Rise of the Noble Gizoid

Chapter 3: Searing Hatred, Shadowy Deception

Began writing on 03/11/2022

After several hours later, Shadow, Rouge and the rest of the GUN army, including the still functioning head of Omega, still raving about wreaking dire vengeance against Gemerl after his humiliating defeat, returned to GUN H.Q to rest and recuperate.

Sometime later, Shadow, Rouge and Bridget went to the office of Abraham Tower, the commander of GUN, to explain the new piece of intelligence that they had been told, including the possibility of treachery with their ranks…

"So, Robotnik has been building a gizoid army all this time, under our very noses…" said Tower, his chin resting the thumbs of his clenched hands, his countenance grim.

"Yeah, and given what we've seen what Gizoids are capable of, that's means bad news for the rest of us." Rouge replied, having seen first-hand during the Marauder Riots and the Occupation what the deadly robots are capable of doing.

Tower turned to Shadow and asked, "How many are we looking at here, in total?"

Shadow replied, "We don't know, sir. Tails said that he could be building armies, or legions of them, even as we speak."

In his mind, Shadow was still reeling from the fact that Ivo Robotnik, the grandson of his creator, Professor Gerald Robotnik, would defile the professor's legacy this way, using the remaining body parts of Gemerl's past self, Emerl, to recreate him to become the very thing he would be if he fell into the wrong hands…

A weapon of destruction of unparalleled and unfathomable power…

"Have the repairs to Omega begun yet?" asked Tower, having been informed to the E-series robot's complete dismantlement at the heroic Gizoid's hands.

"Still waiting on Tails on that front." Bridgit answered, "Once he sends the formula for the metal he made, we'll have Omega repaired in no time. We have his schematics anyway."

"That's good to hear, Private Bridgit." Replied Tower approvingly with a nod, "Once he's repaired, he'll be up and running, and the first thing he does is facing the severe court martial he'll face from Rouge and myself for disobeying direct orders."

Rouge nodded with a smirk, thinking already of a few ideas of punishments for Omega's insubordination.

"Tell me, what do you make of Emerl, or rather Gemerl?" Tower asked, looking at Shadow "What's your opinion of him?"

"I believe he will be an asset in the conflict that's to come." replied Shadow, "His ability to choose which battle data would fit the situation at hand and in the heat of battle would make him the perfect counter to Eggman's new army."

"Indeed." said Tower, nodding at Shadow.

He then turned to the female mobian bat and asked her, "What do you make of him, Rouge?"

Rouge replied with a fond tone, "I'm just happy to see that he's alive and that's all that matters…"

Her emotional outburst when she thought Omega had killed Gemerl took quite the toll on her emotionally, which took time to recover, as she was not used to expressing such emotions before.

The GUN commander noticed a tear roll down Rouge's left cheek and asked her, "Are you crying, Agent Rouge?"

Rouge soon felt the tear on her cheek and tried to cover it up by saying, "N-n-no I'm not!"

"Oh, she definitely is." said Bridget, the white furred British mobian dorgi grinning mischievously, "She was in a corner of ship crying her heart out since she left her, and I quote, 'Sweet, cute and adorable protégé' for most of the trip back to H.Q!"

"That I can confirm." Shadow replied with a smirk of his own.

"Traitors!" cried an indignant Rouge, her wings flaring up in frustration.

Bridget laughed while Tower chuckled at Rouge's face, that had steam coming out of her ears.

After chuckling, Tower replied, "I also believe in Gemerl's good intentions. He's saved the lives of our troops today and prevented Robotnik from seizing a strategically important military asset."

"Plus, now that we know that he is a local hero in Station Square, that should serve as further proof of where his allegiance lies." He then added.

All three mobians nodded in agreement.

Tower soon said in a serious tone, "But now we need to get to the other main topic of this discussion, the possibility that we have traitors in our ranks…"

Rouge and Shadow's expressions turned grim as they steeled themselves for the other main reason of this meeting.

"This is quite a serious allegation that Tails has brought forth to us." Tower said full seriousness, "I believe in him, but it is as he says. Without concrete evidence as proof, it is baseless accusation and slander."

Both mobian GUN agents nodded to this as well.

"The fact that this has been covered up for months now, only for it to be brought to light today is an indicator that this is done with hostile and malicious intent in mind. We must make a full investigation into who it is and why did they do so, after which we can turn our attention back to Robotnik, as quickly as possible." Tower added.

"I agree." agreed Shadow with a nod, "But the question is who is the most likely culprits be."

"Correct." replied Tower with a nod, "Who would be the most likely suspect in all of this?"

"I think it's the intelligence team." Bridget said seconds later.

Tower, Shadow and Rouge looked at the British mobian dorgi in surprise.

"What makes you believe that?" asked Shadow, with a confused look on his face.

Bridget replied, "They're the ones who make sure everyone, including the Commander, is up to date with what's going on out there, aren't they? If someone's keeping mum on all important info, they would be the first ones that come to mind, right?"

"Hmm" hummed Tower before resuming, "That does sound like a logical possibility. But what makes you sure that it is them?"

"Because it's been on my mind for a while now." she replied.

A deadly silence filled the room…

"Excuse me…" said Rouge calmly, before she grabbed Bridget by the shirt, slammed her into the wall and yelled, "But could you kindly repeat that!?"

"Are you in league with these traitors?" asked Shadow, his voice as cold as ice.

"No, I'm not." replied Bridget, rather plainly.

"Then you better give me a good reason as to why the heck you didn't tell us of this kind of information, before I have you clapped in irons and have you charged for high treason!" Rouge snarled; her face absolutely livid.

Bridget looked at Tower and asked, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

The GUN commander nodded and said grimly, "Granted."

Bridget then replied, "You wouldn't believe me, nor would you care for my opinion."

Rouge blinked her eyes, let Bridgit go, and then spluttered, "W-wha-wha-what-what kind of reason is that?!"

Tower remained calm and asked, "What makes you think we would not listen or believe you, Private Bridget?"

"You just stated the answer in one word: 'Private', the lowest rank a person starts off with in GUN." Bridget replied in the same tone.

"That-that's no reason the withhold that kind of info!" Rouge spluttered, incredulousness all over her face, "Tower would've listened to you if you spoke up earlier about this kind of thing!"

"Oh sure, he would've listened if it came from you or Agent Shadow, maybe." Bridget replied, the British dorgi's voice casual and rather nonchalant, "But if it came from a private, a grunt like me? Pfft, fat chance."

Shadow and Rouge watched Bridget pace around the room while Tower's face remained unchanging as the dorgi continued, "No one asked me for my opinion on anything for my entire life, so why would life decide that what I say matters now? All I ever did was to grin and just rolled with it. Never once did my grandad, from my dad's side of the family, asked me for my opinion about me joining GUN, like he did before me. I never wanted to join this organization in the first place, but I just rolled with it just to keep him happy."

Tower watched Bridget, his face unchanging, as she finished, "Like I said, who's gonna listen to whatever I say? Not you, not Shadow, and no disrespect, certainly no you, Commander Tower. Nor me, if I was in your shoes. Nobody asked for my opinion on anything, so why change that now?"

Silence once again filled the room…

Tower soon rose from his chair, looked at Bridget with concerning eyes, concern akin to that of a worried father and said with sadness and shame, "There was once a time that I would have done the exact same thing that your grandfather did, ignoring other people's opinion, making them feel that their words would fall on deaf ears."

This admission caught Bridget off guard while both Shadow and Rouge knew exactly what he was talking about.

Tower went over to Bridget and knelt on one knee to look at her at eye level: his heterochromia eyes looking at the mobian dorgi's purple eyes.

"Your name is Bridget, Bridget Amelia Tennant, from Britain. You're the granddaughter of Arthur Peter Tennant, aren't you?" Tower asked.

Bridget, though confused, merely nodded.

"Many years ago, I saw something on the Space Colony Ark that, in hindsight, I perhaps should've been better off not seeing at all." Tower began, "I saw Professor Gerald, the grandfather of Maria Robotnik, who was like a sister to me, talking to Black Doom, the leader of the Black Arms, striking a deal with him. Black Doom would provide Gerald with the blood he needed to finish creating Shadow, but in return, Gerald would have Shadow gather the Chaos Emeralds and offer them to him in fifty years' time."

Bridget gasped at this, as she had no idea the commander was even on the Ark at that time.

Tower then continued, "The purpose of Project Shadow was to hopefully discover a way that would lead the way to finding a cure to a currently incurable and fatal disease known as N.I.D.S.: Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. Maria was a victim of that disease. However, in my ignorance, I saw only the creation of an evil being, an evil monster… A devil… As well as the madman who was behind its creation…"

Tower looked at Shadow, silently asking the mobian/black arms hybrid to forgive him.

Shadow nodded, showing Tower that he knew his commander meant no offence.

Tower nodded in gratitude before turning back to Bridget and continuing, "Ever since that day, every time I saw Maria and Shadow, every time they were together, I viewed him with utter contempt and disdain. I tried many times to warn her that Shadow was an evil creature and that he and Gerald would doom us all, but when Maria protested and tried to persuade me to believe that Shadow was a kind being, I refuse to be dissuaded, still believing Shadow was pure evil, thus putting an enormous strain of our friendship."

Bridget and Rouge looked at Tower with sorrowful eyes…

"In a rash and desperate attempt to save everyone on the Ark from what I saw was Gerald's madness, I contacted the one who was leading GUN at the time and told him everything I saw, who then passed on the information to the man who was both the President of the US and the President of the United Federation at that time. The President then ordered the GUN from fifty years ago to capture all the scientists that were abord the Ark alive; any who resisted were to be killed on sight. These were the chain of events that led to what is now known in history as the 'Ark Massacre'.

Both Bridget and Rouge gasped in horror at terrible revelation, while Shadow did not, as he made and Tower made peace with each other a week after the Black Arms Invasion after being invited to see his then just recently born granddaughter.

It was also the day that, as a gesture of goodwill, Tower offered Shadow a place in GUN, showing that he truly willing to bury the past and end his personal and misguided feud, once and for all.

It was an offer that Shadow accepted, as it would be his own personal way of keeping his promise to Maria as well as honouring the Professor's legacy.

"The slaughter that happened was too terrible and horrific to describe; for every scientist that was captured alive by surrendering, others would be gunned down for resisting, with no remorse or mercy. Maria was among those who resisted and was killed." said Tower, before calming down to keep his feelings of sadness, guilt and remorse in check, after which he resumed saying, "In the chaos of that day, my whole family, my father, mother and all of my siblings were also killed, who resisted by trying to plead their innocence."

Rouge covered her mouth in terror as tears welled up in her eyes at what Tower just told.

"In my sadness and grief, I blamed everything on Shadow. I blamed him for the death of my family, I blamed him for the innocent people that were killed on the Ark… I blamed him for the death of Maria…"

Tears soon welled up in Bridget's eyes as well…

"Many years later, I enlisted to join the military and excelled due to the skills I developed over the years since that day. Due to my quick decision making, skill on the battlefield and resolve, I was recommended to join GUN at a young age." Tower continued, "I worked hard to reach the position of Commander. In my mind, the higher I rose in rank, the closer I would get into looking for the confidentially information to where Shadow was. When I was promoted to Commander, effectively making me the new leader of GUN, I finally obtained the information that I sought, the location where Shadow's stasis pod was located: Prison Island."

Rouge's body began to tremble, filled with dread at what would be revealed next.

"When I arrived at Prison Island, the first thing I did was to make it certain that all info concerning what happened on the Ark was completely covered up. After that was done, I began to make my way to Shadow's statis pod… To kill him…"

"You didn't!"

Rouge screeched, horrified at what she had just heard.

"It's true." replied Shadow, causing the female mobian bat to look at her dear friend and teammate.

He then continued, "The Commander told me that he intended to release me from statis and when I would begin to stir, he would fire a bullet at point-blank range to my head."

"If that was the case, then what stopped you, Commander?" asked Bridget, who had remained silent for most of this explanation.

Tower soon replied, "It was the day that Robotnik attack Prison Island, the day that began what would also become known to history as the 'Space Colony Ark Conspiracy'."

Bridget looked at Shadow for confirmation, who nodded to confirm what was said was true.

"But then why did you try to capture Sonic for, or even kill him!?" asked Bridget, who was confused as to why the commander would do such a thing.

"Sonic was the only one who was comparable to that of Shadow, he was the only one that could match him." replied Tower, "If Sonic was allowed to run free, he would have uncovered everything that happened on the Ark. He was too much of a risk factor to ignore."

Shadow nodded, signalling that the commander's assessment was correct, as Sonic fought him to a standstill at the Green Jungle on Prison Island.

But what aggravated him was his humiliating defeat on the Ark; he was so close to fulfilling Maria's 'wish' of revenge on the people of Earth, only to be defeated and for the blue hedgehog to stop the Eclipse Cannon from firing at the last second!

At the back of his mind, Shadow still remembered Sonic's final insults before rushing off to regroup with his friends, who were overjoyed that he survived and had stopped him; "Game over, Shadow! Did you really think you had a chance!? Nobody's faster than me! Too easy, piece of cake!"

Oh, how it annoyed him to no end.

That smug look on blue hedgehog's face, the arrogant tone of his voice and his pompous pontificating!

He tried to avenge this defeat on multiple times after he miraculously survived, against all odds.

Once during the Metal Overlord Deception and thrice during the Marauder Riots, only to fail on both occasions!

It certainly didn't help that Shadow and the rest of Team Dark back in their early days were defeated by Team Chaotix in the former occasion!

He vowed that one day, he will have his revenge…

"Despite my efforts, everything that happened on the Ark on that black day was discovered, and I was arrested in the aftermath of the conspiracy by the order of the current President." Tower resumed, "When I faced trial for my part of the Ark Massacre, including the still living members who were also a part of the tragedy as well as the one who shot Maria, I still maintained my view that Shadow was a being of pure evil and refused to acknowledge his then heroic sacrifice to stop the Ark from colliding with Earth, as well remaining stubborn in my belief that Gerald was an evil madman."

Rouge remembered that trial very well, as she was one of the people who, alongside Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and, surprisingly enough, Robotnik himself, attended the trial to provide evidence of Tower's wrong doing, as well as clear Sonic's name and prove his innocence.

In her mind, it was a miracle both in and of itself that the evil doctor had managed to keep his emotions restrained despite how angry he was, rather than take the opportunity to throttle the man who dared to slander his grandfather's name and to strangle the other man who killed Maria, his cousin as well as Shadow's only human friend!

"In the end, me and everyone else was found guilty. I was stripped of my rank, was dishonourably discharged and was sent to prison as punishment for my role in both the massacre and the conspiracy."

"But how did you get out?" asked Bridget, who was confused as to how he managed to escape from prison.

"It was the Black Arms Invasion." Tower replied, "Although the President was reluctant, his military advisors persuaded him to let me lead GUN again, with a promise of a full presidential if I agreed."

"And did you?" asked Bridget, her eyes slightly watering.

"Yes, I did." Tower answered with a nod, "On the early hours of the invasion, our defences were holding, but barely. But when Shadow arrived and aided Sonic in driving out the Black Arms that were invading Westopolis, my resentment and hatred returned at full force…"

Bridget started to feel her legs turned into jelly as Tower continued, "At every battlefield when both Shadow and GUN were in same area, be they fighting the Black Arms or Robotnik's Army, I ordered my troops to kill him on sight. Those who followed orders but failed were swiftly demoted, while those who disobeyed for seeing him as hero were imprisoned for treason. The same happened to those who rose up in protest saying that I was wrong to think Shadow was a villain when the evidence showed otherwise."

Bridget was about fall over when Shadow zipped over to keep up.

Tower then resumed, "It was then when Shadow, along with Sonic, his friends and Robotnik went to the Ark in search of the fifth Chaos Emerald, my resentment, coupled with my anger at the ineptitude, incompetence, and as well as the desertion of my men, that I was emotionally, mentally and psychologically pushed beyond breaking point.

"I stormed out the command centre and followed them in the experimental mech, Diablon, determined to kill Shadow and all those that stood by him. Including Agent Rouge."

Bridget gasped and looked at Rouge, her facial features practically begging the leader of Team Dark to tell the British mobian dorgi that what Tower just said was not true!

"It's true." Rouge confirmed, "That overgrown rust bucket was so tough, it even gave Omega of all bots' trouble, and that's saying something. In the end, it took a combined attack from Shadow, Sonic and, shockingly enough, Eggman to put Diablon out of commission!"

Rouge then smiled and added, "Who knew that Eggman was such an expert of firing a bazooka after all this time?"

"Even after my defeat and after Diablon was utterly dismantled, I still refused to listen and tried to fulfil my 'righteous' crusade, only to stunned by Robotnik, who had set his weapon to stun." continued Tower, "As Sonic and the others made their to find a ship that would take them to the Black Comet, the homebase of the Black Arms, Shadow remained behind to tell me that he had no recollection about who I am, my family, what happened on the Ark or even of his creator, Professor Gerald. After that, he left to catch up."

Poor Bridget looked like she couldn't take any more of what Tower was telling, she was about to burst into tears if this kept up…

"By the time the military guards brought me to the President, he was shocked that I had become a broken man, a mere shell of a human being. My eyes were like that of a corpse." Tower resumed, "Before he could give the order to send me back to prison, that was when I heard Professor Gerald's secret message to Shadow about the true purpose of the Eclipse Cannon."

Bridget wiped her tears from her eyes.

"After Shadow defeated Black Doom and destroyed the Black Comet with the Eclipse Cannon thereby rendering the Black Arms extinct, the President told me while everyone in the command centre was celebrating that it was ironic that despite the way I slandered and resented him, he was the one to save us all from beyond the grave in the end. He told me that I was all wrong about the professor." Tower added, "The President then suggested that we both pay homage to Professor Gerald, that we would work together to bring peace and prosperity for a brighter future, it was an offer that I accepted."

"And I'm guessing that you were pardoned?" asked Bridget, pulling herself together.

"That's right. The President granted me a full presidential pardon and restored my rank to me, after which I ended my feud with Shadow a week later." Tower concluded.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes.

"I… I apologise." said Tower, looking a bit sheepish, "You must excuse an old man for rambling on about what trials and tribulations that life has thrown at him…"

"Not at all, Commander!" Bridget replied with a smile, "All that you said was fascinating! I never thought I would ever see something besides that stony look of yours!"

Tower and Rouge both laughed together heartedly while Shadow, who has since returned to where he was simply smiled.

Bridget then asked, "But seriously, what was the meaning of telling me about something that's seriously personal to you?"

"It was to express that I once did the exact same thing that your grandfather did, that I once ignored other people's opinions." replied Tower, "After I made peace with Shadow, I made a personal vow that I would rebuild GUN from the ground up and would no longer ignore the personal input of others."

There was a minute of silence in the room.

"If you want to know my opinion about your grandfather is, I personally believe that, while not the best way of doing it, Arthur saw the potential within you to be better than him, the man he never was fifty years ago. That's why he desperately wanted you to join GUN. He saw within you the person he should've been, to question the immoral orders that were carried out on that black day, to protest that what they were doing was wrong and, if need be, defy those orders to the bitter end."

Bridget started to think of his grandfather, a male mobian dorgi.

Was this what he wanted? A chance at redemption, a chance that he would likely never fulfil in his lifetime?

To be the person should have been, not the person he was at the Massacre, an act that forever condemned him in the eyes of the world and in the eyes of history?

Did he wanted her to be the hero that he could never hope to be?

"I… I think I need to talk to grandad when this is all over and dusted…" said Bridget in a solemn tone, feeling ashamed that she never questioned her grandfather as to why he wanted her to join GUN further.

"I'll come with you when the time comes, if it helps. But for now," Tower replied before continuing, "I am willing to forgive you for withholding this information, but it is imperative that you tell us everything of what made you suspicious about the intelligence team, Bridget. Leave nothing out."

Bridget, with a determined look on her face, nodded and told everyone everything she knew.

Sometime later, at the intelligence centre.

The whole area was abuzz with activity.

People, both humans and mobians, were scrambling everywhere, trying to gather new info about Robotnik and his new gizoid army, when the doors slammed open with Tower with Shadow and Rouge at his side, the human commander immediately pointing to the specific group in front of him and yelled, "Guards, seize them!"

Seconds later, military guards swarmed the area and seized the group in front of them, which consisted of five humans and five mobians.

Everyone else stopped what they were doing, and watched the scene with fear and dread.

"Commander, with all due respect, what is the meaning of this outrage!?" cried a large, burly, bald and bearded Russian male human, aghast at what was happening at this moment.

"The 'reason' of this, Ivan, is that all ten of you are under arrest for high treason!" replied Tower, anger written all over his face.

"On what grounds do you accuse us of duplicitous treason, Commander Tower!?" replied a male Japanese mobian crane, rather hotly.

"On the grounds that you all have been silencing information that has been sent to us by Tails for the last several months, only for it to be revealed today, Ieyasu." Tower responded calmly.

"That's ridiculous! We are loyal to GUN, Commander!" cried a female mobian coyote, struggling to break free.

"Tell that to the brave soldier that saw through your evil plan and ratted you and your cohorts out, Rebecca." Tower countered as he and Shadow moved to one side while Rouge hovered in the air to allow Bridget through.

As soon as she clapped eyes on her, Rebecca, the female mobian coyote, glared at Bridget and snarled,

"YOU TRAITOR!"

The other four members of the team that were on Rebecca's side, a male mobian coyote, a female human, a male human and a male British mobian raven silently glared at the British dorgi with the same hostility while the other three member that were on Ivan and Ieyasu's side, a male mobian rat, a black male human, and a female Canadian mobian husky stared at the other five with incredulous looks on their faces.

"Bridget?" asked Tower, looking at Bridget for an explanation.

Bridget, with a dumbfounded look on her face spluttered, "B-b-bu-but I thought they were all in on it! I seriously thought that all ten of them were in on the whole plan!"

"Then consider this as a lesson on the golden rule on intelligence gathering; make sure that all of your intel is correct, because that makes the difference between victory and defeat in a fight." replied Rouge, seeing the genuine shock of confusion on her colleague's face.

"Care to explain as to why you and the rest of your group were supressing the information about Robotnik and his new gizoid army, Rebecca?" Tower questioned Rebecca sternly while the mobian coyote continued to glare hateful daggers at the british dorgi.

"Yeah, why'd you do that for, fool!?" cried the black male human, "Why'd you even think about turnin' your back on your crew and your hood?!"

"Isn't it obvious, Albert!?" snarled Rebecca at Albert, "It's revenge, revenge for what Sonic and his friends did to all of us after the Space Colony Ark Conspiracy!"

"How dare you!?" yelled Ivan, enraged at what he heard, "Have you all have no sympathy for your people, human or mobian!?"

"Yeah! Don't you guys know what would be happening right now, if Sonic and his pals weren't there to stop Eggman from conquering Earth!?" the female Canadian mobian husky cried, incredulous at what she was hearing.

"We owe those freaks nothing, Scarlet!" barked the male mobian coyote angrily at Scarlet, "That blue rat ruined our lives when the military guards dragged away our grandparents like common criminals, to be punished for doing something that was right!"

"You would dare to justify your treason for silencing valuable information just to have petty vengeance for the heinous actions you and your sister's grandparents caused fifty years ago, Jean!? Your dishonourable actions bring shame to us all!" Ieyasu squawked, appalled at was playing out before him.

"Don't even think about talking about dishonour!" yelled the male mobian raven, his voice full of hate, "Me and both my brother and sister had to deal with the shame of everyone knowing what our grandmother did! She can't even receive retirement pension anymore! Our mother can't go anywhere without anyone bring up what she our grandmother in any conversation!"

The mobian raven, along with other two humans, his sister and brother glared at Shadow, their eyes full of wrath and cried, "And it's thanks to that walking abomination of a mobian hedgehog!"

"Hey, don't you go dissing my main black and red hedgehog, bozo!" said Albert, struggling to break free, "This guy is the guy who saved my life at Westopolis, my crib! He's the guy who made sure our planet didn't get jumped, smoked Black Doom and made his whole crew a pack!"

"Yeah, he saved all of our lives, you filthy buzzard!" Scarlet said, glaring at the raven, "In fact, he's the reason I joined GUN in the first place!"

"He's no hero, he's as guilty as Black Doom!" the mobian raven yelled, looking at Scarlet with fury, "If he never existed, the Black Arms would never have come to Earth at all!"

"You've got no room to stand on for what you did Alfred, you rotten opportunistic vulture!" cried Bridget for this first time since this began, causing Alfred to look at her, "You guys were willing to sell out the Earth to Eggman, just to get back at the man who saved us all from becoming some alien race's savoury dishes and everyone's favourite blue hedgehog! Not only are you, your sister and brother give men, woman, humans and mobians a bad name, you three are a disgrace to our country!"

The three villainous brits gave the heroic dorgi a hateful stare.

"GUN was supposed to save the world!" Rebecca howled, her guard trying to restrain her with great difficulty, "We were supposed to keep the world safe, not some blue vermin and his two tailed mutant sidekick! GUN are the true heroes, not them!"

"So not only are you a traitor for keepin' GUN from knowin' somethin' that came a well-respected hero, you did it because you're so petty, just because Sonic and Shadow stole your thunder!? You dirty rat!" cried the male mobian rat with a Brooklyn accent.

"Don't you go acting like some kind of paragon of goodness yourself, Dan!" barked Rebecca, "You grandfather was a part of the massacre too! He too was taken away and imprisoned like a common criminal!"

"Yeah, and I hate him for that!" Dan squeaked in anger, "Never once was he apologetic bout what he did! The old coot kept screamin' that he was on the side of the angels when he was a bad guy for killin' innocent folks! I joined GUN just to show him that I'm better than him, to prove that I can be the man he ain't never gonna be, unlike you, you double crossin', two timin', fork tongued, two faced, petty backstabbin' rat!"

"Yeah, you tell her how it is! Let her have it, dawg!" cheered Albert, grinning a huge grin on his face.

Rebecca glared at Bridget as she yelled, "You should be with us, Bridget! Your grandfather was a part of something that the world a better place before Sonic and mob of freaks including Rouge showed up! He ruined your whole life! You should be wishing for retribution for the events that followed after the conspiracy! You should be demanding revenge; you should be seeking vengeance!"

Rouge glared at the vengeful coyote for that remark.

"No, I could never wish revenge on Sonic for what he did, nor would I join you just to spite them and Shadow for saving the world twice, you heartless sell out!" Bridget replied, brimming with righteous fury, "Unlike Dan's grandfather, mine was repentant, he was ashamed of what he did! He saw within me the potential to be the person he could've been; the person he should have been!"

Tower smiled at this with a nod.

"I'm going to work hard and live up to my granddad's wishes and do good by him by protecting Earth and it's people from world conquering maniacs like Eggman, as well as petty revenge driven psychos like you Rebecca, you two faced, backstabbing, flea-bitten mutt!"

Rebecca growled and growled as her hatred grew and grew…

"Alright, you tell her, girl!" cheered Albert, grinning from ear to ear.

Dan squeaked while looking at the treasonous female coyote, "Yeah, take that, ya creep!"

Both Ivan and Ieyasu silently nodded with approval while Alfred and the others glared at the smirking Rouge.

Scarlet looked at Bridget and said with a smile on the face, "Oh, by the way Bridget, me, Ivan, Dan, Ieyasu and Albert forgive you!"

"You do?" asked Bridget, taken aback by how quick she was forgiven for her mistake.

"Yeah, you didn't know better!" Scarlet replied, before making a sheepish look and adding rather sheepishly, "Plus, we not knowing what Rebecca and her goons were doing didn't help us at all, did it?"

Before Bridget could reply-

"I HOPE YOU DIE ALONE AND FORGOTEN IN A FILTHY AND DISGUSTING DITCH, YOU VILE, WRETCHED MONSTER!"

Rebecca roared with primal fury; her words practically coated vile and venom, her fangs bared and her eyes utterly feral.

Every human and mobian in the room except Rebecca, her cohorts and Shadow gasped in shock and horror.

Shadow merely tilled his head, confused as to why everyone was reacting so badly to that word.

A male French mobian snail placed his face into his hands and groaned, "Oh non… (Oh no…) Now you've gone and done it…"

Shadow turned his head to look at Rouge and asked, "Why is everyone reacting badly to that word?"

"Because that's a word you're not supposed to say in front of another mobian." replied Rouge who kept her eyes fixed on the contemplable coyote, "It's a derogatorily racial slur. If it's in front of a monster, fictional or real and in front of an evil person, be they human or mobian, that's fine. But if it's in front of a regular, honest, hardworking mobian, including you, Sonic and me? That is a big no-no. Using that word in front any other good mobians is forbidden. What Rebecca just did? She just committed taboo."

Shadow's eyes widened in surprise before turning to glare at Rebecca in fury…

"Traitor!" Ivan bellowed in fury.

"As if what you and the accomplices to your villainy have done wasn't enough, you would dare discard all honour and decency to utter that accursed and forbidden word in front of someone as noble as Bridget, a fellow mobian!?" Ieyasu chirped in anger, breaking free from the guard who was holding his arms, "Does you and you allies' treachery know no bounds!? Do you not even feel any sense of shame!?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Bellowed Tower, causing everyone in the room to look at him.

Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he looked at Rebecca and growled, "You will have plenty of time to reflect on your misdeeds as you and the rest of your allies wait to be punished for high treason!"

Tower then yelled, "Guards, lock these traitors in the brig!"

The military guards placed handcuffs on Rebecca and her conspirators and led them away, while the shameless villains hurled every verbal insult imaginable to Rouge, Bridget and Shadow.

Silence once again filled the room for a few minutes.

After few more minutes, Tower breathed out and said to the remaining guards, "Release Ivan, Dan and Scarlet. After that, return to your quarters and relax."

The three guards let the remaining three go, after which the five guards saluted, and went to the door and out of the intelligence centre.

"I'm sorry, Commander Tower… We've let you down…" said Scarlet in a sad tone.

"Yeah, we screwed up royally, chief…" Albert agreed.

"We let a buncha no good creeps pull this stunt for months, right under our very noses…" Dan concurred.

"You have no need to apologise." said Tower, shaking his head, "You could not have known what was going on."

"Yes, we should've known what going on." said Ieyasu, shame written all over his face, "We should've been more alert, more attentive. If we did, this abhorrent and appalling shame never would've happened."

"Stop beating yourself up, Ieyasu!" growled Rouge, "Rebecca and her crew managed to cause damage to us without getting caught for a while, but now that they will soon be out of our hair, there's no need to be down on yourself!"

"No, we will not serve GUN while this disgrace looms over our heads." Ivan replied resolutely, "We must take full responsibility for this disaster. We will tend to our immediate resignation. We'll clear out our desk."

"No, I will not allow it!" Tower harshly snapped, causing the five intelligence officers to recoil in fear.

Realizing what he'd done, Tower breathed in, breathed out, calming his nerves and then resumed, "I will not accept your resignation, for you have proven that your allegiance to GUN, and to the world is beyond all doubt. Which is why I am making a proposal."

Ivan, Ieyasu, Albert, Dan and Scarlet watched Tower, waiting to hear what his proposal was.

Tower then smiled and said, "I want you five to be my new, personal intelligence team."

The five individuals were taken aback by this unexpected promotion.

"Commander Tower, are you sure that this is wise?" Ieyasu asked cautiously.

"I am certain." replied Tower, "From now on, if you receive any new intel on any situation, including this current crisis, you are relay this information directly to me. Can I count on you five for your continued loyalty?"

"It will be an honour to serve." replied Ieyasu with a smile.

"We will live up to your expectations!" said Ivan wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, we're gonna put some respect on our name!" Albert added, thumping his chest with his left fist.

"We won't let you down! You can count us, boss!" Dan squeaked, pumping his right fist with passion.

"We'll get right to it!" said Scarlet with a smile on her face while saluting.

"That's all I need to hear." Tower replied approvingly, "Now, for your first order of business as my new intelligence team, you are to find the info Tails sent over that had been silenced by Rebecca and her conspirators, compile them together and then report back to me immediately, is that completely understood?"

Ivan, Ieyasu, Albert and Scarlet gave various signs of affirmation while Dan replied with great enthusiasm, "Let's do it to it!"

Everyone immediately looked at Dan as the Brooklyn rat rubbed the back of his head and said bashfully, "Sorry… I always wanted to say that…"

The five loyal GUN member went straight to completing the task assigned to them seconds later.

Tower then left the centre with Shadow, Rouge and Bridget in tow.

Sometime later.

When they reconvened at Tower's office, the GUN commander sat down on his chair, pinched his nose bridge with the thumb and index finger of his right hand, sighed and said, "I'm so sorry, Shadow. I apologise profusely for allowing this to happen under my watch..."

"There's no need to apologise, Commander." Shadow replied while holding his left hand and shaking his head, "You could not have known what was going on."

"Yes, I should've had." Tower countered sternly, "In my thinking that GUN had finally moved on from the past, I failed to see that there were still members of GUN, both old and new, that still held a grudge born from a misunderstanding of good intensions, which led to a great tragedy, both bloody and terrible… I was utterly careless… I curse my lack foresight and my overwhelming naivete!"

"Commander, this still would've happened, whenever we knew of it or not." Bridget replied, "There are people that are just too deep in their hatred and resentment to just let it go. You, on the other hand, chose to let go of it after so long being stuck in it. My grandad has to live with the fact that he did not have the courage to stand up and say, 'No!'. He'll live with the shame, repentant that he is, until the day he pops his clogs."

"The kid's right, Commander." Rouge agreed, "Although that said, we need to be at the top of our game from now on. We're gonna need to find out which of our members that are related to the one in the massacre still resent Sonic and Shadow and then lock them up before they can do anymore damage than what we've taken in the last few months."

Silence filled the room before Tower breathed out.

"Your right, Rouge." concurred Tower, "We need to show the world that GUN has moved on from what happened fifty years ago, to prove to everyone that dark time is now a thing of the past the we are trying to correct. We also need to show the other members of GUN that there is no need to hold on to grudges like I did, and prove that we can be better people."

Tower then looked at the beige mobian dorgi and added, "People who do not hold on to resentment like you have, Agent Bridget."

"W-wha-wha-what!? Me!?" stammered Bridget, stunned at what she just heard.

"You heard me." Tower replied with a smile, "Your willingness to let your resentment to your grandfather go, as well wanting to fulfil his desire to be the person he could've been has not been overlooked, nor will your loyalty to GUN, despite not wanting be here in the first place go unnoticed. Thus, to show you my gratitude for all you've done, I hereby promote you to the rank of Agent, effective immediately."

Bridget looked at Shadow and Rouge with wonder and astonishment written all over her face.

Shadow merely smiled and nodded while Rouge smiled and replied, "You've earned it, kid!"

"In addition to that," Tower continued, causing Bridget to look back at him, "You also have my express permission to fully speak your mind freely without worry or fear."

Bridget smiled devilishly.

Oh, she was going to enjoy this…

"Then I don't suppose that you don't mind that I tell you that I gave the Chaos Emerald in Westopolis to Sonic and Tails, then?" said Bridget in a mischievous tone.

"YOU DID WHAT!?"

Shadow, Rouge and Tower all cried at once, the GUN commander jumping out of his seat.

"You had the Chaos Emerald in your hands all this time, and you didn't say anything!?" cried Shadow, outraged at this revelation.

"Why were we not informed about this!?" Tower concurred while Rouge looked like she was about to be foaming in the mouth at the opportunity to have such a priceless gem added to her collection missed.

"Let's be honest here, do you really think that I would entrust a Chaos Emerald of any colour, to the very organization that allowed the red, cyan and amethyst Chaos Emeralds that Rouge swiped with zero difficulty from Security Hall on Prison Island, the very island that Shadow blew to smithereens during the Space Colony Ark Conspiracy?" Bridget replied in a rather frank and blunt tone.

Rouge looked away while rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment while Shadow closed his eyes and looked the other way.

Tower sat down, closed his eyes, pinched his nose bridge, sighed and said in recognition, "Fair point…"

Bridget smiled, seeing that she got her point across.

After a few moments of silence, Tower said, "I have new orders that I want to be relayed to all GUN bases in the world."

The ears of all three mobians perked up at this.

This must be quite serious…

"These are my new orders; If any GUN base in any country finds one or multiply Chaos Emeralds in their area, they are to call Tails and Sonic immediately so they can collect them. The Emeralds powers will be needed if we are to defeat Robotnik's new army."

All three mobians nodded at these orders.

"In addition," Tower continued, "If any base is under attack from Robotnik's gizoids, who will come for any Chaos Emeralds that are found, they are to do exactly what Tails and his friends say. All soldiers and commanders at all bases are to consider their orders to be my orders. Disregard of these orders are not to be ignored and will not be tolerated for any reason unless the circumstances to disobeying them are sadly unavoidable. Any and all who disobey them will be severely punished."

They nodded at this too.

"Before we end this meeting, is there anything anyone here would like to add?" Tower asked.

Rouge smiled, walked to Tower's desk, hopped and sat on said desk and said to her commander, "You Commander Tower, she'd be a good fit for the team…"

Tower caught on to what the mobian bat was implying, smiled and replied, "Yes, I agree. She would do nicely."

Bridget, oblivious to what Rouge and Tower were talking about said, "Err, aren't I a good fit for GUN already? What more do you want outta me?"

Still smiling, Tower replied, "Rouge wasn't referring to GUN, Bridget. She was referring to the team…"

The beige furred dorgi was still confused as to what Tower was going on about.

Seeing that what Tower and Rouge were trying to saying, or rather the method of how they were trying to say it, was not working, Shadow decided to take the direct approach.

Shadow then said bluntly, "We are inviting you to become a new member of our team."

"WH-WH-WHA-WHA-WWWHHHAAATTT!?"

Bridget spluttered, incredulous as to what Shadow just said.

This could not be happening!

Shadow did not just imply what she thought that he was implying!

Shadow saw what Bridget was thinking and continued, "Your loyalty, passion and way of thinking. They are what make you the perfect candidate for the new fourth member of our team."

Bridget was still speechless while Shadow looked at Rouge, who had a smirk on her face.

"Hmph, and I suppose we could do with a teammate with… heroic qualities, to help balance out the chaotic nature of our team and all." Shadow added with a smile.

"Although, you can choose to not join them. The choice is yours to make." Tower said, causing Bridget to look at her commander. "Will you accept the invitation to join the them?"

After a few moments of thinking it over, Bridget looked at both Rouge and Tower and nodded enthusiastically with a smile.

Rouge grinned a devilish grin, all fangs bared, and declared with well-founded confidence and pride,

"Kid, welcome to Team Dark!"

To be continued…

Disclaimer

All Sonic characters are property of SEGA.

The OC characters Bridget, Albert, Ivan, Ieyasu, Dan, Scarlet, Rebecca, Jean, Alfred and his siblings belong to me.

A/N

I apologise for the long wait for this chapter to be published, I like to take a break after finishing a chapter.

Plus, I want to make sure that any story or chapter I write is perfect for your reading enjoyment.