Disclaimer: Again, if I owned SU a lot of the characters would be a lot more bad-ass and we wouldn't have ever had to suffer the Steve Urkel voice-overs that the series has. I also don't own the random Sega/Archie characters that I've pulled in to make this fic even more interesting and complicated. I own my own crap and nothing else, so chances are if you try to sue me it'll fail… miserably.
Author's Note: WOOT! Five reviews for one chapter! Granted, it's less than the number of reviews for the first chapter, but it makes me happy all the same. As for the various questions and ideas posed in the reviews… -cackles maniacally- You'll just have to wait and see where this goes. Oh yeah, and random spoiler for this chapter just because I feel like being obnoxious- you're going to see another hedgehog show up. You'll see what I mean when you get there. As ever and always read, enjoy, review, and all that other crap. The caushog demands it!
He thought about it. He thought about it long and hard over the course of a couple of weeks; all the while keeping an eye on Manic and watching how he acted. Amongst moments of laughing with his brother or generally acting like he was having a good time, there were moments where Sonic or Sonia would give Manic a look of concern. That wasn't what had Espio fascinated to such a high level of curiosity; no, it was how the thief-prince reacted to such subtle cues. Those reactions were just as subtle, if not more so. The façade Manic presented was so perfect as to be almost flawless.
There was one rather obvious crack in the thief's armor that Espio became aware of in the course of his observation, and it was this: his eyes. Manic's eyes gave away almost every flicker of his mood, every emotion and reaction stood out in bold in the thief-prince's gaze. The only thing that kept those emotions hidden and protected so that he couldn't be read was the fact that they went by in such a rapid-fire succession that it was impossible for most people to fully register them all. Espio had no such problem. Judging by the way that Sonic would occasionally glance at Manic, the blue hedgehog didn't have that problem either. Maybe he'd have to let his estimation of Sonic's intelligence go up a couple notches.
Brushing aside the thought, Espio chose to stop staring off into space in Manic's general direction from his position on the couch. It was then that, past the half-finished drawing he'd been working on for three hours, Espio became aware of pouting armadillo sitting in front of him. The chameleon immediately flinched back- startled to see those brilliant (and accusing) blue eyes aimed at him, before he let out an aggravated sigh and scowled at Mighty. Vector promptly began snickering only to beat a hasty retreat out of the living room so as not to incur Espio's wrath; wisely choosing to take a certain hyperactive bee with him in the process. What few others that were in the room made the intelligent decision to remain silent, for their own sake.
Espio continued scowling at the pouting armadillo. Mighty made no move to budge. Espio's eyes narrowed in a form of silent threat. Mighty returned the look with a glower of his own. They sat there for several long moments with their eyes locked, neither willing to give an inch despite the fact that they had Knuckles, Sonic, and Manic as an audience. Finally Espio broke the silence, "If you keep looking at me like that, I will hurt you. I mean it Mighty."
Mighty gave a snort as he snapped out, "I know you wouldn't go through with it." Espio twitched; a sign that Mighty was right, but that Espio didn't want to admit that fact. Blue eyes brightened in amusement as a smirk slowly crept onto the armadillo's face. With a beaming grin he added, "Besides, I think we both know that I'm the one that shouldn't be pissed off, right?"
Manic's eyebrows rocketed up in surprise at what he was 'hearing' from the armadillo's mind quicker than he'd ever thought physically possible for himself. Sonic gave him a quizzical look at his reaction, but Manic's gaze was on Knuckles. The echidna only rolled his eyes in answer. Questioning nudges from Sonic's mind prodded at Manic, only for the empath to deliberately send a message amounting to 'later'.
Espio's unenthused scowl was focused on the Mercian armadillo in full force. "If you weren't my friend I'd skin you alive."
Mighty laughed as he got up and walked out of the room, calling back over his shoulder; "Tos lae mehhr che vela lal'n raohs, Espio." The chameleon stayed for only a few moments longer before setting aside his artwork to stalk off elsewhere.
Once they were alone, Sonic spoke. "Okay, what the hell was that?"
"He said, 'I would like to see you try'," Manic readily supplied; drawing an arched eyebrow from the Guardian.
"Since when do you know Mercian?"
"Mercian?" Sonic echoed in confusion before he turned to his brother, "You know Mercian?"
Manic nodded in reply, "I grew up with it. There are a few people in my group of friends that are Mercian, and I've been to Mercia about… fifteen times? My friend Tahl had connections all over the place."
As Sonic wrestled with the surprise of finding out that his brother was at least bi-lingual (yet another precious detail that he'd forgotten to mention more out of habit than anything else); Knuckles shook his head, "Manic, you are, without a doubt, the most bizarre person I've ever met."
"Tell me something I don't know."
...
Sonic didn't get a chance to ask about Manic's peculiar reaction until later that night. In fact he had completely forgotten about it until they were settling down for the night. It was a fortunate thing that the two of them were sharing a room during their stay in the Hidden Palace. Sonic had been staring at the ceiling, wondering all the while how the echidnas had ever made it so that there were ripples of water-like shadow and light playing across its surface when there was no clear source of light in the first place. It was when he chanced a look at his brother who was fiddling with something that he remembered.
Green eyes locked on the thief-prince as Sonic propped himself up on an elbow; watching his brother as he wrestled a wire loose from the small and circular mirror-thing in his hands. It was thick, and it actually looked like there was a space in the middle of it, filled with machinery. 'Almost like a mirror-and-tech oreo.' Manic glanced up at him at the bizarre image that thought conjured and raised an eyebrow. Without bothering to answer Manic's unspoken question, Sonic asked, "What are you doing?"
Yellow eyes considered him for a moment before the thief shrugged. "Not exactly tired yet, so I'm fixing one of my weird creations." Holding it up so that Sonic could see, he added, "Pretty damned handy in stopping lasers so that alarms and spraint don't get tripped."
"…You're focusing on that when we're on 'vacation'?" Manic pulled a face in response. "Ha ha, very funny."
"I thought so," the thief smirked before he went back to meticulously pulling his creation apart. In a moment another wire was freed and he began applying a small screwdriver to his work. Sonic allowed himself to get distracted in his effort to get answers only long enough to reflect that he hadn't thought it was possible for a screwdriver to be made that small.
"So…"
"Hm?"
"What was that reaction of yours about earlier?"
A slight snort came from the thief-prince, but it contained a hint of amusement. "Mighty's mind is an interesting voice to tune in to."
The blue hedgehog arched an eyebrow, "Okay… I know I'm probably going to regret asking this; but what do you mean by that?" Never mind that he understood perfectly what Manic's 'listening' to others meant.
Golden amber eyes darted back up to look at Sonic evenly. Just the barest hint of a smile tugged at his lips, knowing that he was going to make his brother uncomfortable with his next words. "And regret it you shall," Manic grinned, speaking with a more upper-class accent, one of the many he'd gained mastery over during the years. Dropping into his true accent again, he continued. "Remember that dream you had, and the image you sent me that one time, about Knux?"
Sonic's eyes went wide as he tried to disappear into the sheets of his bed. "I thought we agreed not to bring that up? Ever?" Manic burst into a fit of laughter, unable to help himself. Sonic immediately retaliated by throwing his pillow across the room at his brother's head. Manic caught it… naturally. "It's not funny! It's not!"
"Pft! Sonic, bro, stop being such a priss. It's your fault for broadcasting that spraint into my head in the first place. If you didn't want me pokin' fun at you for having a hot… steamy… dream about Knux, then you shouldn't have sent me the image in the first place dipstick." Another amused cackle pulled itself from Manic as Sonic's cheeks colored in a flustered blush. There were just some times where Sonic had to admit that he did incredibly stupid things without thinking them through; broadcasting that image into Manic's head had been one of them. Fortunately the thief quickly waved aside the awkwardness of the situation to continue on with his point. "So okay, you have a slight crush on Knux, no big deal. Reason I bring it up is because what surprised me so much about Mighty's thoughts is along the same vein… for Espio… times fifty-thousand."
Sonic stared at Manic in something akin to shock. On one hand what the thief picked up, he hadn't suspected of the armadillo; but on the other hand the way Manic was so laid back about just stating it was weird. "…You're saying Mighty likes Espio…"
"Mighty likes Espio so damned much that he was getting jealous when Espio was staring off into space at me. We're talking not just having the hots for him; we're talking Mighty is so damned sappy-hearted-smitten with him that Espio's probably the only person he ever dreams about at night. Your dream about Knux? Nothing but a hormone-driven crush on a guy because you just happen to think he's damned attractive. The sort of crush that boils down to probably being the 'only guy you ever crush on in your life' type of crush. What Mighty has for Espio? That's more like the 'wanting to spend his entire life with the guy' type of crush. Get me?"
Silence stretched between the two of them for a while as Sonic digested that information. "…And you're relaxed about saying all this… why?"
Manic shrugged nonchalantly. "Guys crushing on guys or girls crushing on girls are no big deal for me. Hell, Tahl was gay. Didn't bother me one bit; just one more variation on the spectrum."
Yet again, Sonic found himself staring at his brother like he'd grown another head. Before he could stop himself he blurted out, "Tahl was gay?"
"Yeah, she had a string of girlfriends a block long. Unfortunately a lot of them didn't work out too well, personality differences and all that spraint. The one that actually did work out decently just didn't last that long since neither of them wanted a long-distance relationship. Kind of hard to keep a good relationship going when one person is in Mercia and the other's on the main continent." Manic shook his head as if the subject were a worn out one. "Didn't help that Tahl had a bad habit of being a flirt. Only damned echidna that I ever knew of that would flirt with a dragon. Of course, until Knux she was the only echidna I knew."
"A dragon."
"Yup, a dragon. One of the big ones too. Not like they could do anything, but Tahl flirted with her anyway, and she flirted right back. Weirdest thing I've ever seen; and trust me when I say that I've seen some weird things."
Sonic massaged his temples, feeling a headache coming on as he tried to wrap his brain around what Manic had told him. Collapsing back into the bed and pulling the sheets up almost over his head, the blue hedgehog spoke again, "You know what? I'm going to sleep. If I think this over too much my brain is going to explode. So goodnight, and don't stay up too late."
"Will do," the thief replied as he dimmed his bedside lamp before shoving what he'd been working on into his fanny-pack. It could wait until tomorrow after all. Maybe by then Sonic would be able to think things through coherently instead of in the sleep-inducing jumble that Manic was picking up from him. The one thing he felt grateful for was that Sonic's mind hadn't even paused to ask any more personal questions. There were just some details of his life that he didn't feel like revealing until later. With that thought rippling through his mind, Manic settled down and turned out the light. Hopefully he wouldn't wander into Sonic's mind while they were asleep.
Negotiations were always so critical- 'Especially if you want the work done right,' Robotnik reflected as he eyed the first three that had turned up to hear him out. Nack had practically jumped at the chance to have a new target with a hefty price tag attached. It hadn't taken much to get the weasel almost beating down his door. So far he'd been somewhat rude from the moment he walked in the door; an excusable tendency since he'd proven to be reliable on more than one occasion. As such, when the weasel had darted a look at Sleet and Dingo and said the first words that popped into his head, "Damned if you aren't some of the ugliest bitches I've ever seen," Robotnik let it slide. He didn't care what racist terms got flung around just so long as he could get what he wanted out of the situation. Of course, naturally, he'd had to threaten his lackeys with bodily harm so they wouldn't pursue the weasel's insult.
It was when Rouge sauntered in with her escort of a black and red hedgehog that the overlord's blood ran cold. Everyone knew that Robotnik despised hedgehogs with a flaming passion, but neither Rouge nor the silent hedgehog with her seemed to care. She simply strode into the room like she owned the place and took a seat in front of his desk while the dark hedgehog parked himself against a patch of wall nearby. Dingo stood in a corner with his jaw dropped and his eyes as wide as they could possibly go, unable to tear his gaze from the curvaceous bat. Sleet silently stood next to him, but his look was one of disgust. Leaning forward onto the desk with the slightest grin, Rouge asked, "You wanted to speak with me about something?" Even Nack had a hard time not letting his eyes wander to her more-than-ample chest.
Robotnik gave the slightest huff before motioning to Rouge's silent companion. "Yes, but might I ask who he is before we proceed?"
A taunting smile eased its way onto Rouge's face. "Oh… him? He's just a darling friend of mine. You might say I picked him up somewhere. Nothing special." Never mind that everyone in the room knew that if she had chosen to bring him to this meeting then he was certainly 'special'. A derisive snort came from the black and red beast as his blood red eyes narrowed condescendingly.
"A name, if you please?" Robotnik pressed with barely controlled anger.
Rouge gave an unimpressed sigh before turning her attention to her foreboding compatriot. "Be a darling and give him a name so that we can actually get to the point of this meeting."
Red eyes glowered contemptuously at the human before he spoke in a fluid, though darkly accented voice, "Shadow." Nack let out a low whistle as he finally tore his eyes away from Rouge to let them rest on Shadow. Having called attention to himself by giving out his name had given the others more room to comfortably take in his appearance; a fact which he was clearly not thrilled about.
Robotnik arched an eyebrow, "Shadow? That's it?"
The dark hedgehog gave a snort in return. "It's just Shadow. If you don't like it, too bad for you… kisama." Rouge darted him a warning look, but he made no move to apologize for the foreign insult.
"Pay him no mind, he's always this moody," Rouge stated, quickly elbowing Nack in the stomach once his eyes started to look the hedgehog up and down. She knew how touchy her 'friend' was; if Shadow thought for a moment that someone was eyeing him like a piece of meat he'd walk out without so much as a 'have a nice day', and then there would be no telling when he'd come back. Nack scowled at her for winding him, but turned his attention back to the human that had contacted them. "So now then, Lord Robotnik, you said something about a job that might have a hefty reward?" she grinned.
"There are three royals that are being a thorn in my side. I need to know where they are, what they're planning, and if possible, I need them eliminated."
"Any details we should be knowin' about?" Nack asked while he took off his hat to adjust a pin.
"They're triplets, three hedgehogs. They're also allied with the Guardian of the Floating Island."
The purple weasel let out an annoyed huff, narrowly avoiding pricking his finger as he said, "Great, possibly a mid-air mission. Since I've gotta ask it, word is on the street that we're not the only ones you're planning on hiring on for this. So what's so dangerous 'bout these hedgehogs that you need to get multiple big guns to take 'em out?"
Robotnik's eyes narrowed in a mixture of fury and distaste. "They're not natural for one thing. The other thing is that they might have someone known as 'Kleptomaniac' working for them."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa- time out!" Rouge blurted as her hands immediately made the shape of a T. "Kleptomaniac? The Kleptomaniac? You didn't say anything about that nutcase being involved in this. You want somebody to do a sniper job, fine, get Nack to do it. I'm not going to put my life on the line by taking the risk of killing someone. The weasel here can do all of that business himself. I'll do spy-work for you, but that's it."
"And your companion?"
"…Your negotiations aren't with me, they're with her. I just happen to work with Rouge; nothing more, nothing less," Shadow replied coldly. "If she won't kill anyone, I won't either." The victorious smirk that slid onto Rouge's face was enough to let everyone else know that she was pleased with the hedgehog's attitude and wasn't above gloating about it.
"So, what? You're Rouge's official lap-dog?" Nack's offensive question was met with a blood-red glower that promised death the instant that the dark hedgehog was alone with the weasel.
Before things could escalate out of control, Rouge intervened. "I'm presuming you've got more than just that reason for calling me here. Perhaps something that might throw a little bonus my way?"
Robotnik's scowl nearly increased ten-fold, but it was true. Both the Dragon Demons and the Mercian Rose were hard to find. Even if he could find them on his own, he needed someone that they would be willing to negotiate with- which automatically ruled out Nack as a possibility. Nack was never known for his tact, so if he was sent to find the others it would be almost guaranteed that the offer would be rejected. Therein lay the reason for Rouge's confidence and flippant attitude. She was irritating and offensive to the overlord because she knew she could get away with it.
"The Mercian Rose and the Dragon Demons. I want them on this task as well. You're the one I'm trusting to find and negotiate with them, Rouge. Do not draw unwanted attention when you contact them- or your pay will be cut by half."
Her wings flared in rage, her ears quivering in her fight to keep them up at a polite tilt. None ever dared insinuate that she couldn't accomplish a job she'd been given. It was offensive to her pride and would have been, were the price for the job any less, grounds for her to quit and stalk out the door in a huff. "I'll find them and get them signed on, don't you worry about that- but don't insult my capabilities Robotnik. It isn't polite to tarnish the character of a refined lady like myself." Shadow gave a snort that, had he not been brooding only moments before, could have easily been mistaken as a hint of laughter. Rouge ignored him.
"Then we understand each other perfectly," Robotnik gave an unsettling smile in response.
"Apparently." Getting to her feet she stated, "I expect half of my payment upfront when I get the Mercian Rose and the Dragon Demons on board."
"You'll have it." Rouge nodded brusquely and headed for the door. Shadow detached himself from the wall as she walked past and followed.
There was a moment of silence after the door slammed shut behind them, then- "Daaaamn… She's still as pissy as ever, but between her and that 'Shadow'… they could make some serious money." Nack's expression became slightly befuddled when Sleet, Dingo, and Robotnik looked more disgusted than anything at the thought. "What? You don't think so?"
Pushing down the urge to vomit, Robotnik rumbled out, "Now then, on to specific details of your part of this job…"
"The nerve of that man! What kind of woman does he think I am?" Rouge fumed as she stalked down the hall with her wings flared, Shadow at her heals and looking rather bored.
"As I recall, you're the one who said he was a 'quadruple-chinned gargantuan technophile with a disposition as offensive as his appearance'," Shadow calmly stated, if perhaps a touch smugly.
Once outside both of them angled toward the hover car they'd arrived in, in a show from the thief that she came with peaceful intentions. Rouge waited until they'd both climbed into the hover car and were on their way before she snapped out her reply. "And as I recall Shadow, that offensive bastard is the triple-great grandson of your 'grandfather'. How does it feel to know that your family has fallen so far?"
A scowl slid onto the dark hedgehog's face, a crimson glare aimed at the bat. "That fool is no relative of mine, bat. He's an aberration. Gerald and Maria would have never accepted him as kin. Neither will I. Take care that you remember it- and the reason I stay around you."
Rouge knew the hedgehog's reasoning very well. Despite her harsh words, she was rather fond of her unusual friend. She was also aware that Shadow wasn't deliberately callous to her mood. Her ears flicked back into an apologetic dip for the barest moment; enough for Shadow to catch it. "Sorry, I shouldn't have taken my temper out on you. That asshole just pisses me off." Shadow's glower changed directions; now it was more aimed at his own past and the impression Robotnik had left him with.
From what Shadow had told Rouge about his 'family' the hedgehog was right; Professor Gerald and Maria would have been ashamed to share blood with Robotnik. Though Rouge was cautious about humans, she was by no means racist. It was just an unfortunate thing that most of her run-ins with humans had been unpleasant. In view of that fact, it made her friendship with Shadow all the more peculiar. Shadow had been raised by humans. Not only that, but he'd been created by them.
Genetic engineering had been legally forbidden almost everywhere on Mobius for close to a century. That Shadow had been created a little over half-a-century ago was evidence enough as to why his world had been torn apart. Shadow's very existence had been viewed as a threat; mainly due to the fact that he wasn't a normal hedgehog by any means. As such a special division of the military, known as GUN, from Overland (purely human territory) had been sent to eliminate the 'terrorist' Gerald Robotnik and everyone else that knew of Project: SHADOW. The only one to escape had been Shadow, but not before he saw both his grandfather and his older sister gunned down before his eyes. He was on the run for only a brief time, however. Being unacquainted with Mobius, as he'd spent his entire life up to that point on a space station, Shadow had been caught by the Overland military within a week of his escape. He hadn't been hard to find since he hadn't known the meaning of 'laying low' back in those days.
Naturally the first thing the humans tried to do was kill him. They very quickly found out that it was near impossible. Shadow hadn't been called 'the Ultimate Life-Form' in Gerald's notes for nothing. So the overlanders did the next best thing: they tranked and locked him in cryo-stasis. That led up to when Rouge found him.
By that point Project: SHADOW was all but forgotten, as well as the military base where the hedgehog had been imprisoned. Rouge, ever on the watch for a way to get a little extra money, had overheard a conversation between a former GUN official and the current head of GUN. From there she heard mention of Project: SHADOW, but not what it was aside from "the ultimate weapon". Smelling an opportunity to gain a large amount of profit, the bat snooped around. Tracing it back to the specific base, she had expected a machine or gem of some sort.
What she found instead was the hedgehog in the passenger seat of her car. The research and notes on Shadow had been easy to steal from the decrepit computers. Breaking Shadow out had been the difficult part. It was impulse that caused her to drain the fluid of the tube before prying it open. From there it had been a matter of waking him up and escaping before the old alarm systems could become active.
Getting anything out of Shadow had been almost as difficult as pulling teeth, but after a while Rouge succeeded. Since then she and the hedgehog had been almost inseparable. He provided her with a strong-arm and she gave him guidance in a world he was unfamiliar with. Their relationship was on a purely friendship basis however; Rouge had learned her lesson about getting together with moody and dark hedgehogs with her last boyfriend. The way that relationship ended had been a fiasco and she didn't care to have a repeat of it. So, regardless of how attractive she found Shadow to be, she had no desire to get involved with him on a more intimate level. 'I'd sooner kiss Robotnik than have a repeat of that damned bastard.' For the rest of the drive both she and Shadow were silent.
Review if you please, and the caushog will be appeased, for reviews make the caushog happy, and end crappy poems like this made of cheese.