6 - Fallen Jackal - 6

Afternoon, 2:00 PM

The striped hedgehog watched in boredom as the shaken jackal downed about four bottles of water in less than ten minutes. That couldn't have been healthy to do in quick succession like that. The case of water was tucked away nearly next to the fixed metal cot. He was almost just as cowardly and frightened as he was when they first fought. As he began to place his hand on the top, he attempted to begin his fifth bottle. But then, a horrible sense of danger struck him. The jackal slowly looked up from the bottle and to the predator that was waiting silently behind the desk. He was tapping his fingers against his own arm, evidently annoyed and impatient. The prisoner flinched and dropped the bottle before walking back over to the cot to sit down. "...Sorry-" He bowed his head.

"Quit apologizing, that irritates me." The biohog simply commanded. "Are you ready to tell me what I want to know?"

It was evident the jackal hated being put in such a submissive position of questioning. "...Yes, anything you want. Err," He suddenly looked conflicted. "Almost...Anything..."

"Oh?" Shadow took that as a challenge, a spark of amber red chaos energy sparking from his folded hands. "Do I need to demonstrate my authority onto you again?"

"No," The jackal quickly replied. "I just...You don't understand-"

"Then make me understand." Shadow ordered loudly. "I've promised to give you whatever you desire in exchange, and I didn't rip your head off from your shoulders after your pathetic attempt at a comeback. What more do you want?" He asked rhetorically. "The only two things I can't do is let your go free or stop the president from having you executed. You're on borrowed time, or did you forget that? I figured making your last days pleasant would be good enough, but apparently not."

The prisoner clenched his teeth, seeming to be nervous about something. "...Listen-"

Shadow slammed his fists on the desk, causing the jackal to wince. "Tell me what I need to know already, or you're dead!" He shouted.

The prisoner dipped his head low, his hands cupping his knees. "Alright," He shuddered. "If you really have that much power, that much influence...Then," He tightened his grip. "I just want one thing. My crew, my...Family," So it was true, he did care about them like family. But if that was the case, why did he act the way he did that day? "I don't know what their sentences are, probably life. Promise me you'll make their lives easier in prison. Make sure they're comfortable, make sure they're given good food and real water. Let them sleep on real beds, and don't let them get killed in there." His eyes were glossy, and though his tone was quiet and guarded, Shadow could tell he was getting emotional. "They're everything to me. So please, protect them as much as you can. Please."

Guess he did have a heart in there somewhere. Shadow listened to his request, but he wasn't impressed. "You claim they mean that much to you, and yet, you threw them away like rag dolls the moment I came after you. You used them as human shields against me. If I was a GUN soldier with a firearm assigned to that mission that day, they'd be dead right now."

That's when the jackal scoffed. "That's because they're not mine."

Shadow paused at that. "...What?"

"More than half of the men in that fight weren't mine, they were some riff raff given to me to help secure the bombs. I don't care a fig for them." He held up a few fingers as he looked up at the ceiling, mentally counting aloud. "Ten, fifteen...Yes, only twenty of those men were mine. The rest are random chumps I conned into doing it."

So that meant thirty-nine of the fifty-nine were outsiders. That's more than half of the group. "I see," Shadow replied calmly. "So you needed more hands to help plant all of the bombs."

"Yes, that's all that was."

No, something about that didn't sound right. "Then why was there a bomb for each person on your team? There were fifty-nine bombs, and fifty-nine mercenaries in total including you. If your actual group made up only around thirty-four percent of the team, why did you use that specific amount of bombs? And matter of fact, why did you make it so easy to diffuse? Once one bomb was down, the rest became useless duds."

The worried expression the jackal on his face, was slowly melting away. "...Who ever said there were only fifty-nine of us? I think you miscounted." He retorted with a cocky but still slightly nervous smirk. "Counting me, there were sixty of us. But one didn't make it to the bombing site that day, as he had something else he needed to do for me." Sixty? Sixty? Then where the hell was the one who got away? "And as for the number of the bombs, I was told that sixty of them would be enough to level Empire City entirely. I had each of my men plant a bomb individually, one for each person. I did that so we could do it more discreetly and much faster, as moving as a group would be too suspicious and take too much time."

"But some of your men were caught planting bombs by witnesses anyway."

"Those were the riff raff, novices. Of course they were caught. They handled the wiring too, so I wasn't surprised it failed."

"You don't seem to care about the whole thing being a failure, and you didn't seem to care then either. What was your plan exactly?" Shadow finally asked. "That was all too easy to trounce, too easy to stop. You all might as well had never attempted it in the first place. You yourself just admitted that you knew the plan would fail anyway, so why? Why did you do it? And why did your men call you a traitor?"

He saw sorrow fall in his heterochromic eyes. "They have every right to call me as such, I did things that sold them out."

"Like?"

He hesitated in continuing, but eventually started speaking again. "...You said you researched me before coming here?" He saw Shadow nod.

"You've been a mercenary since you were young, born and raised within that same group of mercenaries you lead now. The Jackal Squad, as lazy as that is. You grew in the ranks and eventually became the leader yourself. Your group is excellent at keeping your identities a secret, as no one in the world knows who you are, only that you're a band of ruthless Mobian canines. No one," Shadow trailed off. "Except GUN. You attacked GUN once around ten years ago when you were young. The raid failed, but you did a nice amount of damage and even stained their reputation. People were scared you'd be able to reach the White House, and you very well could have. You attacked major military groups across the world to take out targets or steal valuables. Yet no one could catch you or at the very least learn who you were. Then, you made a big mistake." The biohog narrowed his eyes. "You attacked Dr. Robotnik a year ago. We found this out through some hacked audio logs he made that he lost during the raid."

He watched the jackal scowl, and his demeanor became exasperated. "I nearly slit his throat, but I didn't expect his stupid little mobile to eject him out of his seat at the last second. If it wasn't for that, I would have had him. Anyway, I can't say his name out loud, he had me captured and chipped, and took a lot of my jackals away to his secret base as insurance. If I say his name, he'll activate it and I don't know what it can do. Not even the doctors could find it when I was first put in here."

"You not only tried to kill him, but attempted to steal his tech and sell it on the black market. He captured many of your men and according to his logs," Shadow made an uncomfortable frown. "He's experimenting on them, attempting to roboticize them into his minions. He didn't destroy your entire team, but he severely damaged it."

"Now you understand," The prisoner said with a tired tone. "I was given an ultimatum. 'Attack Empire City with a bomb threat', that's it. He wanted it to fail on purpose, and he wanted us to get arrested so you guys would waste your time on us. He just wanted to distract the authorities, specifically GUN. He forced me not to tell my men, which is why they hate me right now."

"But why?" Shadow stressed. "It was a shitty plan that failed from the word 'go' so it barely took that much time. What kind of distraction is that?"

"According to the man himself, it was long enough. Besides, he was right. GUN is too preoccupied with getting information out of me instead of worrying about where he is. As for the bombs," The more the jackal spoke, the less sure he seemed. It appears that even he didn't know what Eggman's true intentions were that day. "He just needed the city rattled up for approximately twenty minutes or so, but I don't know why. I don't know what he's really doing, as I cut off communications with the fat bastard after I started the mission."

The biohog raised a brow. "Oh? You're saying you can still communicate with him?"

The mercenary nodded. "The chip in my neck, it unlocks a smart device he gave me when the plan began. If the plan was to fail and I was to get arrested, I didn't want GUN finding it and tracing it to find him. Otherwise, he'd see it as a betrayal and activate the chip. I can use that to communicate with him, but I locked it away in a hideout. I'm not sure if you guys found that yet, but it should still be hidden in there." He moved his neck around as a gesture. "My men, he told me he wouldn't hurt the rest of them if I did as he said. But," He gritted his teeth. "I don't even know if he's telling the truth. I have no idea what he's doing to them."

"You said there were sixty of you, where is the last one?"

"It wasn't too important, but I was instructed to have someone keep an eye on your hero. I sent him out to do so about two weeks ago. He wanted to pitch in for the bombing, but I told him to leave last minute, about a few hours before we went through with it. That fat man was really antsy about that blue hedgehog, and it caused me some concern as well. So, I told him that keeping his eye on Sonic was more important. It'd be bad if GUN got a hold of us, but both you and Sonic the Hedgehog? No thanks. But," The prisoner sighed with disappointment. "I'm guessing that hedgehog is a lot smarter than he looks, because before the plan even started, I couldn't get in contact with my spy anymore. My take's that he was found out, and your hero made him pay for it. I don't know where he is now."

He had someone spy on Sonic? He didn't even know that, and the hero played it so cool that nobody would know that someone recently tried attacking him. He had not one scratch on him, either. Either Sonic beat the crap out of him and had him arrested elsewhere, or the spy made a run for it before Sonic could really get his hands on him. He'd keep that in mind. Shadow held up his wrist and watched the hologram with GUN's logo appear. He used his finger to swipe through the holographic screens. He saw his contacts and poked his finger onto a name: Rouge. A holographic keyboard appeared before him and began to type a message, an email to be more specific. After it was sent, the holograms disappeared and he relaxed his arm. Perhaps she could find out whether or not a jackal of similar appearance to his new friend was recently arrested. "I'll find that out soon, as you've piqued my interest. I see despite that miserable attempt at terrorism, you truly did know what you were doing." Sonic was right, this was all just one big distraction. "Only problem is, neither of us know what the doctor is planning. I can tell you're not lying about that, as you seem more threatened by the doctor than me."

"Trust me, I'm not scared of that obese quack." The jackal scoffed. "He's strong through robots, but that's not real strength. He has me in a bad position and I'm only scared of what he'll do to my family, not me. I don't have a choice."

"..." Shadow placed a fist under his chin, closing his eyes to think for a moment. This was indeed quite a bad position. The jackal can't even speak the doctor's name without severe repercussions. Who know what he put in that chip to keep him quiet. Poison? A lethal microscopic injection? Not to mention it was so small that not even doctors could find it. He really wanted to cover his ass, because he didn't want anyone interfering in whatever he was planning. But what would be so big that he went through such cruel measures? The doctor was quite cruel when he wanted to be, that was true, but he was never this merciless about his methods. Huge, over the top grand schemes were one thing. Using a huge laser to blow up the moon, splitting the planet in several pieces, sure. Again, over the top, with a legitimate level of extreme danger. But this intricate, gross manipulation, mass hostage taking and now experimenting on Mobians? This was an evil he never thought he'd see from the doctor, because this felt way more personal.

Why was he moving so mercilessly? Is it because of Sonic's announcement a few years ago, where he vowed to take him down for good? No doubt, this proclamation probably did shake up the doctor. Sonic was never that ambitious in permanently ending the fat man until just recently, which is a severe shift in tone from his usual heroic efforts. Eggman knew Sonic before even Tails, so he arguably knew him better in a way that his friends never could. When Sonic is sincere about something, it's a problem. That must have been why he went into hiding, he was scared of what Sonic was capable of with this new sense of justice. A kid playing around with chaos power was one thing, but a matured grown man with honed abilities was even worse. Eggman knows very well what Sonic is capable of when he's screwing around, but serious? Even Shadow was a little intimidated by what he might be able to do. That little show he put on during the party with his new chaos abilities was barely a taste of what he could do as of now, he was sure of that.

So, Eggman was planning something big in order to get back at Sonic...He was probably planning to kill him for real, considering the fact that he may feel threatened. He was using the Jackal Squad as pawns to attempt to draw out the city's stronger law enforcement, GUN, to distract them from something he did within that small timeframe of stopping the bombs. What he did in that little bit of time was crucial, and he needed to find out what it was. The jackal knew a lot, but not enough. This wasn't good enough, he needed more information. A full on attack now would be very dangerous, as no one had any idea what the doctor already had prepared. If he was really worried about the jackal talking under pressure, he'd have activated the chip to kill him instantly the moment he got arrested. No, he was confident that if GUN attacked him now, they'd regret it. This was becoming a very devious plot, and Shadow didn't like it one bit. He needed to talk with Rouge, and even more so talk with Sonic again about what he knew about the circumstances of Eggman's disappearance. But if the jackal had the ability to contact Eggman, they may be able to use that to their advantage.

Hmm...

Okay, he might have an idea.

It was a risky one, a very perilous idea that could backfire, but he had to take the chance. If this worked out, they could stop the doctor in his tracks before he even knew what hit him. "You," Shadow commanded, causing the jackal's ears to twitch. "I told you I can give you anything you want, and I meant it. Here's what's going to happen," He opened his eyes at him, his amber red irises glowering into his soul. "I'm going to have you moved to a different kind of prison. One that houses only one prisoner. You won't have to worry about other inmates, and I promise you'll have better living conditions. A bigger space, more privacy, better food and better plumbing. I'll even let you talk with your men from their prison. You will be exclusively under my surveillance, guarded by a few GUN soldiers for extra security. However," Shadow added. "It will also be for your protection. Neither of us know what the doctor has in store, and he may want you dead even now. This will be proceeded under a condition of emergency, causing your sentencing to be postponed. Meaning, you will not be executed until this is all over, giving you a little more time. Only a few powerful people will know of this procedure, and will also be keeping you under their radar, but I will be your only warden." He crossed his arms. "Until Eggman is stopped, you will be my prisoner. Not Tower's, and not the president's, and you will do everything I say. Understood?"

The jackal stared at the desk for a few seconds. "...And if I refuse?"

"Your sentencing is a few weeks from now. Your head could roll, or you can spend the rest of your life with worst the world has to offer on New Prison Island. Or," Shadow added, almost forgetting the former mercenary's circumstances. "The doctor could change his mind on a whim and activate that chip in your neck." He needed him to know that his potential death was of no real consequence to the biohog. "Your choice, makes no difference to me. It might take a little longer, but I'll stop Eggman with or without your help." He then attempted to make a slightly more sympathetic expression. "I understand not wanting to be constantly passed around as a pawn, but you put yourself in this position the moment you attacked Dr. Robotnik. These are the cards you were dealt, and now you have to use them. I advise you to choose wisely." He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt, as Shadow was once in a similar position with the government and Black Doom once upon a time. He felt like a hypocrite, he know what it felt like to be used as a living tool. "I promise," He spoke more mildly. "I will make sure your family is safe. Believe it or not, there are rehabilitation programs for prisoners on the island. They won't be let go, but if they grow a history of good behavior, GUN will make note of this. They'll make accommodations for them and attempt to make their lives somewhat easier. I'll even pitch in, if you'd like."

A frustrated huff escaped through the disgraced jackal's lips. He shook his head before turning away. "Fine. Do what you want, tell me what you need me to do. I'll do it, just-" He lowered his head to the surface of the desk, his cuffed hands gripping his hair. "Let this be over already. The quicker this goes, the quicker I can be killed. It'll be better than this..."

Shadow's eyes shifted.

He...wanted to die?

"So I figured the best way to finish it all, to show proper penance for what I've done would be to…"

Would be to...

...

...Shit.

Shadow blinked a few times to wake himself up, he was getting distracted. "This isn't the end for you," He stood up from the desk and walked to the door. "Not yet. After I get this authorized by Tower and the president, I'll be back to escort you to your new prison myself." He was going to bring his wrist up to the door to have it unlock, but he couldn't. "...I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I pray your family is safe. And if they aren't," He pounded his fist against the wall. "I will make Robotnik pay with his life."

The iron door opened, allowing the ultimate life form to exit.

The jackal lifted his head from the desk, and watched as the door shut immediately.

"...What pissed him off?" He mumbled.

July 15th - Station Square, City Hall District

Burger Shop

DAY 5: Tuesday

Afternoon, 12:00 PM

Shadow said he'd call Sonic for the next time he wanted to see him, but he never got his number to do so. He got it off of Rouge, and arranged to meet with him here today. He also realized there was a reason why he never hung out with that blue hedgehog, because all he did was laze around and eat several pounds of food at once like some gluttonous, feral boar. He's been sitting here for over twenty minutes, watching this moron eat a bunch of terrible greasy food. All he could do was stare, because he was astonished at how long this was taking, and just how much food he decided to eat. Which, by the way, was on Shadow's dime. Maybe this outdoor dining area was a bad idea, because he was starting to get second hand embarrassment that he was sitting with him. Maybe he could switch tables real quick while he was distracted-"You know," The hero mumbled in between bites, causing his words to be very hard to comprehend. "I've tried like, a bunch of burgers from all over the world," Gross, he burped. "And I gotta tell ya, nobody makes 'em like the Federation."

...Okay.

"Y...Yeah." Shadow looked somewhere else. "While I'm glad you appreciate my hospitality, I came here to talk to you, not watch you put the entire planet into a food shortage."

"Huh?" Sonic mumbled while picking at his teeth, suddenly done with his food. Shadow's eyes bulged out of his face seeing all the empty wrappers and food containers. He was done already? But he had like seven burgers and a bunch of fries and—You know what, screw it. "Oh yeah, it was nice of you to ask me out." He said with a smirk, one that looked a little more suggestive than it should have. "But I know it wasn't to watch me put the world in a food shortage." Oh God, Shadow felt an aneurysm coming along.

Patience, Shadow. Patience. "Look," Shadow began with a tired voice. "You and Rouge made a deal. I need to know what it was. If it's what I think it is, it would greatly help with my case and I need to know about it."

"Oh yeah, questioning that mercenary guy." Sonic casually reminisced as he rocked himself back and forth in his chair, his legs rudely lying on the left side of the table's surface. "Hmmm," The hero playfully tapped his chin. Then he grinned and stuck out his tongue at Shadow. "Nope."

What? "Excuse you?" The GUN agent scowled.

"That's personal, bud, sorry. Maybe if you told me why you needed to know," The hedgehog shrugged his shoulders. "I could tell you then. Maybe."

Astonished? Shocked? No, he was downright blindsided. Was Sonic really negotiating with him about this? "Are you—Are you serious, hedgehog? Are you actually trying to bargain with me, now?" Why was Sonic of all people trying to pull information out of him? Just what was he doing this whole time? Now Shadow really wanted to know what the hero knew.

With a mischievous chuckle, the hero tried to calm him down. "Chill, chill, I'm not being a douche, I swear. Not on purpose." He was certainly acting like it. "I just wanna know why you wanna know, and why this correlates with that prisoner and GUN. No offense," He added slyly, his smirk fading. "I know Tower is cool and all now, but I still don't like him, nor do I trust him. The president I dig, we go way back. But him? Nuh uh," He shook his head while wagging his finger. "No way. I need a good reason to tell you anything, 'cause it's eventually gonna go to him."

Damn, he was good. Shadow shouldn't have underestimated how easy it would be to talk to him. Sonic was an open book when it came to normal conversation, but he was careful when it came down to business. He respected that, but it didn't make his job any God damn easier. With a stressed groan, Shadow rubbed his fingers on his temples. "I shouldn't be telling you a damn thing, but I see you just wanted to twist my arm."

"Shads, it's not you." Sonic countered with a flat line of a frown. "You know that."

"So you don't trust me from affiliation alone? That's low, especially for you."

Sonic rolled his eyes and began to look at his fingers, carelessly plucking off any food crumbs he might have gotten on them. "Shads if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be eating in front of you. I wouldn't have even come out here to meet you, I'm completely vulnerable. Don't do that."

"Then why are you making this difficult?" Shadow growled with irritation. "In case you haven't noticed, this isn't a game, faker."

"Alright," The hero took his legs off the table, scooted his seat closer and placed his arms on the surface. He held his head in one hand while his other tapped his fingers against the table. "Maybe it's because you and I both know that Eggman's tryin' to make a comeback. Maybe it's because someone was just stalking me for two whole weeks. Maybe it's because that same asshole, who now has a few less teeth, was stalking my little brother in his workshop one day before the bombing." His words were a little crass, but they were mostly blunt. He wanted to get through Shadow's head that there's a reason why he's being uncooperative. "Maybe it's because the asshole who was doing the stalking was not only a member of that loser jackal group," Sonic leaned in closer with narrowed eyes. "But was wearing a GUN uniform when I caught his ass."

The biohog was taken aback. "...What?"

"Mmhm," Sonic tapped his finger much more quickly at this point. "I figured he just stole the uniform to disguise himself in town. But nah. He had a low ranking badge, the weapons, even had that little communicator thing you got in your ring on a watch. If he just wanted a disguise, he didn't need to use all the little gadgets or accessories. If he was just gonna stalk me and Tails, why use a disguise at all?" He saw that Shadow was undeniably shocked, so he continued. "No, that guy was a real GUN soldier. I couldn't come to you or Rouge, 'cause I didn't know who else could have been watching me. I went to the president himself and asked for a list of recent recruits you guys authorized in the last year. Homie was on that list, his name and profile matched and everything." He looked to the side as his finger tapping began to slowly decrease. "After I beat the living shit out of him, I searched him. Found some paraphernalia that looked like that jackal group. That guy was a spy planted in GUN for that group, and he was gonna try something. Maybe hurt me or Tails, I dunno. Had him taken to Prison Island after that."

Infinite, the prisoner he was questioning, never told him that. He only said he had someone stalking Sonic, not someone who was working with GUN. He hated to say he didn't know, but he truly didn't. Not to that extent. Sonic had him on that one. "...When I interviewed the mercenary yesterday, he did say he had someone spy on you, but I had no idea it was for that long. And I didn't know he stalked Tails as well. I only just got word from Rouge hours ago that someone was indeed recently arrested on those charges but...I had no idea it was that bad."

"I know you didn't. You couldn't have. If you or Rouge found out, he'd be cooked before he started. It's why he was still a rookie, nobody pays attention to them." Sonic leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "You get it now? Y'all got moles in your midst. Who knows, maybe he was the only one, but I can't be too sure. I got friends to protect, a family to keep safe. If someone managed to sneak their way into your organization, that's bad, real bad." Shadow grimaced harshly at this. He could say nothing to that. "Hey," Sonic tried to soften his tone. "I know it wasn't your fault, and I don't blame you for anything. But you gotta see where I'm comin' from. It's not that I don't trust you, I do. I'd trust you with my life if I needed to, and I have plenty of times. You never steered me wrong. But someone could be listening in on you guys, watching you. Maybe listening to this conversation right at this very moment. And if you're already compromised, I gotta watch out for my own skin."

Suddenly, Shadow held up his wrist and placed his fingers on his ring. With a tug, a click was heard. The ring split apart in half, and dropped onto the table with a metallic clang. "If I remove my limiter, the chaos energy powering it gets cut off, shutting down the device inside of it. As long as I don't use any power, I won't risk incinerating myself." He lowered his arm and looked Sonic in the eyes. "If there truly is another mole, they can't listen in on us now. My apologies, but I have to tell Tower this information. He needs to know that everyone in GUN needs to be reevaluated and looked at with a more scrutinized pair of eyes."

"I get it, you gotta do whatcha gotta do."

"With that being said, this is why I need you to tell me what she told you now more than ever."

Sonic hesitated in responding. Why was he so reluctant in telling him? "...Why didn't you just ask her instead of coming to me? I'm doing nothing but giving you a hard time."

Shadow took note of this, but didn't comment on it. "She refused because she told me she didn't feel comfortable with outing your business. You both made a deal, it had nothing to do with me and I had no right to know about it. But I came to you personally because I respect you, and I'd rather hear it from you." That wasn't the complete reason why, but Sonic didn't need to know that. He genuinely just wanted to see him again, but he'd never tell.

A small blush appeared on the hero's cheeks. Stubbornly, Sonic pouted and looked away. "Damn it," He grumbled. "You just had to go and say something like that...Alright," He finally caved. "I'll tell you."

Shadow made a relieved sigh. "Thank you."

Sonic crossed his legs and continued to look elsewhere. "Rouge knew I was on the lookout for Eggman. Ever since our last little tussle three years ago, he's been avoiding me and it's hurtin' my feelings. Can't blame him though, I got him pretty good last time."

"That's one thing I was concerned about in particular," Shadow cut in. "What the hell did you do to him? What frightened him so badly that it caused him to go into hiding for over three years?"

"I can't tell you." Sonic immediately refused, closing his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry Shadow, but that's super personal. I don't even like talking about it. You might end up finding out on your own. Considering what's happening, my dirty laundry might air out anyway." Dirty laundry? What was he talking about? Did Sonic...Do something bad? What could he have possibly done? "My friends were there when it happened, so you might be able to get it out of them. It was something bad, awful, actually. I didn't even realize what happened until it was too late. In fact, I can barely remember. I..." He was hesitant, and there was some pain in his eyes. "...No, I can't. Sorry. Point is," He brushed it off quickly. Now Shadow was even more curious. "He was building this big ass robot, and I mean super big. Like, probably twice the size of a sky scraper. It was like a miniature space station. We destroyed it before it could be finished, and he disappeared in that dumb Egg Mobile thingy. Whatever I did, it scarred him. He went into hiding after that and nobody's seen him since."

Scarred? The doctor? "I...See..." Shadow tried to ignore this cryptic part of the story.

"Rouge doesn't know what happened, and I guess Knuckles didn't tell her. Anyway, she could tell I was itching to know where Eggman was. Apparently while she was on vacation in Apotos, she discovered a lair under the country's oceans. She went scuba diving and found ruins of an old base." He finally turned his eyes to Shadow. "He was hiding there this whole time, but he moved. When she investigated the base, she saw he left in a hurry for some reason, so he left a bunch of important crap like digital transcripts. They basically said that he was going back to some island that's a nice distance away from the Federation to put the final touches on whatever he's doing there, but she didn't know where." Sonic's posture slowly but surely was starting to become a little more relaxed, Shadow noticed. "On her way back home, she started searching. She was gonna give up and worry about it later, but on a whim, she decided to check the old Chemical Plant ruins on West Island since it wasn't too far from the Federation, just like the transcripts said. There was nothing there, at least not on the surface. She said she had a GUN device on her that could sense body heat from living creatures, I'm guessing she had what you got in your ring and that's just one of the settings you can use. Long story short, she detected an organic heat signature from an Overlander beneath the ground."

Shadow's eyes widened. "He's hiding underground the Chemical Plant ruins?"

Sonic nodded slowly to let it sink in. "He's been chillin' here with us for weeks."

Oh no, if Rouge sensed only one heat signature-"Did Rouge say she detected any other heat signatures? Any Mobians?" When he saw Sonic shake his head, he cursed. "Shit."

"She said she only saw one, which is more than likely Eggman's. Nobody else that's alive, anyway." Damn it all, this means the jackals he captured, they were...Shadow couldn't tell Infinite this information just yet, he'd lose it. Sonic grimaced and tilted his head. "You okay?"

Shadow shook his head. "It's nothing," He lied instantly. "I understand now. Now that I know his location, I can get a plan going. I won't be telling GUN any of this until Tower has everyone checked. Once that happens, I'll inform him of this conversation and he can prepare the city for the worst." He looked at Sonic, who seemed a little off after telling him that information. He truly seemed as if he didn't want to tell him anything, not just because of GUN having moles, but because of some hidden guilt he won't talk about. "Is that alright with you? I won't inform him at all if you feel it may hinder your efforts. He'll be pissed at me, but he'll understand."

Sonic blinked. "You'd hide that from him for me? But he just promoted you, it'd be like spitting in his face."

"You could have been killed in your own home due to his negligence. And," Shadow shamefully looked to the side. "Perhaps my own negligence as well. Like I told Infinite, I don't need a badge to hold authority. I don't owe him anything other than protecting the world's citizens. But if telling GUN ruins that, I can't tell him."

Poking his fingers together with a lopsided grin, Sonic couldn't help but feel flattered. "Since when did you get all cool and stuff?" That's when he remembered what Shadow just said. "Wait, Infinite?"

Shadow nodded. "That's the name of the leader of the Jack Squad, the mercenary group. It has to be some kind of alias, but he swears it's his birth name and I haven't dug anything up to contradict this."

"Huh, gotta admit it's pretty dope if not a little dramatic. Then again, counting you and Rouge, nobody in my friend group has a normal name besides Amy and Tails soooo...'Guess I can't throw stones from a glass house. Heheh," Sonic chuckled a little. It was nice that he was smiling again, Shadow didn't like how downcast he seemed before.

Wait, he wanted him to smile?

Ugh, these weird feelings again, he'd have to ignore them from now on. Every time he thought about stuff like that, he got this weird warming sensation in his chest and his stomach felt weird. He felt his heartbeat pace itself just a tad faster, and his hands got clammy. Maybe he should have a doctor inspect him one of these days, because this was starting to become an annoyance. "Thank you for the information, hedgehog. Will you allow me to inform Tower?"

Sonic flagged this off. "Ahh to hell with it, go ahead. Just make sure you do it after he checks everyone out first."

"Of course," Shadow stood up from his seat and held out his hand. "Nice doing business with you."

The blue one looked at his hand, then made an unimpressed glare. "Are you serious?"

What did he do wrong this time? "What?"

"Dude, quit being so uptight. We're buds now, aren't we? You don't shake hands with your buds, you do this-" With a blur of blue, Sonic was suddenly leaning his weight against him, his peach arms wrapped around his body. His hold was tight, welcoming, gentle. He moved so quickly and Shadow didn't see it coming, so he could do nothing but let him do it. He was frozen solid in place, he didn't know what to do. "-See?" Sonic's voice was low and much smoother than before. "Isn't this better?"

Red was starting to spread on Shadow's muzzle. "Why...Why are you..." He could feel every muscle in his arms flex as he squeezed him closer to his blue body. He felt his hands on his back, and they felt strong yet comforting. His peach chest was touching his own and he didn't know what to do. He didn't even feel this way when Rouge hugged him, so why was he feeling this way now? His heart was beating so hard, his stomach was doing back flips. He could feel himself develop sweat at an alarming rate, and he was getting anxious. Why was he feeling this way? Was he getting sick? Was Sonic contaminating or something? And why did some part of him enjoy this? Deep within his brain he could feel it, he was liking this. He didn't want him to stop hugging him. "...!" He could feel his lips near his ear.

"You smell good, really good..." Why was his voice so deep all of a sudden? Why did it sound so suave? He needed him to stop, right now. Sonic suddenly pulled back with his hands on Shadow's shoulders, smiling brightly. "You smell like coffee, that's so funny! Heheh. I'll see you later, okay? Oh, and I'd like to hang out with you without having to talk about Eggman or GUN, please? Just a normal chill sesh with my bro."

"Y-Yeah, sure...Of course..."

"Awww," He made this playful patronizing expression. Shadow found himself internally panicking even more, because something about it seemed more sensual than teasing. "Poor thing. We gotta get you out more often, buddy." He jogged away while waving goodbye. "See ya!"

And in a blue streak, he was gone.

And so was Shadow's brain.

6 - END - 6