AN: Wait a second! I…have one more chapter left, right?

Well, not sure if I should consider it a chapter.

A Rude Awakening

A year and three months earlier…

Dave gasped as he woke up, his body realizing that something was wrong. REALLY wrong.

Sitting up, he was no longer in the safe, orange room he was placed in upon his bunker having a lockdown during a bomb attack. He once hoped he could be anywhere from the previous jail room he was forced into as a 'dangerous liability', but, once again, he should have been careful about what he wished for.

Sitting on the same thin camp bed, Dave couldn't help but wince at the dissonant white and black colors that kept his 'room' together. The walls, floor, and ceiling, crafting a box to trap him, were transparent like glass, but the rest of the room looked too neat in a disastrous time like this. Too shiny. Dave thought the fancy, shiny rooms of phone stores were already destroyed.

A bright white light above was the only thing keeping this dark-colored room illuminated, clear for Dave to see. Additionally, the box he was in seemed to be floating off the ground at the height of a swimming pool.

"Hello?!" the cyan nutria called. "Where am I?"

For the next few seconds, Dave felt fear clutching at his heart. For once in months, he could see everything falling apart. He was doing so well in his good behavior, reassuring his followers that there was an alternative until he ended up in an environment like THIS. And it told him of his fate.

As he sat there alone, his shrinking eyes darted all over, trying to find an exit in the transparent cage.

They fell upon a hallway that should be his way out of this room. However, someone was already there, creeping out from the darkness.

T. W. Barker was uncharacteristically stoic as he stepped out. Somehow, his smart, bright outfit didn't contrast heavily from the shadows he came from. There was no sign of his deceitful smile or his cowardly awkwardness. The dog's face was stone cold as he stepped closer to the transparent cage, only coming to a stop when he was underneath Dave.

Barker didn't speak until his last footstep finished its echo, no sound daring to reverberate the room's wall. From there, he spoke with full authority of the room.

"Hello, Dave," said Barker, monotonously.

Somehow, the dog's flat voice didn't alert Dave.

The cyan nutria broke into a relieved grin. "Oh, hi there, Barker! Can you kindly explain what's happening here?"

"Simple," explained Barker, matter-of-factly. "I kidnapped you. But don't worry. We're underground, so Eggman and Infinite won't find us."

Dave's smile slowly disappeared. Those words didn't sound reassuring in the slightest. Barker was motionless, not even moving an arm up for a flamboyant posture. His emotionless look betrayed any sort of emotion going through his mind. Usually, his overall appearance would be a sign of his grandeur and theatres. Here, the symbol lacked his liveliness and so did the rest of the room.

The confused Dave slowly crept back, wanting to hide his body on top of the bed.

"If this is about making a deal, I got nothing for you!" he claimed, feigning friendliness. "I've already been arrested."

"This isn't about deals, friend," droned Barker.

Remembering past incidents of failing to read the room, Dave studied his demeanor. For some reason, the dog's unmotivated energy became a deceit. He was hiding something. The shadow cast from the bottle part of the cage seemed to darken his expression, not even brightening the parts where his white fur was at.

Dave's shoulders began to tremble.

"You must have a couple, T. W. Barker…" he lampshaded.

"Well, I wish I struck you one before you threw in the most unstable criminals to your glorious revolution," muttered Barker.

Even in the most tense scene, Dave couldn't help feeling offended. "You're no different, too. I followed what you did. I had good control."

Barker cracked a brief smile. Brief. It wasn't a cheerful one.

"At least they never saw the pathetic model you ended up as after you gave up."

"Which one?" questioned Dave, unsettled. "Wake up, dude. I didn't give up on MY people. I'm now with G.U.N for my villain slash redemption slash payback arc while you were hospitalized."

T. W. Barker paid no mind to this and walked slightly away, keeping his distance from the cage.

"I mean, I understand how much that hurt," acknowledged Dave. "But we have no beef with you."

Barker felt a growl coming through his stomach, but years of annoyance and failure made him suck it up. If Dave noticed this, he would use it for his insufferable mockery of everything. Unbeknownst to Dave, Barker had a concerning, ginormous hatred towards the nutria.

"You're right," he said, keeping his voice calm. "You and your friends don't have beef with me. Which is why I don't have to care about doing THIS."

Suddenly, the floor beneath Dave gave way and he landed in ANOTHER transparent cage below him. The reveal that Barker had a magical container underneath was frightening enough, but Dave didn't expect to land in a transparent box filled with hot boiling cement. The nutria didn't have time to consider the grey mixture below before his body helplessly dipped into it.

Dave screamed at the top of his lungs the second his whole body was coated in the grainy, disgusting mush. That scream became muffled and gradually dissolved into choking as he struggled to stay on the surface. Every time he pulled himself out, it only hurt more when exposed to air, the cement hardening in his mouth and nose holes. He fruitlessly sunk into the boiling cement pool, forced to endure the burning pool.

And that was only one of the stimulations Barker planned to subject him to.

With the nutria's eyes blinded by the hot cement, the dog felt eased enough to open his lips and let out a snarl through his sharp teeth. The stoic front fell off to reveal a rabid anger nobody had seen from him before. He was never an unruly dog but would make an exception today. His growl seemed to become louder as he watched Dave struggle to swim.

It wasn't enough.

Captain Shellbreaker emerged from the shadows. However, compared to his partner, he blended well with the shadows without breaking a sweat or forcing himself to be formal. The pirate simply entered and casually waited behind Barker's back.

"We were supposed to use that when we catch Zero," reminded Shellbreaker, watching Dave's torture with only a slight recoil. "Is he worth your time?"

Barker slowly turned his head to Shellbreaker, allowing him to see the rage he repressed so well. "He nearly KILLED you."

Shellbreaker snorted with a sarcastic smile. "If I had a nickel for every time a ship sinking doomed me, I'd have enough to buy a real booty."

Barker's hands clenched into fists. "Only nickels for things we could handle. At the time, the Phantom Ruby would have warped reality into a wasteland."

"Nobody died on that night," said Shellbreaker quietly.

"…yeah?"

"You didn't die," said the otter in a 'no, duh' tone.

Barker's eyes softened, turning back to the screaming Dave. Maybe Shellbreaker was right. It wasn't worth his time. Still, Shellbreaker could have been hurt! Barker did shield him, but…it could have been too late.

As Barker considered being merciful, his partner became equally fine with keeping this up.

"I suppose we can care for the shark bait," said Shellbreaker. "Knowing that Eggman is after him, we are holding our last line of defense."

Barker looked downwards. "You're sure? I can let him go. We have better bribery."

Shellbreaker sighed, resigned. "It's too late. Besides, the Lightning Bolt Society knows we despise them. Let's go along with that thought." Drowning out Dave's painful gurgling, the otter shook his head. "Anyway, the file transfer is ready. Unfortunately, Dave already burnt everything before the war, so what we recovered might not be accurate."

Barker shrugged. "If it means having an advantage against that scrooge, I'm happy to see it. Time can wait until we find a way to intervene safely. Now, it's just a storybook."

The two criminals silently agreed on the established terms before turning on their heels and walking away. They slowly let their charm disguise the discomfort and enjoyment of Dave's endless torture. As they disappeared into the shadows, the light remained on and Dave's cries for help became more noticeable.

After all, watching one suffer is endless.

The story will continue in Central City…

Unfortunately, you'll eventually have to partake in it.