CHAPTER 3
Hey there guys, thanks for sticking with me this far. Got some cute interactions in this chapter. I'm starting to develop the bonds between everyone as well as start setting everything in motion. And as always, feel free to review and give me your feedback. I appreciate any inputs and advice you guys can offer me. Thank you for reading.
Shadow, Tails, and Zulu had explained to the others what they had discovered, with Zulu also explaining that he was a augmented super soldier which was why he was still alive. No one quite knew what to think. Shadow also explained how he had come across the drug in the GUN research and development facility while there getting knew equipment, as well as his early suspicions when he and Rogue were immediately called and dispatched when the portal appeared, stating that it had seemed to him they were to prepared for it to happen.
"So GUN was why you guys showed up last night." Confirmed Sonic, getting a nod from both Rogue and Shadow.
"Yeah, they gave us a rushed briefing with a little too much intel for a surprise occurrence." Rogue added.
"Normally I wouldn't have cared less and turned him over to GUN." Stated Shadow. "But after hearing his story, it's a little too similar to mine, plus, the fact that he had the same drugs in his system as what I saw in GUN has made me cautious. Turning him over won't get us answers, and I don't trust GUN as is." He finished.
"Don't forget Shadow, he's quite a hunk." Rogue teased, winking at Zulu, who stared back confused.
"Anyways." Shadow said, ignoring her. "For now, GUN believes Rogue and I are tracking down whatever came out of the portal, so we have a bit of time before they get suspicious, although we will still have to be careful." He glared around the room before his gaze landed on Zulu. "I don't think I really have to tell you to not venture outside unless absolutely necessary?"
"From what you've said about GUN, and you're lack of trust with them, I'm very familiar with organizations like them. They aren't trusting either and like to cover all their bases, chances are they have people snooping around everywhere looking for anything out of place, despite having their best agents in the field. They would spot me instantly."
"Correct, least I don't have to worry about you doing anything stupid." Shadow finished. He looked over at Rogue. "Think you can sneak into GUN tonight and dig up any dirt on what they know?"
"Oh Shads please, course I can." She replied confidently.
"Good. I'm going to go "look around" for our visitor from the portal." Shadow said, leaving the room, Rogue nodding and following him out, giving a small wave to everyone and blowing a kiss at Zulu, causing everyone to roll their eyes.
"She's really trying to get your attention Zulu." Chuckled Sonic, noticing Zulu's confused look. Knuckles just grumbled something incoherent.
"My attention for what?" Zulu asked, genuinely confused, having never drawn any female attention to himself.
"Well." Interrupted Vanilla. "I'm going to go shopping for groceries, who wants to come?" Amy, Blaze, and Cream went with her while the boys stayed home. After they left, Tails went to his lab and Zulu approached Sonic, Silver, and Knuckles.
"So where do you guys train? Do you spar with each other or have equipment?" He asked.
"Well we mainly spar with each other or get practice fighting Eggman." Replied Sonic.
"Ah, well I want to train a bit, sitting and healing doesn't suit me." Zulu said with an edge of challenge to his voice.
"Oh yeah?" Smirked Knuckles, still slightly irritated about how Rogue was behaving towards Zulu. "Why don't we go and train then." He stated, leading them toward Tails' plane hangar where there was plenty of room. Sonic and Silver stood by the wall to watch as Knuckles and Zulu stood in the center, staring each other down.
"I won't go easy on you dude. Better get ready!" Challenged Knuckles. Zulu didn't reply, instead crouching slightly, relaxing his body and analyzing Knuckles, noticing his stance and weight distribution, anticipating a lunge with a four punch flurry, leading with the right fist. As expected, Knuckles lunged forward in a blur, extending his right arm and leaning into the punch.
Zulu stepped forward and to his left, deftly grabbing Knuckles' right wrist with his right hand, pulling down and using Knuckles' forward momentum to carry him into a hard right knee as Zulu brought his his knee up, smashing it into Knuckles' stomach, doubling him over. Zulu swiftly followed up by bringing his left arm over and slamming his elbow down onto the back of Knuckles head, sending him brutally hard to the ground. The exchange was over in seconds, with Knuckles lying unconscious at Zulu's feet.
Sonic and Silvers jaws fell to the floor, not expecting an injured Zulu to hit, let alone dispatch, Knuckles so easily. Zulu noticed their looks and laughed.
"He doesn't plan ahead, he just punches. Now who's next?" He challenged, with Sonic stepping forward and Silver levitating Knuckles out of the way.
"Alright, I'll give it a shot, but I'll tell you now, I'm a lot faster than Knuckles, and I do a bit more thinking." He chuckled. Zulu nodded, breathing deep, crouching low, and triggered his brain's adrenaline response manually, as his mind almost instantly developed a strategy against an opponent with overwhelming speed. Sonic disappeared, and the fight was on.
Zulu saw the hedgehog fly to his right, probably trying to circle him and hit from behind. He had worked out that Sonic was fast enough to react to anything he did, and would respond just as fast. Zulu's strategy was to manipulate Sonic's reactions by doing a lot of feint responses, committing just enough to seem like a counter to make Sonic attack elsewhere. He knew there were flaws in his strategy, but no strategy was perfect. He was also aware that he needed to finish this within a few exchanges or Sonic would catch on.
As Zulu's heightened processing and reflexes caught Sonic shoot to the right, he twisted back to his right and twitched his right arm down, immediately throwing up his left arm to block his head, where he felt a strong impact. Sonic had seen him move down to his right and instead aimed a left kick at Zulu's head, only to have Zulu block there as well. Zulu, in the split second he had caused Sonic to stop moving from the impact and shock that he had blocked it, pivoted back to his right, swinging his right elbow savagely into the side of Sonic's head, sending him flying into the wall, sprinting after him the moment Sonic's feet left the ground. Sonic struggled to his feet only to be immediately drop kicked through the wall and into Tails' yard. Zulu stood in the hanger waiting patiently, only to suddenly feel a massive kick to the back of his head, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Ha, wow you're good, but don't get cocky!" Sonic said, stepping back as Zulu got up.
"My mistake, I couldn't keep track of you when you were outside." Responded Zulu, brushing himself off. At this time the girls arrived back, but Silver was the only one who noticed. Zulu went on the offensive, dashing toward Sonic and catching off guard, for he didn't expect such agility from the seven foot man. Zulu attempted to plant his right knee into Sonic's face, and when Sonic dodged to the left, raising his left foot to kick in response, he instead rolled to the right in a flash, avoiding a hard left elbow that almost smashed him into the ground.
Sonic spun on the ground and kicked Zulu behind his right knee, following up by pivoting and kicking Zulu square in the back, throwing him forward, dashing after him. Zulu rolled when he hit the ground and stayed crouched, kicking back with his right leg as he sensed Sonic shoot towards him. Sonic ran face first into his foot and was thrown back, but landed on his feet. Zulu pulled off his black jumpsuit shirt and wiped the sweat off his face. Sonic panted as he watched Zulu toss the shirt aside and prepared for his next move.
Zulu started slowly stepping forward, maintaining a strong guard stance. Sonic shot forward and began attacking him from random directions, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches, but shockingly, none got through. Sonic jumped back, breathing hard, noticing Zulu wasn't even slightly tired, even though he was sweating. Zulu had anticipated Sonic would try overwhelming him with his speed, so he had set up his guard to force Sonic to only be able to attack certain areas. He was in control, and could see Sonic getting slightly frustrated. As he was about to attack, they were interrupted.
"Wow!" Exclaimed Amy. "Did you really block every one of Sonic's attacks there?" Sonic and Zulu, finally noticing the girls had gotten back from shopping and were watching them, relaxed.
"Barely, if Sonic wasn't holding back slightly he could have hit me quite a few times." Zulu answered her.
"How'd you know I was holding back?"
"Shadow knocked me out with a blow I never saw, and I'm aware you two are very similar in your capabilities." Zulu flexed his muscles and looked himself over. "Ah, I needed that, I'm feeling loads better."
"That was an awesome match, you'll have to teach me how you fight." Sonic gave him an approving nod. "Man I'm hungry, what's for lunch guys?"
"We are going to make sandwiches, salad, and soup." Replied Vanilla, who headed for the kitchen with Sonic, Knuckles, who had woken up, and Silver. As Blaze and Amy followed, they saw Cream bringing Zulu his shirt.
"Aww!" Amy squealed silently.
"I think someone has a crush, look, she's blushing." Whispered Blaze.
"Well how could she not be, look at him." Amy giggled.
"Tell me about it, if Rogue were here we'd need a leash!" Joked Blaze as they left the hangar.
"H...Here is your shirt, Z…Zulu." Cream said shyly, trying to hide her blush from the tall, shirtless man before her.
"Oh, thank you Cream." Zulu said, smiling as he sat on the floor and took his shirt, wiping his face with it. Cream sat beside him and kept sneaking glances at him, unaware Zulu noticed every one.
"So, um…I thought you were really amazing." She started. "You kept up with Sonic." Zulu chuckled at her flattery.
"Well, kept up is a relative term, but I suppose I did ok." He stated modestly. "I am a weapon, I was trained and augmented to be able to handle anything." He looked down sadly.
"I don't think you're a weapon." Cream said softly, staring up at him with big, admiring eyes. He glanced down at her skeptically.
"Believe me." He said solemnly. "I am. I was a killer, even before being augmented and trained."
"Well I don't see you as a weapon." She crawled into his lap and put her hand on his chest. "Weapons don't have hearts or feelings, nor do they care about anything." Cream smiled up at Zulu. "I feel your heart. I can tell it has feelings and that it cares." She blushed. Zulu smiled down at her. This little bunny amazed him. He gently rubbed the top of her head and around her ears, finding the way she looked when he petted her, eyes closed and her tongue poking out of her mouth, adorable.
"Your mother is so blessed." Zulu whispered.
"Food is ready!" Vanilla called.
Zulu picked up Cream, stood up, and placed her on his right shoulder, since it was broad enough for her to stand on. She hugged his head so she wouldn't fall and he walked to the kitchen. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table as Zulu entered the room. Blaze and Amy exchanged glances upon seeing Cream clinging to Zulu's head as he bent over to fit under the door. Vanilla smiled to herself, happy her little Cream was bonding with the tall soldier. The boys didn't really notice anything, just giving a quick glance to Zulu and Cream before turning their attention back to the sandwiches.
After lunch Zulu snuck out into Tails yard, carefully observing the area. It was secluded and provided great privacy. He walked outside into the sun and sat under a tree, looking up into the sky. The social lunch setting had reminded him of a time with his team. After one of their many combat drug tests, they had been sent back to their barracks where they lived. Jarving only saw them when he had to experiment on them, so he only ever saw them in their mindless state under the combat drugs influence. Back in their barracks, after the drugs had worn off, they would chat and bond. At first they all kept to themselves, Zulu giving them a brief intro when they first arrived. Over time they slowly opened up, and Zulu got to know his men. Under the tree he remembered when Echo had vanished while on their way back to their barracks. They didn't really notice or care, considering the drugs wouldn't wear off for a while. Echo, however, had an extraordinary recovery time, and was his normal self usually within 15 minutes of the end of their tests. He returned to their quarters an hour later when they had started to become their normal selves again with a bottle of Whiskey.
"Jarving didn't lock up his room." He had chuckled, tossing the bottle to Lima.
"Oh hell yes, man I've needed a good drink." Lima said, feigning desperation.
"Well look no further, for your savior Echo will always fulfill every need." Echo replied, striking a mocking saintly pose.
"Man, Jarving has good taste, this is the good shit!" Echo said surprised.
"Well crack it open and spread the love, don't hog it like an asshole." Joked Oscar.
They all poured themselves a drink, save Zulu, who didn't drink, and toasted to Jarving for his good taste. Zulu chuckled to himself at the memory and leaned back into the tree, closing his eyes, and falling asleep in the shade. Unknown to him, a small bunny had been watching him from inside, and now slowly crept up to him. Cream, getting sleepy from the comfortable warmth of the sun, gently crawled into Zulu's lap, curled up, and fell asleep as well.
Shadow and Rogue stood at the site where they had encountered Eggman and Zulu fighting. The alleyway was pockmarked with bullet holes and a destroyed dumpster. They had combed the alley for anything residual from the portal appearing, but got no readings on their equipment. As they exited the alley, Shadow's com vibrated. He glanced at Rogue and rolled his eyes, answering the call.
"Sir?" He said flatly, slightly annoyed.
"I want a report on your progress." Said a gravelly voice. "I don't like your tone either, you better be taking this seriously." It threatened.
"Sir, the portal was here for only moments and vanished, and both Tails and Eggman have equipment to pick up an EMP reading that big. Rogue and I have found evidence of a firefight here onsite. We can see two separate groupings of bullet marks, one spread in the alley and another in the street, meaning at least three parties were involved, which I assume would have been Eggman, who did the shooting, Sonic's team, and probably who or whatever came through that portal. We got here to late last night, but we have some leads to go on for sure. We will track down Eggman and interrogate him about the portal, then follow up with Sonic."
"Hmmm, very good." The voice said, sounding pleased. "Continue the good work, but don't slack off." The call abruptly ended, and Shadow sighed.
"I hate humans." He growled.
"Oh calm down Shaddy boy, let's go visit Eggman, vent some of your anger." Rogue soothed.
"Sounds good to me, then you can report back to base, say I'm following up with Sonic, and snoop around there for anything about the portal, the drugs, or contact with anyone from Zulu's dimension." He finished. Rogue nodded and he grabbed her shoulder. "Chaos Control!"
Zulu woke up to the sight of the evening sun, turning the sky a deep rich orange as it lazily sank from the sky. He felt a warm weight in his lap and looked down to find Cream, curled up in his lap asleep. He smiled as her ears lightly twitched as she slept and her upper lip quivered slightly. Gently, he scooped her up in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and took her inside. Unconsciously, she grabbed his shirt collar and pressed her forehead to his neck. He walked into the kitchen to find Vanilla chopping up vegetables. Her ear twitched back as he approached and she turned to see who it was.
"Oh, Zulu, gosh, I was wondering where she had gone off too." She smiled.
"Well, I went outside to get some air and took a nap under the tree." He chuckled quietly. "Woke up with this cute ball of fur in my lap."
"I'm sorry, normally she's pretty shy and gives people their space."
"No, don't be ma'am. I don't mind at all."
"She is a good judge of character."
"She was raised well." Zulu replied sincerely.
"You're to kind. I'd hardly believe you were a soldier."
Zulu sighed. "I've done terrible things, while both brainwashed by drugs and of sound mind." He glanced at the bunny on his shoulder. "I'm not deserving of such admiration." Vanilla shook her head and carefully took Cream from him before replying.
"As her mother my natural instinct is to protect her above all else. She is more precious to me than anything else in this world. I would never let any harm come to her if I can help it. As an animal I can read humans very well. Animals are much better at sensing a person's true self than humans. If you were the cold hearted killer you think you are, do you think I'd let you anywhere near her?" She responded. Zulu looked from Vanilla to the little bunny cradled in her arms. Slowly he reached out, Vanilla making no move to pull Cream out of reach, and brushed a tuft of hair from the sleeping bunny's face. Vanilla smiled to herself and looked at a clock on the wall.
"Well we best be getting home, I'll see you tomorrow Zulu." Vanilla said as she turned to leave. "Remember what I said. If you ever need anyone to talk to, you're surrounded by friends here and we all want to help. No one here sees you as a mindless weapon, and we will find out what's going on. If anyone is after you or trying to use you as a weapon, you won't have to fight alone." She finished, and with that, took her leave.
Zulu watched her go and went back to the tree he had slept under, running over what she had said in his mind. He held up his hands and looked at them. His hands were rough and hard, having fought and killed, capable of committing horrendous acts of violence, yet able to gently hold and pet little Cream. He forced his doubts out of his mind as he glanced up to watch the sunset, determined to be the man they all saw and admired.
