Before, she'd felt overly exposed and alone, but now she felt a warmth spread from her heart and calm her nerves. She was being protected. She wanted desperately to hold on to that wave of calm, but that same, terrible voice in the back of her mind cackled and jeered, That's right… be protected. It's what you're best at anyway.
"Oh, my apologies," Jet mused, his tone was still bright but there was an edge to it now, "You must be the twin… Franny was it?"
"Benny," Shadow growled.
Jet shrugged, and yanked his hand from Shadow's grip. His head shifted to the side and he smiled sweetly at Amy.
"Sorry, Bet, I guess I just got a little hurt when you said that to me… I thought we had a nice night. I know I enjoyed myself."
"Don't talk to -"
"It's fine, Benny," Amy said, pushing forward. She gave Shadow a look that said 'you weren't helping before, so let me handle this.'
"Jet," Amy said, her voice softer now but still firm, "You're crazy if you think we could pick up where we left off. I'm a lady who likes her space."
Jet looked her over and then his grin turned mischievous, "Guess that's my answer for why you never called then."
Amy blushed again, Chaos, Betty! Just what kind of life do you lead? There had been plenty in the G.U.N. file about Betty's business and general attitude, but not much on her personal reputation. Which was fine, since the two thieves were supposed to be strangers to the Babylon Rogues. This is going to be a lot harder than we thought…
"Well," Amy purred, running a finger down Jet's chest. She watched as he stiffened and a hungry light sparkled in his eyes. It was better to get on his good side, and Amy wasn't naive, she guessed exactly what Jet was expecting from Betty.
"I think I'm regretting that a little, seeing how good you look with sober eyes," she deftly traced the tip of her finger along his beak, watching with pleasure as his feathers briefly rose at her touch. Just as quickly as she caressed him, she pulled back, resting her finger on her lips as though she were judging the best way to jump him.
"Nicely handled," Rouge sounded relieved, and Amy felt a little spike of pride at the compliment.
Jet's feathers ruffled a little, and he opened his mouth to say something when they were interrupted.
"As adorable as this little… reunion is, we do have business to attend to," Wave's voice was annoyed and urgent. She obviously had an issue with her partner's flirty behavior.
Jet rolled his eyes, and waved his hand.
"Okay okay," but then he took Amy's hand in his and pecked it with a smirk on his face, "Let's go to a more… comfortable space to conduct our business, shall we?"
Before she could answer, he turned, pulled her arms around his neck and yelled, "Hang on, toots!" His arms spread out and large feathers suddenly puffed out around her and the wind swirled around them, as they leapt through the air. Amy couldn't stop herself, a strangled yelp was pulled from her throat and Jet's laugh rumbled against her chest.
"If you could relax a bit, it'll be easier for me to stop from crashing."
Amy gulped, and loosened her iron grip on his neck. Her eyes were shut tight, Betty was gone and all she could think was, oh, Lord Chaos, please let me survive this, over and over again. Sometimes she'd throw in some wild promises too, as though trying to convince the god to look kindly upon her. She must've been muttering something without realizing, because after a few minutes, Jet chuckled and slowed his flight down a bit.
"What, too fast for you? Come on, Betty, quit being a scaredy-hog and take a look!"
Amy gulped, her mind was screaming, "Hell no!" but something in her heart tugged on her resolve and she slowly opened one eye. She gasped and her eyes fully opened. Below her were millions of silver specks on smooth ocean water, as though they were flying over a large sea serpent with shining scales. The wind was whipping through her quills, but it didn't scare her anymore, instead she forgot her fear and leaned her head back to gaze at the sky above. Stars like grains of sand were splashed across the black sky and they shone bright, uninhibited by the lights of the city. The effect left her feeling like they were soaring through liquid silver.
She shut her eyes again for a moment, just soaking it in and before she could remember who she was supposed to be and where she was, she rested her head onto soft feathers.
"Breathtaking isn't it?"
She started, and pulled her head back, grateful that Jet couldn't see the redness that flamed on her cheeks. She decided to not respond, worried she'd give herself away.
"My, my," Rouge's voice shattered whatever self-respect Amy still had, "quite the ladykiller isn't he?"
"Shut-up." Amy growled lowly.
"What was that?" Jet asked, his head angling to look at her with sharp blue eyes. Amy's chest squeezed.
"I said 'oh yeah.'" she supplied lamely. Jet didn't reply, but his head turned forward again.
"Smooth, real smooth," Rouge's tone was trembling as she held back laughter. Amy gritted her teeth, embarrassment flooding her body. She had completely forgotten that Rouge was listening to everything, and with a jolt, she realized that Shadow could too. He wasn't saying anything, and she panicked wondering what had happened to him.
"Hey, Jet?!" She yelled.
"You know you can speak in a regular tone, your mouth is right next to my ear."
"Right, sorry," She kicked herself again, would Betty apologize for yelling at people?
"It's fine, what's up?"
Amy shifted a little, and made sure to keep her voice steady.
"Is my brother coming too?"
Jet huffed, and said, "Although I would prefer it if he didn't, Wave is most likely taking care of him."
"I can confirm that," Rouge added.
"Good," Amy said in a stern voice, forcing herself back into Betty mode, "Cause I ain't doing this job without him."
Jet chuckled again, "What, did Mommy say you couldn't go out without your brother?"
Amy glared at him but refused to take the bait, "You have your partner, I've got mine."
Now Jet let out a mighty cackle and Amy started to feel a little annoyed. Was this bird taking her lightly?
"What's so funny?!" She demanded.
"Nothing, you just seem a little different is all."
Uh-oh, Amy's mind scrambled for a solution.
"Must've been the alcohol last time, baby. It always messes me up a little."
Jet hummed and his steady beating of his wings almost drowned out his voice,
"Well, I think I like the sober you better." He glanced over his shoulder at her and gave her a wink. Amy shivered, and felt her heart squeeze a little. Calm down, crazy thing, she chided herself.
She was about to reply when his head and right wing gestured ahead without breaking flight.
"There she is, Miss Esmeralda."
Ahead of them, almost cloaked by clouds, was a massive flying ship. It was shaped like an almond and made of green metal, and large silver wings spanned out the sides. The wings didn't move, but hundreds of propellers spanned the wings and machine. It shone in the moonlight like a large silver castle in the sky. The stars around it seemed to sparkle brighter, and the reflection of the water below gave it the effect of floating through the cosmos.
Amy stopped herself from gasping out loud, she'd already gone off book too many times that night. She didn't know if it was because it was her first real undercover mission, or all the unexpected twists that had been thrown at them. But she did know something was getting her off her game. Or a handsome, cocky someone. The voice that was all too loud teased.
Amy gulped, and tried to avoid looking at Jet as they approached the airship. He was handsome for sure, she'd thought so the first time she'd seen his picture in the file, but what was it about this bird that just set her heart crazy? She hadn't been affected this deeply when studying his information, she'd only gotten this way from the moment he'd landed in front of her. She caught a whiff of his scent, and felt a tingle down her spine.
Get it together, Agent Rose, she thought, mentally punching herself in the face, You have one job. Finish it.
Finally, after a couple more minutes of silent air travel, Jet expanded his wings wide in order to gently float down onto a small landing deck below the belly of the ship. As soon as his large red boots landed, Amy pushed herself off and pretended to get busy fixing her quills.
Jet watched her, an amused grin on his face, and his arms crossed against the soft downy feathers on his chest. Amy tried not to look from the corner of her eye, but completely failed. When she finally gave up and turned to face him, a large grin spread across his face, and his arms spread wide in a dramatic flourish.
"Welcome to my home!"
…
Shadow the Hedgehog hated flying. He would never admit this out loud, but the lack of his feet touching solid, reliable ground put all of his nerves on edge. Still worse was the strange bird carrying him. She was smaller than him, and he couldn't help but imagine her dropping him into the salty expanse below over and over. His options for rescuing himself were limited. One Chaos Control was all it would take to blow their cover and the mission would be ruined, with the Pink Wonder still in that parrot's clutches. Ah yes, he'd almost forgotten the worst part. He had to sit there and listen through the earpiece while flirting and awestruck gasps made his stomach turn and he had to force himself to stop from growling.
He tried his best to ignore it by watching Omega try and keep up behind them, but after the irritating exchange between Rouge and Amy, he decided to reach up and turn the damn device off. It hardly mattered if Rouge was listening into his side of things, since he and the swallow flew in complete and utter silence. Both of them were extremely uncomfortable with the situation. After the two had left, they'd stood staring at each other for a while before the bird had sighed and explained what they had to do. Shadow was impressed with her ability to carry him on her back seemingly without much trouble.
After several minutes of awkward silence, a large airship came into view, and without being told, Shadow knew that was their destination. As they got closer to a deck that jutted out from the underside of the ship, he could see the hawk and her Royal Prissiness herself standing together talking. As he watched, the arrogant bird pushed open a door leading into the ship and turned to offer his hand to Amy. She hesitated, and then looked around, Shadow felt something hard form in his stomach as he could identify the blush hiding beneath her fur. She took his hand and they slipped into the ship. It irritated him that she seemed to be playing along with the hawk's courtship game, it didn't make sense to him.
Still, it was odd to see the perfect pink princess be so damn forward. He suddenly regretted leaving her alone with picking the play to handle the situation on the pier. She was the newbie afterall, and he wanted to see how she responded under pressure. Certainly had nothing to do with that fuck up on HQ's part. He could handle curveballs just fine on his own. It was her he'd been worried about. He did admit that Amy had at least avoided them getting busted, but he hadn't been happy with her method. He had enough of that flirty behavior in Rouge, and he dreaded gaining another female partner that chose to solve everything with their feminine charm. Honestly, how long until she got too comfortable and started pulling that shit on him?
The thought died the moment he and the swallow landed with a thump on the deck. Shadow quickly jumped away from his impromptu flight partner to compose himself. Omega glided down and perched back on top of Shadow's shoulder just as Wave turned back to look for him. She scowled at the sight of the metallic bird before shaking out her feathers and waved her arms in a stretch as the long feathers seemingly melted back into her limbs. After some time in silence, she jerked her head to the door.
"Come on, then. Let's get this over with."
As they entered the ship, Shadow had to suck in his breath and clench his fists to avoid turning quill and running away. They were standing in a small, cramped hallway that was barely lit by a weak, flickering light overhead. The floor angled upwards, leading into the main body of the ship. The swallow seemed unconcerned, and made her way confidently through the hall. Shadow watched her get further away from him and he willed his legs to move, but they stood still at the open door. The cool night air was softly caressing his back and it seemed to call to him, to pull him back out into the open expanse of the ocean.
A sudden gust of strong wind slammed the door shut and it snapped him from his indecision. He launched forward and hurried up the hallway as though something were giving him chase. He caught up with the swallow in no time and was lucky enough that they'd reached the end of the dark hallway. She opened the door and they stepped into a large room. The floor was covered in an emerald green rug that looked like it could line the floor of a throne room. Gold thread created tribal designs around the edges, and gave the impression of something priceless. The walls had several doors leading to different areas of the ship and the front was a wall of windows looking out over the sea. Beneath the windows was a long row of blinking lights, knobs and switches informing Shadow that those were the control panel of the ship.
The walls surrounding the room were covered with relics, paintings, artifacts and other contraband. There was even a display case to the right that contained something that looked suspiciously like the turquoise chaos emerald. The center of the room was taken up by a large golden table in the shape of a circle. It had piles of papers, maps and odd knick knacks strewn across the surface. But the one thing that held Shadow's attention the most was the couple leaning up on the table.
The green hawk's back was to them, and he was leaning forward, both hands resting on the table on either side of a black hedgehog. Suddenly the trauma of the hall was the furthest thing from Shadow's mind, and as he and the swallow entered the room, he couldn't tear his eyes from Amy. Her face was split in a smile that Shadow could only interpret as loose, and one of her hands rested on the hawk's arm, the other on his chest. Her eyes seemed to twinkle in a way he had only seen them do in front of a certain unmentionable blue imbecile. He felt a familiar annoyance at the scene bubble up, just as it had anytime the girl had appeared in front of Sonic in the past. Amy Rose never changed.
He wanted to say something to interrupt them, but something caused Amy to look up. Instantly he detected a look of relief flicker briefly on her face and the next thing he knew she was pushing the hawk aside and rushing to his side. She grabbed hold of Shadow's arm and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Aw, there you are Benny Boo~ I was worried my big bro had gotten lost."
Shadow had a cocktail of emotions suddenly slosh up to the surface. Confusion that she was acting so relieved to see him, annoyance at the feel of her hugging his arm (not to mention the softness of her chest on his bicep), and the temptation to shove her off of him and growl in frustration. Another was annoyance that he'd been wrong about her once again. But he was also highly aware of the situation, and knew that she was merely playing a part. The Bang twins were supposedly inseparable and highly codependent on each other. It was such a rumored behavior of theirs, that it would be odder for Amy to act distant or aloof with him. He groaned under his breath, this was going to be the worst mission of his career, stuck with the most unpredictable, irritable wench for a partner and a "sister." After the mission he was going to have to spend several days isolating himself in order to purge the memories.
The hawk stared at them with an odd light in his blue eyes, but Shadow narrowed his gaze. The green male shrugged, and turned his attention to the purple bird who'd completely ignored everyone in the room and had gone over to the control panel to check up on the ship. Shadow remembered that she was the mechanic, and he suddenly had the hope that she was a good one. The last thing he needed was this pile of scrap metal falling into the sea. Heights and cramped places… two more checks on the list of reasons this mission sucked.
"Wave, how's she looking?"
The swallow huffed, and twisted a knob, "All's well. Thankfully we weren't gone long enough for Storm to mess with any of the settings or the autopilot."
"That's good," the hawk nodded and then turned a smirking face in their direction, "Storm's our other partner, he means well, but he's a bit clumsy on a good day."
"And plain destructive on a bad one," murmured the swallow as she adjusted yet another setting, "If I have to recalibrate one more engine because he wanted the room to sound less 'quaky' I might lose all the feathers on my head."
The hawk laughed, and patted the grumbling bird on her shoulder, and then walked back to the table while waving his hand.
"Now, before we get started, I have some basic things to go over with you two, so pay attention."
Amy and Shadow looked at each other, and walked over. As Omega made a small trilling sound and transferred from his shoulder to Amy's, Shadow took note that Amy was careful to keep him between her and Jet. He wondered just what had happened between the two of them after he'd shut off his ear piece. He tried not to think of the compromising scene he had found them in moments before.
"Here we go," the hawk exclaimed as he held up a black metal rod he'd uncovered from a pile of documents. Shadow instantly recognized it as a bug detector and gave a quick glance to see if Amy had figured that out as well. She gave him a small nod, barely noticeable, and then she made a loud and exasperated sigh.
"Oh come on Jetty, what's with the detector? I thought you trusted me."
Shadow hoped that Rouge had gotten the message and turned off Amy's ear piece. The hawk grinned at Amy and stepped forward with the wand in hand.
"Come on Bet, I'm just honoring your feelings!" he mocked with a suggestive grin, "It's like you said, 'We can't just pick up where we left off.'"
Amy grumbled playfully, a school girl playing hard to get rather than an agent facing her potential doom. Inwardly she quaked in a low panic as the scanner passed slowly over her body, barely noticing that Omega had been completely omitted from the screening. After she and Shadow had passed the full body scan, they all took seats around the table. The swallow walked over as well and planted herself as far away from the others as possible. "We gonna get Storm to come down here?" She asked, as she kicked her feet up onto the table.
The hawk glanced above him as though listening for something, before he shook his head, "Nah, let's let the big guy sleep. Besides, it's best not to confuse him with lots of details and just give him simple instructions when it's time."
"So, now that everyone's comfortable, what the hell is that?" The swallow asked, pointing to Omega who was currently perched on Amy's shoulder.
Amy defensively held a hand up to Omega but her voice remained level, "Kinda late to be bringing that up, don't you think?"
"Some of us were… distracted," She replied, pointedly glaring at the green hawk. He merely shrugged but rested his chin in his hand as he looked at the metal bird as well. A cold edge overtook her face in what Amy could barely call a smile as Wave mocked, "But then, I think it's better that we discuss it now. Home turf and all that, you understand."
Amy's eye twitched as she caught the full scope of the threat, "He helps Benny to hack higher level security systems, and his scanning technology is better than state of the art," Amy stated, doing her best to keep her tone confident and strong.
Wave stared at her with cold blue eyes, "I don't trust anything I haven't built myself."
"The bird stays," Shadow interjected. Wave turned her attention to Shadow and her legs fell from the table to be replaced with her hands. She leaned forward, a forced smile on her beak.
"Then you need to let me have a look-see before I approve of it staying."
"Not happening," Shadow shot back.
"Then we don't need your help."
The two glared at each other in silence, a battle of wills erupting across the table. Amy kept her facial expression stiff, but internally she was panicking. All her fine work getting them both out of the frying pan with Jet, and Shadow was sticking them into the fire with Wave? Did he want them to fail?!
She wished that Rouge was still in her ear, she could really use her advice right now. Amy glanced at Jet to see if he'd jump in, but he was just leaning back, his expression almost pleased. Did he want Benny gone? Her eyes scrambled over the table when something caught her eye. It was a blueprint of some building. She didn't want to spend long looking at it in fear that she would look suspicious, but the layout had given her an idea.
"That's fine," She said, leaning back and smiling with humor. Her arm came up and she held it place as Omega shifted to perch on her forearm. His metallic talons threatened to tear into her jacket, but she just pet his head like she was extremely bored. She didn't feel nervous anymore. She'd trained for this, and she could feel that training kicking in as a plan slowly clicked into place.
"Good," Wave said finally, and she leaned back, "I'm glad you understand. We can talk when you get rid of him."
"Oh no, doll," Amy said with a mockingly honeyed voice, "You completely misunderstand me."
"Excuse me?" Wave responded incredulously.
"We're a package. I already told you that he helps us to break into safes. Even safes like the Dragon's Hoard 36LJ." Amy's devious smirk widened as she saw the two thieves flinch and glance at each other. She'd recognized that same safe on the blueprint before them, and had taken a gamble on whether the job they needed the twins for included it. They're reactions confirmed her suspicions.
"You've run into one of these beauties before?" Jet challenged, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.
"To my knowledge," Amy continued, "it's human military grade, with only five currently known on Mobius, not to mention the little known secret three others that are closely kept knowledge to the tycoons that own them. Each one is specifically modified differently by their owners, making it impossible to crack it with normal methods."
There was a sharp silence in the room as she paused for effect. She could tell that Jet was cautious of her knowledge, but there was a glint of greed in his eyes that told her he was hanging on her every word.
"You need two experienced safe breakers," Amy continued, "Word on the street is that you have done your fair share of thefts in stores and museums. But that's small fry compared to what we've done."
At this statement, Wave seemed to recover herself, and it was her turn to give a shit eating grin.
"Oh?" She inquired, her arms folding across her chest, "and just what might those have been? Unfortunately 'word of the streets' about you two is sorely lacking."
"We aren't stupid enough to get caught," Shadow countered. Amy looked over at him, grateful he was working together with her finally.
"How convenient," she drawled, a twitch developing on the upper part of her beak, "Name one job you've done in the last year."
"Jupiter's Tears." Shadow replied without hesitation.
The two bird's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. That was an unsolved theft of an incredibly rare ruby bracelet owned by one of the richest Mobians on the planet, Jasper Finnick. Each ruby on the bracelet was of the finest quality and it was said that the jewels were so old that their origin is unknown. They'd been turned into a bracelet as a gift by some king for his queen 500 years ago. The bracelet mysteriously disappeared 200 years later. Only the underground network knew that Jasper had found them, and even fewer people knew that it'd been stolen from him. No one knew who the thief was, many had come forward with assumptions but all had been proven false. Lucky for them, they were three of only four people who knew the truth. One of them being their very own live-in thief, Rouge the Bat.
It'd been pulling teeth to get the bat to agree to this plan. There were very few things she could steal without G.U.N. catching wind of it, and so each jewel was like her own child. She'd finally caved after they'd promised not to lose or leave a scratch on her 'cute little babies.'
Amy reached into her sleeve and pulled the bracelet off her wrist and placed it gently on the table in front of her.
"Read it and weep, doll."
Jet leapt forward, and snatched the jewelry off the table. He couldn't hide his greed or excitement anymore. He looked over the golden ring with intense eyes and careful fingers. The rubies were each the size of bottle caps. They were imbedded into a golden ring, and they shone a deep almost sinister crimson, the shade of freshly spilt blood. Jet ran his finger across each gem, and then motioned silently to Wave. The swallow rolled her eyes, but got up and pulled from a shelf a jeweler's magnifying glass. She tossed it in Jet's direction, and without looking up, he caught it in his free hand.
Jet cocked his head to get a better angle as he squinted through the glass at one of the rubies. After spending a couple minutes on each one, he carefully placed the jewelry on the table and his beak hung slightly open.
"Well?" Wave asked impatiently.
"It's not a fake…" There was awe in his voice, something that seemed very unusual for the hawk if the look of shock on Wave's face said anything. His hand still rested on the bracelet, but Amy touched him briefly as she slid it from underneath his grasp.
"Well," she said as she slipped the bracelet back on, and started to get up, "This has been fun, Jet-babe. But like I said… I guess we just won't work out."
Shadow stood also, giving a glare to the birds, and the two hedgehogs turned to leave.
"Wait!" Jet shouted, his voice cracking with excitement. They turned, and Amy wanted to laugh at the look of embarrassment on the hawk's face. Now the tables were turned, and she found a sick pleasure in making him squirm.
Jet cleared his throat, and his voice returned to its normal husky tone, "You're serious about not leaving the robot behind?"
Amy nodded, "Couldn't have done it without him. Take it or leave it, toots." The silence spanned between them and she couldn't help but revel in the pleasure of the tension. Win or lose, she could sit in this excitement forever if she needed to. Finally, finally she had some Chaos-damned power.
Jet held her gaze as her confidence refused to waver. Finally his eyes dropped off and he gave a resigned smile.
"Well alrighty then."
"Jet!" Wave protested, but Jet raised his hand.
"Wave, that's enough. They're the real deal."
"But -"
"Wave!" Jet interrupted with a stern voice. It sounded weird coming from the normally laid back hawk, but his eyes had taken on that of a predator, and Amy repressed a shiver of fear. Wave shrunk back a little, and she didn't argue further.
"So," Amy said, trying to lighten the mood with an excited voice, "what's the mark?"
Jet turned to face her once more, and a mischievous grin spread across his face.
"Haven't you guessed? You seem to know all the Dragon's Hoards on Mobius…"
Amy gulped, and looked at Shadow who avoided her stare. He's been acting a bit strange, Amy realized, but she had more pressing matters than the emotional state of her partner. She looked around the room once more, and when Jet caught on to what she was doing he stepped aside a bit to reveal more of the papers on the table. She studied the visible blueprints and news articles when one popped up. It was one she had read a few days ago, and at the time it hadn't really caught her attention. The coronation of Sally Acorn. She felt something hard sink to the pit of her stomach, and cold sweat form on her brow.
"It can't be…"
Jet merely smirked, picked up the article and held it in front of him.
"That's right," his voice higher with excitement, "We're gonna steal the soon to be queen's crown."
So... how was it?
Apologies for the long wait! I truly did not mean for it to take this long. I had started the chapter but then Shadow and Amy got stuck in that bar and I could not figure out how to move them from the bar to the mission and then BAM! A full year had passed! I finally finished the chapter in February but then it was so rough that it took until now for me and my BETAs to edit and polish it up. I am literally posting this as soon as the ink dried on our last edit today lol.
Thank you Laineybug04 and Wolfslegend. Without them this chapter would not have seen the light of day... for real.
Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers! Please let me know if I never replied to your review in your new one so that I can look it up and reply to both :) Seriously whenever I got a review, I was motivated again to write, and its also because of you guys that I wrote this. I probably wouldn't have if I didn't get so many comments, because thats basically my pay for writing lol
Guest #1: Hahaha! I hope you liked the small dose of Shadow's protectiveness in this chapter, and just like you I really look forward to the day he catches the feels for her!
Guest #2: I totally agree that Shadow is suuuuper unlikeable right now. And you are totally right! It's actually really on point for his character and it'll make it that more sweet when he starts to warm up to her
Guest #3: Thank you for liking the story, hoped you enjoyed this chapter as well
Guest #4: Chapter uploaded!
huge fan: I am always happy when people who aren't Shadamy fans like my ShadAmy stories cuz it really makes me feel like I wrote a good story. I'm sorry it took so long for the chapter to come out, and I hope I didn't lose you in the wait. Can you let me know it's you if you reply again? Anyways, it was a major pleasure of mine to hear your review!
Guest #5: Why would you expect someone to review your story when you spammed their comment section like that? Not very cool... I hope you do not comment on my story again :/
Anyway, thank you everyone, I truly hoped you like the story and I hope I don't take as long with the next ;)
Happy Reading!
NothingFancy