AN: You may have noticed that Agent Stone and Topax are listed as major characters in the summary box. They don't appear in here...yet. But don't worry! I'll actually be close to writing about them soon!

Thanks to Tashasaurous for reviewing and The Sensational SpiderDom321 for following!

Chapter 2

I never really stayed around the lone road in the desert before. The Jackal Squad didn't take a step closer there as Zero didn't want to risk getting our heads caught by passing vehicles. It was probably for the best since we were nearly on every wanted poster in town. Someone could drive by and saw us sleeping and would have taken this as an opportunity to grab all of us into the boot.

Coming near the road felt like I already bought a ticket to hell.

Or heaven.

Depending on how I look at it.

It took me a few more hours to get there. Another long walk, but it was much shorter compared to me escaping from Mystic Jungle. The ruby on my chest kept bugging me that I needed to rest my legs. It kept telling me to fly instead. However, I felt that it would be cheating. I didn't want to be one of those kids who lie on their couch and barely lift a leg up for a nice walk.

Since the lone road was out there in the middle of nowhere, I found it in the middle of a dry desert. It wasn't too sandy, but there were too many cracks that one could accidentally fall into one that might be a ravine. Orange brown mountains rested on the horizon. For some reason, through the wavy heat waves, it felt as if those mountains were telling me to run.

Looking down at the road, I was surprised by how neat it appeared. It was in a bold black color with a white line in between. I wondered which side of the road people normally drive on. While a couple of days at the Eggman Empire somewhat helped me understand modernism, the lone road felt like it was the only modern thing in the wastelands.

I looked both left and right. The road was obviously really long. I couldn't spot if they went over the mountains or between them. As I wondered when the next passing vehicle was going to pass by, I thought to myself who would be in the right mind to create a road in the middle of a desert where the criminals roam around.

As long as it wasn't for tourism, then the road should be safe to travel.

I imagined what the city would look like. Or Central City in which that should be the nearest location for G.U.N HQ. I imagined it as being more…neater and cleaner. Something that appeared like it was a castle with riches and gold around. Games and festivals being held. Getting to feel the nice chilly winter breeze. And maybe get to fly on those biplanes that my uncle used to tell me about…

I sighed in bliss. This felt like it could be much better than living out here where I had to scrap for crumbs. As I marvelled how Mr. Ghost might be right about a blissful life in the city, I felt my heart pounding in my ears and my tail wagging as it wiped the dust around. The ruby suddenly felt harder, glowing and thumping in the same rhythm as my heart.

For some reason, I felt like I wanted it to be more harder.

Wait a minute, what did that exactly mean?

Before the ruby could feel more harder, I spotted a black object in the distance.

I squinted my eyes.

Was it a good thing?

Or a bad thing?

Or…was it a robot from Eggman?

My ruby suddenly flared up. I clenched my head, feeling something stinging in my head. With my teeth gritted, I tried to ignore the pain. However, it didn't feel too…painful. It was as if it was a squeezing sensation.

Opening my eyes, I couldn't see the heat waves anymore.

For some reason, my vision kicked into high peak and I could see a symbol on the front of the vehicle. Surrounded in a white circle with three triangles on it, a red circular outline on the inside, a blue center and a large white 'G' in the blue.

That could mean…

I gasped, blinking. The heat waves returned, possibly due to the ruby turning off. However, I didn't bother. That meant that I could get a ride to join them and get to the city.

Immediately, I hopped right onto the road and started bouncing up and down.

"Over here!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "Over here! Think you can give me a ride there?!"

I didn't hear any other voices from the incoming vehicle, but it was coming straight towards me. All I knew was that it wasn't so far away as when I first saw it.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, pumping my fists. "Yes! Don't stop now! Over here, guys!"

The vehicle was getting closer and the roar of its engine was getting louder. And it was speeding up. As I danced around, the vehicle was already expanding in size. Wait a minute, why was it going faster than before as it came straight towards me?

"Come to Obsidian, papa! Come to-!"

SPLAT!

Instead of being greeted by the vehicle braking, my face was greeted with sticking onto the front window as I was splattered on the front of it. The speed of the vehicle got my arms, legs and tail to be wide opened like I was flattened. It seemed to be a...an armored truck? Or a truck? I couldn't really tell since my face was planted against the plastic.

After 10 seconds, the truck slowed down.

I chuckled sheepishly, rolling around and going into a sitting position on the top of the truck's front. Well, this didn't turn out too bad as I thought.

And then, one of the drivers kicked the door open and pointed a gun right at me.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't place a bullet in your temporal lobe," she growled.

It was a cat. Not the felines I usually saw. She looked like she got a body wash to make her fur more smooth. And more sophisticated compared to the desert. She has purple fur, dark purple eyes and a tan muzzle. Strangely, she wore something that was in contrast with the black truck. A purple fedora with a black stripe, a black dress with a golden necklace, a long pink trench coat, pure white gloves and black combat boots.

I got to admit, she looked kind of cute.

"Nothing?" she asked again.

"Oh!" I said, putting my hands up in defense. "Um…erm…you don't want to shoot me. With tender love and care!"

"The only thing I care about is that you don't go interrupting my business," said the cat, putting her hands on her hips. "Now what are you trying to do here?"

"Hitchhiking?" I said dumbly. "I-I'm actually trying to travel to Central City."

The cat still held her firm gaze, but she lowered her gun. "...I'm listening."

"Well, it's just that…I'm a wonderer now. It really sucks being alone in the desert. I thought maybe I could…join G.U.N?"

"Why's that?"

The door on the other side opened to reveal a human. It was a male with tan skin, brown eyes and blonde hair. Well, sort of blonde. It was obviously bleached due to the dark roots. His hair was short, a bit messy, but it looked good since it was slicked up like my mohawk. He was wearing a teal bodysuit with a black bulletproof vest, black gloves, black pants and black combat boots.

"We aren't picking up strangers from here lately," he said. "What's your deal?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Well, I'm tired of…being a criminal lately. I can't really go back to my former team since they are…gone at the moment. I want to try to start anew. I heard a couple of rumors that many mercenaries' lives changed when they go down this road."

"And what is this team you were in before?"

"Oh!" I said cheerfully. "I used to be from the Jackal Squad!"

There was at least 15 seconds of radio silence.

"BOYS!" yelled the human. "ARREST HIM!"

"OHWAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!" I said, waving my hands. "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

Before I knew it, my face was planted against the window again as they forced my hands to be close together and chained my wrists in silver handcuffs.

Then, I was thrown right into the truck.

I blinked as I took into my new surroundings. Sitting on a chair that seemed to be made from black leather. It felt really soft! Unlike the desert, the entire room inside this truck felt much cooler.

Beat being in a desert hut.

Like back at the Eggman Empire, I could feel the blast of air conditioners. It felt so much more refreshing than being outside in the dusty, hot air. It appeared a bit too edgy inside since it was all coated black with not that much special features to it. Except for the fancy buttons near the steering wheel. There were three rows of two seats, though it was only the cat, the tan human and another person inside.

Speaking of which, the third person was a rugged-looking coyote. He had dark brown fur with black tips on his ears alongside a black muzzle. His golden eyes appeared sharper than mine. He was wearing a full black combat suit complete with guns and bullets attached to it. He also wore black fingerless gloves that reached up to his elbows and black shoes with yellow soles.

He leaned towards me, sniffing me. I rolled my eyes, pouting a little.

"I barely took a shower in the last three weeks," I muttered.

"You reek of nervousness," said the coyote bluntly. "And seaweed."

"I'm surprised that you just showed up on the road for us to come along," said the cat. "Wouldn't you have run away?"

"No," I said. "If I wanted to get to the city, why…should I?"

"You're Obsidian of the Jackal Squad!" exasperated the human. "Don't you know? You're nearly on the wanted list of every military in the States. I mean, it's good for us, but I'm surprised you gave yourself up like this. I thought you would have fought back when you spot us coming through."

"Wouldn't be afraid to test out the theory that some mercenaries out there were picked up to join G.U.N to change their lives forever," I said.

The cat and the human exchanged dumbfounded looks.

Meanwhile, the coyote appeared more understanding.

"Go on," he said.

"I'm tired of being a mercenary," I explained. "Between the dangers, the lies and the overly exhausting chatter of bosses, I…" A smile creeped on my face. "Thought I might need a new change."

"What makes you think that you could just waltz here while planning to backstab us?" asked the cat harshly.

"Do I have a list of people I murdered?"

"Well, five so far," said the human. "Three in self-defense and two were criminals as well based on what we were told?"

I nodded, surprised. "Yeah. It's…not something I'm proud of. Just look, if I was with my squad again, then we would have ripped through the entire truck. I would have done the same if I wanted to raid this truck. And if I wanted to kill you, I would have broken out of these handcuffs in less than a minute! Besides, don't you think it's strange that a desert mercenary like me would randomly know everything about G.U.N, even if I got access to a…screeny thing?"

All three just stared at me.

"A…um…a c-com-puter? A…a phoney? I mean, a tabet!"

"You're referring to digital technology?" asked the cat.

"Yeah," I said. "Exactly!"

The human raised an eyebrow. "OK, now I'm wondering if you are incompetent."

"Let's give this kid some slack," said the coyote. "I was like this since I didn't know how to use computers and I still don't."

I snorted. "I'm not a kid! I'm nearly 21!"

"Still counts as being one."

"Do you know your way around with criminals, assassins and mercenaries?" asked the human.

I stroke my chin. "Well, being in the Jackal Squad on our own for at least 3 years taught me everything." Something shuffled from underneath my jacket, about to fall out. "Oooh! Like this!"

My taser fell out, but I quickly kicked it up. Without even sitting up or needing to unlock my handcuffs, I was kicking my favorite weapon up and down like a kick ball. Then, I swayed my tail to catch the taser before throwing it up and grabbing it by my mouth like a dog.

"Ta-da!" I squeaked.

The taser fell out, but it landed onto my lap.

Funny thing was that nobody confiscated it yet.

The human nodded, a bit impressed. The coyote smiled a little. The cat barely changed her stoic look.

"You really want to join G.U.N?" asked the human. "You're…not going to do anything stupid?"

"Hey," I said. "If I go out of my way to do anything villainous, then you can shank me. Everyone is born to die anyway. I just…wanted a safe place to be around and help a few people along the way. I'm not really happy with being a thief anymore. Maybe I can try this out to be someone better?"

The three glanced at each other. A wordless discussion occurred. The coyote looked back at me before turning at his friends. He nodded and the human followed as well. The cat took longer, but she decided that it was probably for the best, nodding.

"We'll give you this chance," said the human. "But we're keeping you in handcuffs to avoid any temptations. Once we arrive back at HQ, we will report our leader and he'll see if he can give you that role."

I grinned. "Thank you so much. I-I'll do my best to repay for my crimes."

The cat snorted. "Let's just get back on the road now."

They stared the engine and drove off. I couldn't really move around that much without being comfortable since my hands were chained. Knowing that I didn't really have a right to move around, I tried to make myself comfortable on this leather chair. With my tail wrapped around my waist, I lied down and took a deep breath, trying to relax a little.

The coyote had a look like he didn't want to stop talking. "So, Obsidian. What led you to leave the Jackal Squad? The last time I heard from the weekly gossip from the other former criminals, I thought they treat each other well."

That wasn't something I want to talk about.

I frowned. "They used to treat each other well." I remained silent for a while, not wanting to explain. However, I could even feel the coyote's sharp eyes still on me. "OK, fine. They…died, alright? Tried working with the Eggman Empire. All of us were nearly wiped when on defense. My boss didn't listen to me. There."

"I'm sorry for your loss," said the human.

I chuckled weakly. "Don't be. I…well, hopefully things will look up."

"You worked for Eggman?" asked the cat in shock.

"Our boss made that stupid move to do so. I don't trust that doctor. He…did a lot to me already."

I would have let experience showed me the way, but for some reason, I felt doubtful that everything was going to be friendly.

"So…what led you all here to…working with G.U.N?" I asked.

The human shrugged. "Just the usual. Wanted to be a bit of a superhero, but I want to help people around. G.U.N isn't exactly the best military, but it was worth it in the end."

I raised an eye. "You don't say."

"Yeah, took me lots of years in college to get my degree for this." The human paused for a moment. "Realized that we haven't introduce ourselves properly."

"Man," said the cat. "If we are gonna start doing icebreakers, then we are giving too much away."

"At least talk to him before he get sent to the death bed. Give him some company."

"You're always the one who need to talk."

"I can't live with the silence." The human turned back to me. "I'm Agent Matthew."

I nodded, lifting both of my hands up as if offering a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Matthew."

"In case you are wondering," said Matthew, gesturing to the coyote. "Antoine here used to be a mercenary before."

That got my attention. "Oh really?"

Antoine shrugged. "I was picked up here before. Though, less forceful since I wasn't on their wanted list."

"Lucky you."

Antoine chuckled a little. "You kind of remind me of my teammates in my old squad. What do you jackals really do? Dig your paws into the dirt to find treasure?"

"Wait, there is an actual chance we could find a treasure chest in the desert dirt?" I asked. "That would be awesome."

The coyote smiled. "You're taking it seriously or not?"

I shrugged. "I just…go with what I feel. Wait, I wasn't really being sarcastic or something. Though, the Jackal Squad mostly steal and take bounties. Our boss desired to building an empire before, but I kind of enjoyed more of the simple life."

"Are you actually a jackal?" asked Matthew.

"What?" I said, confused.

"A-Are you a jackal at all?"

"Is he even one?" asked the cat. "He looks more like a fox."

I laughed. "It's fine. It happens all the time. I'm definitely a jackal!"

"How can we tell?" asked Antoine humorously.

"I have tall ears." I used my hands to point to my ears. "I have stripes on my back." Turned around so that they could see my stripes. "A long tail." My tail curled upwards to show off the white fluff. "And I can smell fear."

"Wait, you can smell fear?" asked the cat.

I sniffed. "I can smell it from right here. The adrenaline. You seem to be tense."

Matthew blinked. "OK, that makes sense since you are a canine."

"Agent Molly right here just doesn't really like to talk with people," said Antoine, pointing at the purple cat.

"Hey, I'm just not a people person," said Molly, trying to distract herself by rubbing the steering wheel she was holding onto. "It's not really my job to make friends."

"And yet, you're stuck with us, chatting with us," snarked Matthew.

"What about you, Molly?" I asked. "What got you to G.U.N?"

Molly stayed quiet for a while. She thought about it before shrugging. "Mostly trying to pay my financial debts. This job gives me more money to shake off the taxpayers. Been doing this ever since I was 18."

"Wait a sec," I said, flabbergasted. "You joined a military army? At 18?"

Molly turned her head around, giving a deadpanned look that screamed 'don't you know, genius'.

"Yes," she said. "Is that so much to tell?"

"Well…just a surprise that the city is like the desert where kids are sent to be trained as soldiers," I said.

Molly shrugged. "Yeah, but…" She blew a raspberry. "The paperwork was what I got in. The trials weren't too bad."

I scratched my ear, chuckling nervously. "Well…I just…wonder if…it's going to be a good thing with joining G.U.N or if it's not beneficial at all. I just…thought maybe it would be a better then-"

"Not gonna lie, kid," said Antoine, flexing his fingers. "It's gonna be tough since there is a lot to take in."

"Well, I faced through extreme things, so it won't be that hard."

"That's what you think. Trust me. I didn't know what I thrown myself into until I realized the new things I have to get used to."

"But they might be much simpler than doing things the hard way!"

"Not sure about that," said Matthew. "It would be like restarting school. You start at the bottom, but you have no idea what you would need to learn to graduate. Throwing yourself in might get you into trouble. However, if you do take the lessons leant, then you'll reach your way up higher. It's not exactly perfect with moving to a city, but…it's a long road that you might enjoy and learn from."

To be honest, I didn't really think through of what else I wanted to get out from the city. Or think about what challenges it may hold. While I was already used to living in a crime city, I never really know how it was like to be in a city. Like I said, I never really lived in a civilized society before. Mr. Ghost was right. I don't exactly come from a world where there are cities. Peaceful cities to be exact.

Molly, looking at the mirror hanging on the front window, saw how hesitant I suddenly became. I tried to straighten myself to not look like a fool.

The purple cat sighed. "Just…hang in there or whatever. It will be something new, but if you don't take the risk to gain a new life, then you would rather be in the desert for long."

"And is it going to be pleasant?" I asked.

"I went through a unpleasant cycle of university, financial debt and needing to stay up longer for missions. But…look at my clothes. That shows what really pays off."

One look at her clothes and they looked really spectacular. Something that I never really had before. And here, she kept it clean without needing to worry on if they might get damaged during a fight. It seemed that with a lot of hard work, she earned those clothes and might be able to buy new ones in case she got herself dirtied.

I already made the decision on wanting to change my old ways, so if there were things I needed to do for my crimes, then it was a choice I could make.

I nodded. "I see then. Well…thank you, Molly?"

"Don't thank me yet," said Molly. "Only if you buy yourself an apartment to stay in."

I clicked my tongue. "She's kind of mean, isn't she?"

Antoine smirked, nodding in agreement.

"What can I say?" said Matthew. "That's your first challenge."

"You mean getting used to stubbornness?" I said. "I know a lot of people who try to be intimidating, acting like they know everything. It takes one look through them to see that in the end, they are just like everyone."

Matthew opened his mouth, but relented. "I was going to say 'hold onto that thought', but what you said…is kind of accurate. And you pass that challenge for now."

It was already an hour and I noticed the land starting to change. I thought that it would take like a few more hours or until night time, but it turned out that the desert wasn't as big as I thought it would be. By the time I nearly dozed off, I looked out the window to see that we weren't exactly in the desert anymore. No signs of sand, dry land or dust blowing in the wind.

In fact, we were driving through where the plants grow.

One would say that it would be from a farm or something. The road was surrounded by long fields of tall dry grass and yeasts. While it didn't remove the common tannish yellow I commonly see in the desert, it felt like a complete change to where I used to grow up in. It got to me that I was actually leaving my birthland for nearly the first time ever since I ran away from Zero.

This time, it was more of a gentle ride instead of being forced to work with some inane doctor. Of course, my idea of a gentle ride wouldn't be still having my hands in handcuffs and restricted from moving around, but at least this was better.

There wasn't that much chatter in the truck. Besides Matthew giving updates, there was no other casual chat. Kind of felt awkward since we did have a long conversation when we met.

Speaking of the devil, Matthew was already sweating.

"It's quiet right now," he said, trying to break the ice.

Molly barely responded back. Antoine was already asleep.

"Too quiet now."

I didn't know what to say.

I opened my mouth, but I felt purple eyes staring back at me through the window mirror.

"A nice day today, isn't it?"

The only other sound was me swifting my tail on the floor.

"Well, almost a bit of a nice, boring day."

He suddenly scrunched up his lips, feeling the urge to say something stupid.

I stared at him, waiting for his response.

Molly paid no attention.

"...say, does your tail come right out from above the butt or come from the-?"

He was interrupted when Molly pressed her gun into his cheek.

"Finish that question," snarled the purple cat. "I dare you to."

"...your gun is empty," said Matthew.

Molly glanced at the gun before lowering it down. "Alright, alright. You caught me. I…just wanted you to shut up."

"And you would do that by shooting me?" teased Matthew.

"Yes." When Matthew raised an eyebrow, Molly changed her answer. "I-I mean, no. No. I actually hate blowing people's brains."

I tried to join in. I didn't know why, but I didn't want to be left out.

"Sometimes, I kind of wonder that question as well," I chuckled. "Though, there were a few instances when my tail got-"

"Do we really need to go there?" asked Molly.

"What? Got to fill in the silence."

"Remember that I'm the driver. The driver is the DJ who gets to decide what the sound is."

"You mean the Sound of Silence?"

"Exactly."

"You know that is actually a song," joked Matthew.

I tilted my head. "Wait, really?"

Molly looked away. "Yeah…though, it's…not my type."

"But you said that you like the sound of silence, so it sounds like that song would be your type of music."

"No, no, no," said Molly, waving one hand. "I just…don't really like the slow tempo of that song."

"But wouldn't it be just quiet?"

"It's not a literal silent song."

A light bulb came over Matthew's head. "You know, the driver doesn't really get to decide what kind of sound they want to play. Maybe some music to fill in the truck?"

Molly closed her eyes. "Let's not play music."

"It wouldn't be too bad."

"Last time I tried to, that ended up attracting a mob gang with a bazooka and a burnt truck to drag all the way back to HQ."

"That because you had the windows down that time."

"Not worth the risk with them up now."

"What music?" I asked curiously.

"See?" said Matthew. "He's curious."

"I wish that you were more used to silence," grumbled Molly.

"Hold on," I said. "What…kind of music do people in the city listen to?"

"Kind of a couple," said Matthew. "There's a lot more that is developed. Pop, hip hop. Maybe some classical music? I mean, what kind of music do you prefer?"

That was a bit of a complex question. I tried to think back to when I saw one of my friends in the Jackal Squad bringing out the guitar and sang a song around the campfire. There were a few songs that were shared around, especially in town. However, I didn't really get the concept of the different kinds of music invented.

"Uh…I usually hear songs from…singing and playing the guitar?" I said.

"I don't think he knows music genres before," said Molly.

"Maybe a few tunes might get you familiar with them," said Matthew. "Consider this your first lesson about 'city traditions'."

He flicked a knob that was on the panel and through the speakers, music started playing. It was nearly booming, somewhat loud. I winced a little on first listen, my ears folding onto my head. Though, when Matthew lowered down the volume a little, I could hear much clearly.

There were those tapping noises that made the rhythm. It must be the beat of the song, but it wasn't too dominating. It more relied on the soft guitar slicks, following its melody. It made me feel as if I was back in the old days. Though, the singing of the song was soft and nearly raspy, having a different accent.

Hearing this music really made me remember back to when my squad sang around at the campfire. Not all of us sang, but if we were in the right mood. Zero was a bit embarassed that time to sing along. But when it was dark and the fire was bright enough, it felt like we were doing our own celebration with no one taking the light from us. Like a ritual of some sort. A party that celebrated our bond.

It was soothing.

I smiled, closing my eyes as I enjoyed the song.

Matthew smiled. "This is country music. Guess that's your type of song, isn't it?"

"You can say that," I said. "Though, I never know that playing a guitar like this would be classified as 'country'."

"Or folk."

"That sounds more like it."

Molly seemed to be loosening herself a little, judging by how she didn't turn off the radio. However, she appeared a bit bored.

"Eh," she said. "This is kind of ok. You know what? Let the driver decide what's next."

She twisted the knob and the speakers changed to another sound. This one caught me by surprise.

At first, when I heard the beats, I thought that it was a bomb ticking. However, listening to it just reminded me of the grandmaster clock I stole once. Like a ticking clock that was oddly satisfying. Being the melody, there were those mystical sounds playing. It sounded like it was of another culture. Like someone doing a mountain call. And in the mix was what must be computer sounds. It sounded futuristic a little. Besides the instrumental, there was singing, but it was in Spanish.

I only knew a bit of Spanish here and there. It was required for mercenaries to know a lot of languages.

This type of sound wasn't as soothing as the 'folk music', but it was upbeat and rather poppy. I kind of like it. I found myself tapping my foot to the rhythm of the music.

Antoine stirred, opening his eyes. "W-What? What's that sensual music?"

"This is Latino music," explained Matthew. "Or Reggaeton music. Quite the sound for Hispanics."

Molly chuckled a little, nearly smiling for the first time.

"I don't really like that kind of music," said Antoine, scrunching up his nose. "Too much horny lyrics."

"Wait, horny?" I said. "How can you tell?"

"Translate those words sang and it will always be about love."

I tried to listen carefully to the lyrics of the song and hearing it was…quite something. Wait, I shouldn't be using that word again. No, it was REALLY something else. The songs I usually hear were mostly about hardship or victory, but not really about love. As I translated those lyrics in my head, it was starting to make me feel sick. I was close to being an adult, but I never really kissed a girl before.

It was a sexual song.

I felt ashamed, forcing my foot to stop tapping.

"Let's listen to some real tunes," said Antoine, standing up.

At this, Molly suddenly did a huge turn that ended up launching Antoine forward at the front panel. He crashed onto it and the radio jumbled up.

"oH bAbY! yOu KnOw ThAt I nEeD yOuR oNe TrUe lOoOoOoOoOoVvEeEe!"

There was no other better way to describe this type of sound as equivalent to when I scratched my claws against a metal wall. The lack of instrumentation made it ear-bleeding. Whoever was singing it sounded like them trying to give their best 'old nanny' impression while dying from cancer.

That wasn't all. As soon as Antoine hit the front panel, he accidentally pressed one of the buttons. Popping out from the ceiling was what must be a gun-like weapon. And it was pointing right at me, glowing up.

I felt my ruby flaring up in my chest on instinct. I hissed a little at how tight it felt.

What I didn't expect was a stream of brown cream blasting right at my body. It felt SO warm. And gooey. And it felt like mud. I was lucky that it didn't spray over my head since I would have been covered in whatever this deep-fried coating was from head to toe. As soon as it was done, I decided to try licking the cream. It tasted like chicken.

"Mmm," I said to myself.

Could G.U.N make food weapons like that?

Wait, but that might be silly.

Meanwhile, the rest weren't having a good time.

"I kNoW cAuSe It'S mAh OnE tRuE lOoOoOoVvVeEeEeE!"

Molly was shaking her head, twitching a little. Matthew had his hands over his ears, cringing from the screeching noises. Antoine was frantically trying to grab onto the panel in a panic before managing to grab the radio knob and turned it around.

The speakers seemed to have grown louder as loud violent, earth-shattering scream came blasting inside the truck. My eyes widened upon hearing the loud screaming and the equally loud shredding guitars and pounding drums. Like it was an actual demon screaming at us. I could already feel it as the erratic stomping reminded me of the cracking of a collapsing mountain.

It was a really angry sound. I hate it.

Molly suddenly swerved, flinching at the loud music. I found myself falling off my seat and crashing onto the floor. In my own puddle of edible cream. Wincing by how loud the music was, I squeezed my ears tightly, hoping that I could block out the awful screaming. I tried calling the ruby internally, but it wasn't going to help make me deaf.

Antoine was already dancing away, but I couldn't believe this kind of music he would enjoy. This was different. Like a sharp needle poking into my skin. It was already too much. Too much for me to process, even if my ears weren't damaged. I could already feel my heart beating in my chest. I wanted this nightmare to stop.

"TURN THIS THING OFF!" shrieked Matthew, freaking out.

"I'm trying to!" shouted Molly as she desperately slapped on the panel.

She accidentally pressed onto a red button. Even on the ground, I could see through the window a rocket flying in the opposite direction after being popped out from somewhere on the truck. It went flying all over the place before crashing far ahead on a mountain, blowing the top off in a fiery orange explosion.

Eventually, Molly managed to turn off the radio.

We all remained silent as Molly slowly drove the truck properly, no longer spinning it around. All eyes slowly drifted to the right window where we could see the explosion.

A pretty awesome sight to see. It reminded me of a time when me and Ace managed to blow a super soldier labatory. We did it so that nobody would be cheating in trying to be strong despite Zero's thoughts of taking some of the serum there. If there would be more chemicals in that rocket, I gurantee that it would have nuked the entire place.

Molly shook her head. "Well…now that I'm back to my senses, that is why I prefer the silence."

"I…guess that it can lead to violence," I said.

"That rhymes," said Antoine. He did a double take, seeing me lying in the large pool of cream. "Oh shoot. You're alright?"

"I'm not going back on cleaning duty," said Matthew.

"I'll clean that up," said Molly, looking excited. "I mean, can I do it now?"

As Molly and Matthew debated on who should clean up the mess and who should drive, Antoine helped me back up onto my seat and got me back into my seat. He didn't remove the handcuffs, but he made sure that I was comfortable.

"Antoine," I said, trying to understand what just happened. "What the heck was that noise?"

The coyote grinned sheepishly. "It's…erm…metalcore music. Sorry, it's kind of my new favorite."

I shivered. "That's…not gonna be my favorite. Don't you think that it's too loud?"

Antoine frowned. "Huh. Well, I'm guessing that you're not really used to loud noises just yet."

"Not THIS loud. It's like going into hell! Just…don't play that again."

"Fair enough," said Antoine, patting me on the shoulder. "That's a good point there."

It was brief, but it came to me as a surprise that he was a bit understanding and casual about my reaction. I could really tell that the Jackal Squad would have freaked out when they hear this 'heavy metal' music, but Zero would want us to toughen up as sounds couldn't really kill us. I felt a bit embarrassed in getting myself vulnerable…again. For listening to something that couldn't kill me.

Antoine, being a former mercenary, appeared to be more patient instead of getting stern. He didn't sound annoyed that I acted a bit weak back then. He himself appeared embarrassed for scaring me. So…that could mean something if his time in the city did change him for the best.

If anything, it might have made people a bit soft.

Yet, more civil.

"Wait a sec," I said. "Can we…go back to the music with the ladylike singing?"

"NO!" yelled all three agents.

AN: We met some new characters we may be following along the way. Agent Molly (the sharp-tongued, serious agent), Agent Matthew (the talkative, calm agent) and Agent Antoine (the easy-going and empathetic agent). In actual fact, Agent Molly is a character that I wanted to use for the next Forces United story, but I eventually cut her out when I didn't like the first draft of the sequel. Eventually, she is going to play a more major role in this story. In case you didn't know, Antoine is slightly based on Antoine D'Coolette. But hold your horses, as this character isn't like the Archie comic character.

The part where there are ladylike, screeching lyrics;? Imagine it as Toad trying to sing, but in a horrendous off-key note. :3

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Until next time, keep on rocking!