The syndicate has a color coded rank system
also Silver is still a clueless bean - im terrible at balancing innocence with heavy themes
hopefully ill get cover art for this finished soon
"And don't even think of escape."
Silver hit the metal floor with a pained squeak. Picking himself up he ran at the cage door as it slammed shut, grasping his paws onto the bars with a high pitched shriek of anger. The other kids cowered back, hiding behind each other and whimpering slightly. The ivory hoglet was not so complacent.
"You can't keep me here!" He shouted, kicking the bar with a loud thump. When the force only knocked him back, the green hoods only laughed.
The main door slammed shut as the syndicate members exited, causing some kids to cry. The darkness was deep, but Silver's young eyes adjusted quickly. Finding his bearings, he quickly stood back up, running at the bars with rage in his mind.
With an angry howl, he shook the cage; rattling the door until the room echoed. He screeched, trying and trying to activate his powers again only for nothing to appear. His anger boiled to a maximum.
"What are you doing!" A nervous girl shouted. "You're gonna get us all killed!"
"Bring them on!" Silver howled. "I'll take them all!"
"Hah." A teenage boy scoffed. "That's tough talk coming from someone of puntable size."
"What does that even mean!" Silver screeched. He rattled at the door until his hands glowed. Before he could activate his power further, all the kids in his cage lunged forwards and snatched him off the bars. Hands were thrown over his mouth as he was shoved into the corner.
"You'll get us killed!" The children hissed collectively, letting go of the now startled hedgehog.
Unsure of what to do, Silver sat up. He stared at the sunken and frightened faces of the other children and blinked. How long had they been there? How long was he going to be here? Was this a bac place? Were these all the missing kids?
The main door opened again, this time with a guard leading a sobbing teen to her cage. The kids watched as she was placed in with the others and a different one was removed with force. The girl screamed and cried as she dragged her claws on the floor trying to desperately avoid whatever fate was on the other side of the door. Silver gulped. Where were they taking her? If she was so scared, what were they going to do with him?
The kids cowered on top of Silver, having shoved him into the furthest corner. Being swiftly buried by young and malnourished bodies was on the least of Silver's expectations. Fortunately, the guards did not approach his cage and as soon as the main door closed, the kids dispersed.
"What is this place?" Silver asked, staring at the cage door.
"You don't wanna know, kid." The teen boy answered. "As far as you're concerned: it's Hell."
Silver looked around. His cage held kids of his age and younger. The oldest in there had to be at most six. Another cage held teen boys, all sitting around and leaning on the bars. Yet another cage held girls of all ages and they looked absolutely devastated. What sort of awful sorting system was this?
Silver looked to the kids in his cage. They all looked back at him. Most stared at his shoes. That's right. Kids don't get shoes. That probably made him seem special. The door opened once again, this time a menacing shadow cast itself upon the small hedgehog.
A very important looking fox in a red hood entered the room. The other green hooded guards stood at attention as the leader approached the cage. With a squeak, the kids cowered back in the corner. With a small growl, Silver approached the bars.
"So this is the Prodigy." He smirked, reaching in with his long hands and touching Silver's chin. "You boys must have put up a huge fight to separate them."
"Yes sir." The last leader spoke, Silver now recognizing the green hooded figure. "We lost thirty men in that fight."
"A tragedy, yes." The fox sighed. "But necessary in this line of work - say do you know if you were followed?"
"We laid dead til He left the site." The green hood responded.
"He will find you!" Silver snapped, grabbing the bars and shaking the door once again. "He's faced a big cloud monster - he can face you!"
"Oh I'm sure He's faced the Demon plenty of times." The fox slyly chuckled. "What's to Him a poor miserable soul like me…"
The fox pulled a tissue out of his coat and fakely dabbed away some tears, prompting the hoglet to rattle the door more intensely. Throwing it over his cloaked shoulder with a dramatic flair, the fox continued.
"I know exactly who your master is, Prodigy." He snarled, slamming his bare hands against the door and shoving his face directly into Silver's. "That thing has been running around for hundreds of years and being a pain in my perfectly styled tail."
"If it weren't for the boss, I'd hunt Him down and sell Him myself." The fox snapped, pushing away from the bars. "But since He's too much of a hassle I'll have to settle for His student."
With a dramatic turn, the fox snapped his fingers. On command, two guards opened the cage and drug Silver out by the arms. Kicking and screaming, Silver found himself pulled down the hallway behind the fox. With his arm crossed behind his back, the red hood led the way, guards opening doors for them as they walked through the complex.
"You can't do this!" Silver screeched, summoning the blue aura.
"Oh but I can." The fox laughed, never turning around. "You're tainted by His presence. Which means you have something inside you that both Tone and Signal had."
"And what's that?" Silver asked, baring his baby canines.
"Chaos connection." The fox smirked. "One of the rarest abilities in the world."
"Chaos connection?" Silver asked, tilting his head.
"Did he not teach you?" The fox giggled, turning on his heel. "That means you can control Chaos Energy."
Turning back around, the fox continued.
"With your power, you can use the Chaos Emeralds at will. That makes you extremely valuable. If you can find the Emeralds by honing your senses, you can earn us a lot of money. With your skills we could elevate our business to its full potential. Your Chaos connection could give us access to weapons unimaginable. Weapons not seen since the old day."
Silver gulped. They were going to use his power? How could they use it if even he didn't know how to handle it. His foot bounced off a pebble as they dragged him on.
"He sure does monologue a lot." The guard to his left grumbled.
"Be quiet, do you want to get fired?" The guard on his right hissed.
A pair of fancy double doors opened, revealing a lavish lounge with men, in the fanciest clothing Silver had ever seen, sitting around and drinking wine. Girls sat at their sides, leaning on them and stroking their fine suits with delicate movements. Recognizing one of the girls from earlier, Silver kept eye contact with her as he was drug past her and out of the room.
"Your power is extremely valuable to the Syndicate." The fox continued as the doors shut behind them. "With your skills we could level entire armies - if you were trained properly. You could pull off extreme missions only few get to see - you could usurp the mayor of crescent city. You could do everything. After all… He only chooses the best of the best."
"But I can't control my power!" Silver squeaked, body flopping as his boots caught in a doorway.
"That can be remedied." The red hood laughed ominously. "All it takes, is a little…. coersion"
With a laugh, the fox personally opened another set of double doors with a dramatic push. Inside sat a table with straps and binds attached to every possible side. Silver felt his ears droop and his face go pale. Whatever that table was for, it was not good. Another snap filled the air as the hoglet found himself lifted off the ground and onto the table. Forcefully, the green hoods took his limbs and stretched him out. Fear flooded Silver as his aura caught him in midair. With heavy pulls, the green hoods forced him down, strapping him tightly to the table. The objects in the room began to rattle as a slow and long whine escaped Silver's throat.
"Yes." The fox laughed, raising his hands to light a candle.
The match fluttered to the ground as the flame was held close to Silver's face. The door slammed shut, blocking all light except the meager flame inches from his golden eyes. The aura glowed brighter, casting a cyan light on his body that radiated from him. A terrified squeak escaped his lips.
"Check his teeth." The fox demanded.
Removing his gloves, the green hood on his left stuck his fingers in his mouth. Peering around, he swiped his fingers through the hoglets cheeks. With a satisfied grunt, the guard removed his fingers.
"Looks about five." He reported. "Varied diet and excellent health."
"Perfect." The fox sneered. "Shall we begin?"
Raising a knife in the air, the fox began to select a spot to start. Placing his cold hands on the hoglet's stomach, he lowered the knife, eyes narrowing to make a precise cut. Silver's aura grew brighter, the objects in the room rattling harder and harder the closer the knife got closer and closer. Silver screamed as the blade touched his fur. Objects jumped off the walls as the room began to shake. The blue glow cast eerie lights across the whole room as thing after thing crashed and fell. Cyan blue shone in the fox's eyes as he brought the knife closer and closer, his teeth shining in an awful smile as the knife began to touch the sweating young skin."
"Lieutenant." A harsh voice sounded through the air, the door slamming open as the fox jumped from the sudden interruption. "The commander needs to see you."
"What? Now?" The fox groaned, not turning to look. "Right when I'm persuading?"
"Now." The other lieutenant growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.
Looking at the red hooded individual, the fox sighed. Slowly he lifted himself from the glowing, shaking child and left out the door. Right before he exited the view, he turned to address the guards.
"Take him back to his cage." He signed, rubbing between his eyes. "I gotta see the blue hoods in the office."
"Yes sir." They answered. As the door shut once again, the two guards looked at the glowing hoglet. They stood there, gesturing at one another until finally one took a probe from a nearby tray and poked the charged hedgehog. When nothing happened, they synchronously undid his bonds and carried him out by his arms.
Passing through the lounge once again, the men and girls were gone, with only the fancy suits left scattered behind. Looking around, Silver tried to find out where they could have gone, only for the doorway to block his vision. One of the guards simply shook his head.
Arriving back at the big door, Silver found himself dragged back into the room and tossed haphazardly into the cage once again. Still glowing, when the doors slammed shut his body illuminated the whole room. The reflection of eyes turning to look at him was eerie in the low light. Silver let out a whimper.
"You have powers?" One of the kids asked, reaching out to touch his aura.
"I can't control them…" Silver responded dejectedly.
"He said you were a Prodigy." The teen boy commented, standing up and leaning on the bars. "Is that true?"
Whispers filled the room as the kids and teens looked around ant each other. Silver nervously looked around as well.
"What is a Prodigy?" He asked nervously, noticing his body lighter than normal.
"A Prodigy is someone trained by Him." A girl spoke up, her soft voice barely registering in Silver's ears. "Are you not trained by Him?"
"Who?" Silver asked, grabbing the bars in the hopes of not floating away.
"The one who trained Tone and Signal." A younger boy answered. 'Y'know… Him."
Before Silver could answer, the ground shook. Looking at his hands, Silver watched his aura fade. Turning to sit, another explosion rocked the room, sending various squeaks and yelps of surprise echoing around. Silver stared at his hands. Did he do that? Before he could think again, the kids heard the guards running around. The complex was on high alert.