A/N: The first two chapters were written by CeruleanWind with my added edits in it. Any other chapters beyond this point are written by me. Enjoy.
PS: Some dialogue will be in another language. Bolded translations will be in parenthesis next to the dialogue.
Chapter 3: Given Information
After a few hours of flying at 15,000 feet at high speeds of 267 mph, the beautiful rainforest of the Amazon could be seen from down below. Sonic couldn't help but gasp as he peered at the jungle beauty below them from out the window.
"Shadow take a look at this."
The ebony hedgehog rolled his eyes before looking out the window too. As he did so, he couldn't help but agree that the rainforest looked honestly breathtaking from above.
"Isn't it amazing?" Sonic's voice practically smiled over the radio intercom.
Shadow just shrugged his shoulders before leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest with his eyes closed. Sonic couldn't help but roll his eyes at the behavior of his companion.
"Seriously Shadow, sometimes you just gotta stop and enjoy the simplest things in life."
"Enjoying the simplest things are just a waste of time, especially if we have an important mission ahead of us."
Sonic frowned in annoyance before turning to look back outside. By now, he could see that they were coming up to a landing pad in the middle of a large village full of South Americans.
"Hey Shads, I think we're getting ready to land."
"Good, then we can finally get this over with. And don't call me Shads."
Sonic forced himself to hold in a growl. Seriously, what was wrong with that hedgehog?! Why was he being so bitter towards him? What has he done other than agree to work with him for a month? He sighed and rubbed a gloved hand over his face.
"Listen Shadow, if anything I don't wanna fight you during this." He sighed, bringing his hand back down to look at the onyx hedgie. "I'm just here to help you with the mission because Rouge is on her own and I know she took Omega with her, leaving you with no one else. I just wanna help."
Shadow kept his eyes closed and he sighed. Perhaps Sonic was right. He wasn't being very fair to the blue hedgehog in front of him. All Sonic wanted to do was help, so shouldn't he be grateful for that?
Besides… he had already told the Commander that he would try to make things work between them.
"Fine." He finally growled, opening his eyes to look at him. "I'll try to work with you, just as long as you do everything I say."
"No problem, Shads!" Sonic cried cheerfully, holding up a thumbs up.
Shadow just rolled his eyes and looked back out the window, watching as the helicopter lowered into the village.
At last, the 'copter landed on the helipad and the engine was turned off, slowing the swirling blades to a stop. Sonic and Shadow got up from their seats and exited the cabin, their bags snugged tightly onto their backs. As they stepped outside, a wave of humid heat hit them. It was the middle of summer in the rainforest.
"Great, that means it's the rainy season." Shadow growled.
"It's a 'rain'forest, what did you expect?" Sonic frowned.
Shadow humphed and ignored the azure hedgie next to him, adjusting the straps of his pack over his shoulders before continuing forward, Sonic following close behind. As they walked off the helipad, a tall human man with tan skin, green eyes, short blonde hair, and wearing a black South American G.U.N uniform approached them.
"Shadow and Sonic the Hedgehog." The man greeted once the three of them were standing face to face. The man held out a hand to them in an attempt for a handshake. "Officer Charles of unit 37 of the South American G.U.N Agency."
"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Sonic nodded as he shook the man's hand, already knowing that Shadow wasn't going to. "But, how did you know we were coming?"
"G.U.N has connections with each other all over the world." Officer Charles answered. "The Commander informed me of your approaching arrival."
"Then you must know of our mission?" Shadow assumed.
"Of course, you're here to help us study the new species that has been said to previously been spotted." Charles nodded, a frown forming on his face. "I'm not sure we'll have much luck though."
"And why is that?"
"I'm afraid it's because those who have spotted the creature are actually superstitious Indians that live by the Amazon River. They're description of the creature prove to be the same of a creature that lived over 50,000 years ago."
"50,000 years?!" Sonic gasped. "What in the world is this creature?"
"I'll let the Indian we have in custody explain that. You'll need all the information you can get."
"You have one of these Indians to have spotted the creature in your custody?" Shadow frowned as he and Sonic started following him to the headquarters of unit 37.
"Of course we do," Officer Charles answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "As the G.U.N Agency of South America, if is our duty to make sure we know of anything unnatural to have occured in our country. This young man had information about an unknown creature that none of us had ever heard of before besides in history books. And, knowing how descelent Indians are, I find it hard to believe that one of them could've gotten their hands on a specific book with that specific creature, and started spreading rumors about spotting one over by the river. I also don't think it's possible for them to just have come up with the creature at the top of their head."
"And just what exactly is this creature that the Indian in your custody has described?" Shadow questioned irritably. "Perhaps we would have a lot better of an easier time trying to figure out what the heck the guy is talking about if we knew a name to this obviously discovered before creature."
Charles stopped walking and gave a big sigh. He turned around to face the hedgehogs, a grim look over his features.
"Megalania…" It was all he said before he started walking again, coming up to a large building surrounded by fencing with barb wire at the top, obviously the headquarters of the South American G.U.N Agency.
Sonic and Shadow looked to each other in confusion. Both were asking the same question.
What the heck is Megalania?
Their question would soon be answered as they continued to follow the human man into the building.
"Keep up you two," Charles called behind him. "Don't want you getting lost in our base. The interrogation room is just up ahead. That's where we've been keeping our friend."
"An interrogation room." Sonic deadpanned, his look unnamused. "Right, cause nothing says friendly hospitality like being treated like a criminal."
"Shut it, Faker." Shadow growled.
Sonic rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut as he followed Charles and Shadow behind a door and into a white room. In the room, there was a single metal table with a lamp sitting on the edge. Two chairs were seated around the table, and behind one of the chairs was a mirror that was obviously a look-in window. In the chair in front of the mirror, was a young man with dark skin, black hair, amber eyes, and wearing Amazon Indian attire.
"This young man comes from the Awa Tribe." Charles explained, closing the door after the three of them had entered the room. "He won't tell us his name, but everything else, he's been pretty cooperative."
Shadow humphed and walked over to the Indian sitting in the chair behind the table. Sonic, curious to know what the ebony hedgehog was going to do, followed him but still stood a good few inches behind him. Shadow pulled the other chair out and sat down, placing his elbows on the table and holding his hands in front of his face as if he were praying. The Indian said nothing, but only continued to stare back. Finally, Shadow broke the silence between them.
"Can you speak english?"
The Indian frowned something nasty at the agent. He sneered and spoke with a growl in his own native tongue.
"Quem quer saber, porco da polícia?" (Who wants to know, police pig?)
"What did he say?" Sonic asked in confusion.
Shadow held up a hand to silence his companion, his eyes never leaving from the man in front of him.
"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog, G.U.N agent of unit 14 of the North American Agency. I am here to learn information about this so called new species that you and your tribe have said to have spotted along the Amazon River."
At this, the man paled, his eyes widened in fear. Shadow smirked, he had his attention now.
"Can you tell me exactly what it is you saw?"
The man frowned and hung his head, looking down at his hands that laid on the table. He had already explained to the others what he had seen. But, he feared that if he didn't tell the hedgehog in front of him of the danger he was attempting to put himself through, he wouldn't stand a chance.
"Foi um monstro." (It was a monster.) He explained. "Nada que eu já tenha visto antes em toda a minha vida. Um lagarto gigante só contado em histórias de muito tempo atrás. Veio das montanhas para nos punir dos nossos pecados. Você já viu um dragão de Komodo, Sombra?" (Nothing I have ever seen before in my entire life. A giant lizard only told about in stories of long ago. It came from the mountains to punish us of our sins. Have you ever seen a Komodo Dragon, Shadow?)
"Yes," Shadow nodded. "I've seen brief pictures of them."
Sonic had no idea of what the two of them were talking about. He knew the man was explaining what he had seen, but the only word that the azure hedgehog could make sense of was "Komodo Dragon". A type of lizard. Could that have been what the man had seen and was just making it into a bigger monster than what it is?
"Bem Sombra, pegue o Dragão de Komodo e adicione mais 15 pés a ele e você terá exatamente o que eu vi. Uma criatura que nós tribos da Amazônia, e muitas tribos ao redor do mundo chamam, o Dragão do Diabo." (Well Shadow, take the Komodo Dragon and add 15 more feet to it and you will get exactly what I saw. A creature we tribes of the Amazon, and many tribes around the world call, the Devil Dragon.)
Shadow fought the urge to shiver as the Indian explained what he saw. Yeah, if something that big truly did exist, well he was glad that he didn't come alone.
"Where was the last time you saw this… Devil Dragon?" He asked the man.
"A última vez que vi o monstro, foi para Eldorado." (Last I saw of the monster, it was headed to Eldorado.)
"Eldorado." Shadow frowned, trying to pinpoint where that might be. "Never heard of it."
"It's the city of gold." Sonic answered, offering any help in the matter as he could. "It's supposed to only exist in legends and stories. What's so important about it?"
"Turns out our new species may be headed that way, wherever it's supposed to be." Shadow answered before looking at the man. "Thank you, you have been very helpful."
"Não me agradeça por suas mortes. Indo após o dragão do diabo é suicídio." (Do not thank me for your deaths. Going after the Devil Dragon is suicide.)
"That may be so, but we have a job to do." Shadow nodded as he stood up from the table, approaching Officer Charles who stood by the door. "We have all the information we can get, Officer. It's time to leave and get the real mission started. Next stop… Eldorado."