5 - Interrogation - 5

He followed Sonic into the hall with his mug of coffee, but before they went to the living room, Shadow noticed that there was graffiti art on the wall of the hallway opposite to the kitchen and supposed dining room. It looked just as good as the one he saw before, but this one had this serene Japanese theme to it. There were sakura petals surrounding the word, and the graffiti itself was some kind of kanji. Shadow wasn't well versed in this so he wasn't sure what it said, but it was beautiful. The blues and greens he used contrasted the pinks and light purples nicely. Well he'll be damned: That arrogant idiot really was an artist, and a good one at that. He heard his footsteps come from behind, probably wondering why he was taking so long. "Ooohh, you like it? I did that ages ago. I sprayed it with something to make sure it wouldn't fade or get scratched. Not bad, right?"

Shadow nodded in approval and crossed his arms. "I hate to admit it, but yes, this is good. Really good."

They finally both went into the living room and sat down. Sonic climbed onto the couch lazily while Shadow sat in one of the matching arm chairs in front of the couch. Shadow was going to speak, until he saw Sonic constantly moving to get in a comfortable position. He rose a brow with a frown, waiting for him to just pick a damn position and stick with it. After a while, he gave up with a pout and just resorted to staring up at the ceiling, lying completely on his back. "Nmm, I hate this damn thing. Getting a new one is so expensive, though." He literally hosted a party that was almost worthy of a triple A celebrity's birthday bash, how the hell is he complaining about spending money on anything? "Hmmn, or maybe it's the food I cooked...My stomach still isn't right after last night. I shouldn't have drunk any of that damn Chun Nan liquor. It didn't get me drunk like I wanted but it sure as hell gave me digestive issues."

That's funny, Shadow had no issues after chugging down a small barrel of the stuff. "You know," The biohog cut in matter-of-factly. "I'm shocked you're that competent at cooking. Rouge just orders overpriced take out or heats up ramen noodles."

Sonic snorted but tried not to laugh. "Damn, you ain't gotta out her like that, that's still your bestie."

The GUN agent made an exhausted sigh at this fact. Yes he valued the woman's friendship but she was very trying sometimes. "Perhaps, but she is an insufferable roommate."

"Oh come on. She can't be that bad." The hero smiled.

Then he gave the blue blur a look. A long, hard, serious look. Almost as if he was insulted that he could say such a lie. "Real Housewives of Empire City. Every. Single. Night. Do you have any idea—how braindead I am now because of the torture I went through?" He saw Sonic gawk with a hysterical grin. He started chuckling and giggling even louder, it was getting harder to hold it. "She doesn't even just watch the new episodes, she watches old seasons on repeat. I mean sometimes she gets Omega to watch it with her, but she always used to get me to watch them more and it was slowly rendering me braindead. And then-" The royal blue hedgehog started wheezing so hard under his breath that he had tears in the corners of his eyes. He didn't expect any of this hilarious information today, but he'd definitely never forget it. As Shadow drunk the rest of his coffee he took from the kitchen, he complained more adamantly. "-They're not even good, it's the same crap every episode. They don't even throw drinks at each other, so it's boring." He didn't even realize Sonic was coughing his lungs out from laughing, he was too busy venting. "And then she takes two whole hours doing this weird skin routine she does once a week, and she hogs the bathroom forever. I was made to be efficient, meaning I don't necessarily need to eat, sleep or even use the bathroom like the rest of you do, but sometimes I do." He stressed with a scowl. "I had to threaten to pee in her sink to make her finally leave. Not to mention she sheds like a feral alley cat-"

Sonic sat up on the couch, holding a hand up to silently ask Shadow to please stop. "S-Stop, I can't-" He fanned his eyes as he heaved in and out from the oxygen he lost from chortling. "Please stop. Oh my God, you are actually really funny. I always knew you had some sense of humor when we met but I didn't know you were this funny. Rouge would kill you if she knew you were telling me this."

"Kill me? I wasn't nearly as annoying as she was. Besides," Shadow leaned back in his seat confidently. "She'd have to catch me first, and you and I both know she couldn't even if she wanted to."

"Ha-!" Sonic slapped his hands to his mouth to force himself to stop laughing. Seeing the hero squeal for Shadow to stop was legitimately amusing, and the ultimate life form couldn't help but smile a little at this. "You are such a dick and I love it, but I think my stomach hurts worse, now." He choked out. He made a long sigh after catching his breath and slumped back onto the catch like a dead fish. "Anywho," He leaned his forearm onto the arm of the couch in Shadow's direction and laid his face against it so he was looking at him. "Whatcha up to with GUN?"

Shadow's smile faltered back into a grimace. "..." He almost forgot about that. Almost. "...I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to tell you, despite being who you are, as it's classified information. But you're resourceful, so I'm sure you'll find out eventually regardless. I suppose I see no harm in telling you." He then gave him a glare. "Do not tell anyone about this. Not your friends, not Tails, no one. Even Rouge doesn't know about this, so don't tell her either. Got it? And I swear to Chaos if you do-"

"I got it, I got it." Sonic flagged him off. "Pinky promise, not a soul."

"Hmph," The GUN agent closed his eyes and leaned over the coffee table to place his now finished mug down, his elbows on the surface and his hands closed under his chin. "That group of mercenaries we captured? I'm assigned to interview the leader of that group."

He watched the hero's face scrunch up in confusion. "Interview? But you're not a journalist or a detective. That's something Vex would do."

"Indeed, but it's not for what you think." Shadow continued. "I'm not interviewing him for a tabloid on GUN's behalf, I'm interviewing him because they need me to extract information from him. Interrogations haven't worked, not even with the threat of violence. Something is," His frown deepened. "Off—About this incident."

"What do you mean...?"

"Too many things didn't make sense throughout the entire ordeal. First off," Shadow held up a finger. "This plan was horribly messy. Too many witnesses saw the team setting up bombs in various places throughout Station Square before they could even finish. It's like they weren't even trying to hide themselves or set the bombs up discreetly. If a retired bomb expert just so happened to walk by, they could have instantly stopped the attack before GUN was even notified. Second," He held up another. "There were fifty nine bombs in total."

The hero sat up a little for that. "Fifty nine? That's a weird ass number."

"Exactly. Why not just make it an even sixty? One more bomb wouldn't have decreased the charges of terrorism by much." He held up a third finger. "Third, this is a group of mercenaries. They are not terrorists by trade and judging from the past crimes they've committed in the past, this isn't their MO at all. They do raids on strong militant groups and steal valuables or weapons. We could barely dig much up on them since they're a very underground group, but we do know that this was way out of left field." He held up a fourth finger. "Fourth, the bombs were too easy to diffuse. Rouge took a look at one of the bombs for a mere two minutes and figured it out. Once one is diffused, they're all duds. They all have to work at the same time or else they all fail to detonate."

Sonic was fully up on his seat, now. "What?" He asked with squinted eyes. "Why would you plan a big attack with a wiring system that fails the moment you diffuse only one?"

Shadow nodded. "Precisely. But I did notice something with that number of bombs," Held up a fifth finger. "The number of bombs is exactly the same as the number of members of the group, including the leader. And sixth," He added, using both hands now. "They were all painfully weak for a band of soldiers for hire. I've fought mercenaries before, but they were the weakest of them all. The ones I went up against in the past put up a way better fight than they did despite being normal Mobians. They moment I appeared, some of them even dropped their weapons and immediately held their hands up." A seventh finger was held up. "Rouge found out that this group is extremely exclusive and refuses outsiders. They're a tight-nit family of jackals who do not leave any of their fellow members behind. They see their leader as a big brother to them all, someone they look up to and strive to be. But when we rounded them up for arrests, many of them were not jackals, and they were arguing with each other and screaming at their leader angrily."

"Wait, like," Sonic tried to make sense of that. "They were mad at their leader 'cause the plan failed or something?"

"Not quite," Shadow shook his head. "When I fought him, he treated his men like fodder. He kept throwing them at me, pushing them to me so he could get away. He betrayed them." He opened his eyes at Sonic with a sarcastically disappointed look. "I mean, he was a weakling himself, so I see why he ran like a coward, but why throw your men away like that if you're supposed to be like family to them? As we dragged them in the trucks, they all said he was a traitor who left them all to die." Saying that aloud made Shadow tap his fingers against his muzzle. "Don't get me wrong, if a person sees a GUN soldier, that's bad. That means a very bad crime was just committed, and that criminal may be ordered to be killed for the safety of others. However, I was the only one there to stop them, and I don't use weapons anymore. I don't need them. I couldn't have shot any of them, and I wasn't killing anyone. They knew that because I left everyone unconscious, not dead. However, he genuinely seemed to think they were all going to die even after being captured."

The hero made an uncomfortable grimace. "GUN does kill people though."

"Yes, but only if we're ordered to, and only if a prisoner is set for execution for a specific heinous crime." Shadow quickly corrected. "What they attempted doesn't warrant that, except for the leader. Since he led the group and made the plan, he is indeed on death row. But not them, they were just lackeys who evidently didn't know everything that was going on. GUN doesn't want to target them. And," Shadow scratched the side of his face with puzzled, flattened ears. "I don't get it. Fighting him, the leader had so much bravado and confidence, then became a complete coward once his team fell to my knees. But the moment he got in prison," He shook his head. "He's...Silent. Calm, collected, even calculating. You could claim it's because he knows it's all over for him but, no—Something doesn't feel right. It's almost like-"

"-The plan was screwed from the start on purpose." Sonic finished for him.

"Yes," Shadow concurred instantly, also a little pleased that Sonic was understanding this easily. "If this was indeed all a set up, why? Why set up not only your own team, who you allegedly treat like family, but yourself too? Like I said, he's getting the brunt of the punishment, they're not. So why even go through all the trouble if you're going to be the only one that bites the bullet? And the bombs," He added curiously. "Each one on their own was powerful enough to decimate an entire building. That's a lot of destruction with fifty-nine of them, yet it was too easy to diffuse them. It seems as if they wanted the attention, just so they could be found and caught."

"So that's like, nine weird things that happened that day. Did I get that right?"

"Indeed. After we all made our reports and compared notes with each other, Tower knew something was very wrong. The leader, that weird jackal," Shadow crossed his arms again with a very dubious and almost worried expression. "He's up to something. This plan was just the beginning, but he's conspiring something else. Something worse."

Sonic looked to the side with a thoughtful yet ominously concerned glint in his eyes. "...Sounds like a big ol' distraction. Maybe he has something in place already and he's just waiting."

Shadow hated the sound of that, because he's right. This did seem like one big diversion, but from what? "That's why I need to question him and get as much out of him as possible, and as soon as possible. If they were able to get their hands on explosives like that, God knows what else they're capable of."

"Why'd they make you do it, though? Why not Rouge or another high ranking agent?"

The striped hedgehog looked away. "Tower said it's because we have something in common. Despite my change, I still have a very stained past that will never go away. He figured that I may be able to sympathize with him, and make it easier for him to talk with someone like me. Tower wants me to exploit that."

A repulsed, positively disgusted expression struck Sonic's face as he whipped his head in his direction. "That old, wrinkly, God damn fossil told you what?" He hissed with fanged teeth. That wasn't very common to see. "He compared that pathetic loser to you? That mother-"

Shadow held up a hand to cease him. "Please," He insisted. "He just wants results, he's not thinking of it that way. He's apologized to me in his own stubborn way about how he treated me in the past, I've no gripes with the man anymore." He made a small smirk. "I'm flattered, though."

Sonic just turned away with a furious scowl. "Old bastard...I know y'all do things a little underhanded and I respect it to a point, but Chaos...He's got no right to use you like that."

"Calm down, hedgehog. It's a mission, business. Nothing more, nothing less. Again, I am flattered." Shadow tilted his head and rose a brow. "Color me surprised, I had no idea you cared so much."

With a blush appearing on his muzzle, Sonic stubbornly crossed his arms and looked away while puffing his cheeks. "W-Whatever, it's not like I care that much. It's the principle, that's all."

Shadow made a small chuckle. "Sure, faker." He made a more relaxed posture and leaned back in the chair. "I visited the inmate before the party yesterday. I haven't spoken with him too much just yet, just a mere introduction. He didn't speak back of course, but he had this weird sense of apathy to him. I can't describe it. Anyway, I promised I'd be back next week. I also said that if the demand was reasonable, we could negotiate a deal." He figured the jackal probably had something in mind at this point. "He'll have plenty of time to think about it. But if I don't get info by the end of the month, they'll either send him to Prison Island or execute him on the spot. And honestly, I think they're leaning more to the latter than the prior. So if I don't do this, he's as good as dead."

Sonic didn't like that, either. "That's shitty. Like I said, I really don't like how you guys work sometimes, but I get it. At least, I do now. Younger me wouldn't have understood that at all." He kicked his feet up on the wooden coffee table and made a tired sigh. "Not gonna lie, that sounds like a headache for sure, and a helluva lot of pressure. But, it ain't nothin' you can't handle. Me? I don't have the patience. But you're smart, and you move fast." He smirked a little while rubbing his finger under his nose. "Not as fast as me of course, but you got this."

The GUN agent rolled his eyes with a slightly bigger smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess." He looked at his wrist, specifically his ring and tapped it a few times. "I hate these damn things," He mumbled, barely above a whisper. Red holographic text suddenly appeared from the ring, and his eyes moved from left to right to read. Notifications from Tower, apparently. "GUN might have fought this group before years ago, so I'll have to dig through some archives at the office-"

"Woah!" The hero exclaimed with awe as he was suddenly behind Shadow's chair, grabbing his limb to look at the holographic messages floating in the air. "Freakin' dope!" He suddenly pressed his face against Shadow's cheek as he moved in closer to get a better look, his hands grabbing all over his arm and wrist. "You got a little doohickie in your ring? But I thought your rings were limiters, how'd they even program that in there without blowing themselves up? That's some super cool secret agent stuff! Oooh, ooh, did they give it to you after you got your promotion? Can you take pictures with it? Holographic pictures? Oh! Oh! What's this do?"

Shadow was...Understandably uncomfortable.

Not because of Sonic's sudden up close and personal presence, however.

He was uncomfortable because for some reason, he didn't hate this.

Why didn't he hate this?

He normally hated whenever someone got too close to him, with exceptions of Rouge, but Sonic was the biggest offender of that rule most of all. He'd always push him away at best, or punch him away at worse.

So why-

"You can scroll through pictures!?"

-Was he-

"Wait, you can use it as a phone too?"

-Okay with this?

Shadow slowly looked down at his side, where he saw Sonic's thigh brushing up onto the arm of the chair. His thigh was right next to him. Wow, he—Never realized how well toned he was down there. He was a runner more than anything so maybe that was kind of obvious, he just never took the time to look. And...His eyes were looking upwards near his inner thighs, and in between his-

While Shadow was distracted, he didn't even realize Sonic was as well. Not just with his limiter ring, but his arm itself. It was so firm and strong with muscles. Looking at it was one thing, but touching it was another. No wonder Shadow was physically superior to him in terms of strength, he forgot how defined his body was. Then, his green eyes lingered from his arm, to his shoulder, to his collar bone...To his chest-

...

...Sonic quickly stepped away with a nervous laugh. "A-Ahaha, whoops! Sorry for practically jumpin' on ya, it's just super cool and I've never seen one before-"

"-No, no, it's...Fine." Shadow answered almost just as nervously.

That took the blue one a minute to process. "...Really? I thought you would've hit me by now."

"Yeah-No, I...I don't mind."

"O-Oh."

"...Yeah." Well now, this was awkward. "I, um-" He wasn't used to stuttering, the ultimate life form didn't stutter damn it. Get it together! "I uh, need to go. So-"

"-Of course, of course! You got um, lots of important stuff to do. The whole questioning thing, heh." Sonic looked anywhere else but at him. "Probably." He scratched behind his quills. "I'll um, see you later then, I guess. Or, whenever. You don't have to, obviously. Haha."

"No I—Wouldn't mind that either..." As Shadow spoke, his words got more and more quieter. The last few words Sonic could barely hear.

"Huh? What'd ya say?"

"I said," He hated repeating himself, especially when he was embarrassed. "I said I wouldn't mind that either. The party made it easier to talk to people more, so I guess I...I don't know, I'll see you soon. Maybe. I'll call first."

Blinking in shock, Sonic was taken aback. "Oh. Huh. Um," He tried to smile. "O-Okay? I mean, that's great! I'm always down to hang or, y'know. Whatever."

"Right. So I'll, be on my way. Um," He quickly stood up and walked away, not leaving Sonic any room to respond. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah!" The hero waved goodbye reluctantly. "See you."

"Oh," Shadow paused for a moment as he was shutting the door. "And Sonic?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you." He shut the door firmly. He could hear him go down the steps and speed off away from the house, and the area entirely.

With an exhausted sigh, Sonic reached his hands up to his head and pulled at some of his spines.

"What the hell just happened?"

July 14th - Empire City

DAY 4: Monday

Morning, 11:00 AM

Here we are again, GUN HQ and their secret underground prison. Shadow was immediately let in, as usual. They gave him no issues to speak with the prisoner in question, as they knew what he was here for. Apparently before he arrived, they made accommodations to his mission and put him in a slightly bigger cell. One with enough room for a desk and chair. This is where Shadow was currently sitting, watching his target who was sitting on another raggedy, stained metal cot. Handcuffed by his hands and feet once more, he looked just as blank and uninterested as he did before. He stared at the floor, not paying Shadow any mind like last time. Shadow folded his hands on the thin wooden desk and leaned forward. He didn't have time to waste, so he just got started. "So," He began. "Have you thought about my offer?"

Silence. "..."

This disappointed Shadow. He figured he'd want to talk by now. Maybe it's been too soon, after all it's only been a few days. Perhaps he should wait until next week. Or maybe not. After all, if this was going to be the pattern, why waste his time? Sonic was right, there isn't enough patience in the world for this. He looked to the side for a while before getting up from his seat. "Very well, perhaps we can talk again some other day. If not, well, you know what will happen to you." He walked away from both the prisoner and the desk and made his way to the door. "I hope you go out without any regrets at the very least-"

"...Wait."

Bingo.

The biohog fought so hard not to smirk. He didn't say anything, nor did he turn around. Why? Let him come to him.

The jackal's voice sounded strained, as if he needed water. It was deep and practically baritone. "You said you would...make a deal with me?"

"I did, depending on the absurdity of the request." Shadow replied smoothly before turning around a little. "I know criminals tend to make rather outlandish demands, but GUN isn't the police. There's a lot of things we can do that they can't. So," He walked back over to the desk with his hands behind his back, but he wouldn't sit. Not yet. He understood basic interrogation tactics well, and he wanted the jackal to understand that he was the one with the power and authority, not him. And this little bit of speaking wasn't going to fool Shadow into thinking he was in the clear. No, unless he spoke of his conditions, there would be no conversation. He wanted him to know that. "What'll it be?"

He saw the jackal swallow harshly and clearing his throat desperately. He reached his bound wrists upwards to his neck to grab at it. "...A case of premium grade bottled water."

...Oh.

He just wanted some bougie water?

Water? Really?

Shadow blinked. "That's it?"

The jackal nodded easily. "That's it."

Okay, what was the trick here? What could he do with water? He couldn't try to electrocute Shadow, there was nothing in here with an electrical charge nor could he sense anything with one. Well maybe the door when it opened and closed, but that was in between the hallway and the room. The jackal would have to shove Shadow through the door the moment it opened but it couldn't do that unless Shadow triggered it to do so. Even if the prison was out of power, the door wouldn't open, they would just be trapped inside. Maybe poison? Shadow didn't see anywhere he could hide anything poisonous, even if it was just a simple flower. He had a jumpsuit on but the guards watch the prisoners bathe every single day and they check their clothes before and after they do so. Let's see, did jackal Mobians have any venomous or toxic glands? No, they were canines and canine Mobians didn't have biological defense measures like that.

Hmph, perhaps he really just wanted water.

After some mental debriefing in his head, Shadow nodded. "...Very well, something easy like that should be delivered to you within an hour. I'll ask the guards to get you a case, but in the meantime, I'll get you a cup of water from the cafeteria-"

"No."

Shadow paused. "No?"

"Stuff's like poison...Damaging my throat. Bad filters in the piping system."

He didn't want to believe that, but he couldn't be surprised if it was true. GUN treated their private prisoners like dogs in here, no pun intended. They probably didn't restore their plumbing on purpose. He'd have to talk with Tower about that one, as that was beyond unfair. To hell with prisoners not deserving fair treatment, that wasn't Shadow's issue. This man could have died of thirst before he got in the building, and what was he to do then? Talk to a dead corpse? The mission would have failed before it was assigned. "Have they been feeding you?"

The jackal nodded. "Yes. It's bland at best and nearly inedible at worst, but I have eaten. I've only stopped drinking their water last night and today." Well that was good at least, so he wouldn't be dying anytime soon.

"I'll have a word with General Tower about the conditions of the prison after our talk, I assure you." Shadow sincerely promised as he sat down behind the desk. "I understand that's incredibly inhumane of him, ironically, and unfair to you. I'll have the guards get your bottled water to you as soon as possible, fair?" He asked as he held up his wrist to his lips. A hologram appeared above it, and a microphone symbol appeared. "Topaz, do me a favor and put in an order for," He looked up at the jackal. "The brand matter?" He saw him shake his head. "Put in an order for some premium brand case of bottled water. Doesn't matter which brand, any will do as long it's not cheap. And the big ones, not the little ones." He waited a moment for a response.

A female voice came through from his ring, and the hologram subtitled the audio of her voice for him. "Fancy bottled water? I swear these guys...Yeah, I'll get that up to you in thirty or less."

"Thank you." The hologram disappeared and he put his arm down. "Anything else?"

The offer of even more free stuff caused the jackal to look up. "I can ask for something else?"

Shadow shrugged carelessly, it was no skin off his nose if he wanted something else. "I never said you had to request only one thing." He looked at his uniform, and saw how dirty it was. Someone must not have been doing the laundry. "I can have someone get you a new uniform, or even make it so that you don't have to wear that anymore for the remainder of your stay." He then saw how despite bathing as the prison allowed, he was not at all well groomed and his fur and hair was all out of place. "I can have someone give you a hair cut, or," He reached from behind his quills and pulled out two things: A pack of smokes, and a chocolate bar. "I can give you these. Actually," He tossed them onto the desk, making the items slide towards the jackal. "Have them anyway. I know prisoners kill for stuff like this."

He could see the jackal was obviously surprised, he even scooted backwards onto the bed. "Why are...How did you...?"

"I know they don't allow televisions in here. Of course if you would like one, I can have that arranged as well. Point is, you probably haven't seen the news since your arrest." Shadow crossed his legs and leaned back with his arms under his chest. "I was given a very high promotion that is almost equivalent to General Tower's right hand. With that promotion comes power that is exclusive only to me and the General. I can ask for anything I want, even if it's for a prisoner on death row. I can't ask you to tell me your life story without an incentive, you owe nothing to me. Therefore," He held up his hand to show off his wrist, his limiter ring sparkling portentously in temptation. "If you want something, just ask. A bigger cell with luxury furnishing? It's yours. Caviar from the rivers of Holoska? No problem. All you have to do is ask."

The jackal looked a little intimidated and overwhelmed by such a ginormous promise of freedom. "This is-This isn't real." He furrowed his brows and gnashed his teeth at the GUN agent with a rougher and louder voice. "You're just lying to me to get me to talk, and I don't buy it." His glower and voice became progressively more aggressive with every word he spoke. "You don't even realize who you're insulting. You think you can waltz in here like some prince charming and sweep me off my feet with the promise of a bunch of nice shit like I'm some hopeless pauper? Fuck you." Ahh, there was that bravado from before. It seems he touched a nerve. The jackal stood up from the bed, careful of his shackled feet. "You're just a lying guard dog that works for a bunch of military brats who have never once set foot in a real battle." He shoved a thumb to his own chest. "I am Infinite the Jackal, I am the leader of the most feared mercenary group in the world, so don't you dare toy with me. I don't need you for anything!"

Shadow's ring beeped and a hologram with text appeared. "SEA Shadow, got the water a lot sooner than estimated. Turns out there's an agent here who's a fan of one of the brands and had a case in their office. It's coming to the cell right about now."

"Thank you, Topaz." Shadow replied smugly without leaving the jackal's gaze. "You know," The biohog's tone became more callous. "I already searched GUN's archives from top to bottom, and even had a few hackers look into stolen audio logs of Dr. Robotnik." He saw the jackal's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh yes, I know you've been working with the doctor, and I know your biography already." A great power of malice caused Shadow grin malevolently. "Do you really think I'm just some amateur who got put on this case on a whim? I was next to get this promotion for months, Tower was just dragging his feet to do it. But that's not even the point, because I don't need some fancy badge to get what I want." A dark, almost growling laughter filled the room as an amber red aura emanated from the hedgehog's body. "I'm not the most veteran GUN soldier, but you have no idea how long I've know them, and how much they owe me. Even then however," Shadow's pupils sharpened, his feral tendencies poking through. His fingers made a crushing position with his hand, as if it was squeezing out the heart of a miserable whelp who had the misfortune of challenging him. "I am the ultimate life form, I don't need to work for anyone to get what the hell I desire. If I order it, then it will be done." This aura spread throughout the room, and wafted against the jackal, who's eyes dilated further from the presence of genuine ill-will.

An almost fearful glare was apparent in the jackal's heterochromic eyes. The cot brushed up against the wall as the former mercenary nearly tripped over his own bound feet to step away from the GUN agent. He clenched his teeth in intimidation, sweat rolling down his muzzle. He had underestimated Shadow, a big mistake. That's the coward he recognized, making the biohog's smirk deepen.

"Now then," Shadow stood up and took a few steps from around the desk, causing the jackal to flinch. With every step, every click against the floor with his heels, the jackal recoiled. His slow approach even caused him to sit back down on the cot without even realizing it. "You say your name was Infinite, right? Not that I didn't already know that." He leaned down with his hands behind his back, his sneer growing larger as he watched him internally panic from the danger looming right over him. "What was that about me being a dog for GUN?"

"...I-"

"Quit your bitching." Shadow spat as his red eyes flashed a brief glint of desire for brutality. "You and I are gonna have a little talk, and I'm going to attempt to be kind to you again. Dismay my efforts one more time,"

"...!" His namesake hovered over the cornered prisoner.

"...And I'll be more than happy to execute you myself."

5 - END - 5