"Hah!" I cackle as I flip off one of the last training robots, easily turning in the air to crush another upon landing. It goes down with no effort, and I smirk as I stand atop the smoking chassis, flashing a grin towards the observation deck. My smugness increases when Shadow steps out from it, grudgingly nodding.
"Not bad," he grunts, and my grin widens.
"Not bad," I agree, smirking mischievously. "Badass."
"Don't flatter yourself," he huffs, crossing his arms.
"It's flattery when I deserve it," I reply slyly, simpering. Shadow rolls his eyes, but I know he's just impressed. I've progressed combat levels with unprecedented speed, and I'm almost ready to start taking on the same simulations as him. Shadow doesn't want to admit that, though, since it means I have even more of a knack for battle than he does.
Smirking again at the thought, I prowl back across the floor, my sharp teeth gleaming in the light as I take my predatory appearance up to eleven to celebrate. Shadow follows me, shaking his head in mock dismay. Well, maybe actual dismay. I don't stop to worry about it.
"Great job," Agatha praises as I draw near the people flooding from the deck. "Your technique is really coming together. Very sleek."
"Thank you," I beam, making a quick half-bow. Shadow's bat-friend, Rouge, rolls her eyes.
"Topaz, don't inflate his ego anymore. He'll start floating."
"Telekinesis does run in the family," I concur, smiling at her. "I'm glad you remembered."
"Ugh," she groans, holding up her hand to block her sight of me. "You're intolerable."
"I prefer 'insufferable.' It implies being far too extreme for one to handle, as opposed to just annoying." I punctuate my sentence with a wink, mocking her habit of using them. She grimaces, having peered over her hand just in time to catch that.
"I cannot believe you're related to Shadow. There's just no way," she declares, shaking her head. "You two cannot possibly have the same blood."
"Unfortunately, we do," Shadow replies, inserting himself rather half-heartedly. "How, I'm not sure. I think he was hatched too early."
"Oh, clever," I poke, finally having cause to do my own eye roll. "Did you come up with that one yourself?"
"Yes," he replies, raising an eyebrow at me. "It's true, though. That's why you've grown so much."
"I have matured, haven't I," I muse, looking down at myself. I'm taller than Shadow by several inches now, though his shoes mitigate it a bit, and I am very muscular. My powerful build is a stark contrast to Shadow's thin one, but I think that's a good thing. It differentiates us.
"Only physically," he snorts, and I huff at him.
"I know that look," Agatha interjects, quickly stepping between us. "No arguing. Priorities, remember?"
"Yeah, got it," I say, at the same time Shadow mutters "Right."
"You sound so disappointed," Rouge laughs. "Geez, I thought you were bad with Sonic, Shadz."
"Sonic's just generally annoying. Eclipse knows exactly what to say to tick me off," Shadow grumbles in reply. "He's a master in a world of novices."
"It's a point of pride for me," I agree modestly, and Rouge and Agatha exchange an unimpressed glance.
"See?" Shadow asks, sounding vindicated. I nod, musing for a moment, then turn to him.
"'Petite,'" I say, sounding thoughtful. I leave it at that, letting it sink in for a second. Watching Shadow's eyes widen when he suddenly gets whatever I've implied is always so satisfying, and this time is no exception.
"Excuse me?" Shadow demands, glaring at me like I'm a piece of half-chewed gum on the spotless floor of his life.
"You heard me," I reply easily, and his cheeks flush. "Dainty, delicate, frangible. Lilliputian, perhaps."
"You did not just call me insignificant," he threatens, leaning close. "You did not call me small and breakable." I meet his gaze, hiding my glee behind a veil of detached amusement.
"Homunculus," I say mildly.
Even my reflexes are barely fast enough to avoid that punch to the face.
"Dammit, what do you do for fun? Read dictionaries?!" He rages, chasing me around the room like a demented ball of spikes. "Or does making fun of me take up all of that time?!"
"Making fun of you is fun," I call back, leaping off the wall to avoid an angry spindash. "At least appreciate the effort I put into doing it. I was pretty proud of Lilliputian, you know."
"You've never even read Gulliver's Travels!" He shouts back, madder than a kicked hornets' nest. "And a 'homunculus' isn't even real! Miniature humans in the womb were a mistaken medical theory!"
"It's still a noun. It just means a different thing than it used to," I grin, hurling myself out of his way again.
Glad to say, this is pretty normal behaviour for us now. I've only been working with Shadow for about four weeks, but, in a time of great stress and anticipation of attack, I've found that simple teasing can be a welcome relief. And, as much as everyone complains about our antics, I notice that everyone around the room has stopped to watch, a good portion of them laughing at the rise I always manage to get out of Shadow. Even he finds it enjoyable, I know. If he were really mad, he would just stalk off, but he indulges me with spontaneous matches of strength and speed.
"Okay, lunch break," Captain Andrews yells over the sound of us fighting. Shadow's finally gotten ahold of me, and we're in the middle of a grapple, but the words get our attention.
"Lucky for you," he huffs, picking himself up off of me where we'd fallen to the floor. He walks over to join Rouge, and I stay quiet, grinning. I tend to let him have the last word, since I figure it'll put him in a better mood, which, frankly, he can often use.
Trotting behind him after brushing myself off a bit, I plop down on the ground in between Agatha and Rouge. Through an unspoken agreement, Shadow and I don't tend to sit next to each other, as that would be asking a little too much as of yet. So, I've been getting to know his friends a little better.
"Nice one," Rouge compliments me mildly, taking a bite of her regulation sandwich. "I'll have to remember some of those."
"Thank you," I beam in return. "Though, I must say, I think 'petite' is really the best descriptor."
"It is," she agrees, snorting a little at Shadow's unimpressed look. "Okay, okay, admit it, Shadow. Everyone here is taller than you by at least two inches. I've got five whole centimeters over you, and you're, what?" She asks, turning her attention back to me. "10 centimeters taller than him? 11?"
"Something like that," I shrug, unwrapping my food.
"The teeth offset the height, though," she observes, and I blink confusedly at her, not understanding.
"Meaning?" I ask, cocking my head slightly.
"Shadow may be petite, but at least his mouth doesn't look like a death trap," she elaborates, and I roll my eyes. "It's a total turn-off."
"My teeth are fine," I reply, miffed.
"Your build is perfectly attractive, but, believe me, women would run away the moment you said anything," she continues, and I groan.
"I'm not even interested in Mobian women," I remind her, "so I don't care."
"He's far more into the men," Shadow adds, and I, after fumbling around for a moment, throw my water bottle at him for lack of a better projectile. He catches it easily, pointing at me with the cap. "See? He got mad--that proves it."
"Just give me back my water," I reply good-naturedly, scoffing. He smirks, tossing it over. "Chaos, I keep telling you; I don't like Mobians at all in that way. Men or women."
"What about non-Mobians?" Agatha asks playfully, and Rouge elbows her in the side.
"Of course you'd ask," she teases, and Agatha snorts.
"Rouge, in case you haven't noticed, I live on this planet too," she says dryly, and Rouge gives her a suggestive look.
"But most people don't call humans 'Mobians,'" she points out, and Agatha shakes her head.
"You're ridiculous."
"This whole conversation is ridiculous," Shadow butts in before Rouge can reply. "That's just fact."
"You know, of everyone I've joked should get with Eclipse, I haven't tried you," Rouge muses, and Shadow gapes at her, aghast.
"Rouge. We're brothers."
"Half-brothers," she corrects. "There's a difference."
"Rouge. We're related."
"So?" She asks innocently. "I seem to remember Relic telling me a certain alien"--she elbows me rather obviously--"asked a certain hedgehog to 'restart their kind.'"
"It was practical," I protest, not wanting to be at the end of her merciless teasing anymore than I already am. "I didn't ask because I wanted to be with him."
"Wait, you actually asked him?" Agatha asks, looking up from her sandwich with a shocked expression.
"And I said no!" Shadow interrupts. "End of story!"
"Aww, are you denying your true feelings?" Rouge teases, and Shadow groans.
"What can I do to make this stop?" He asks, looking skyward even though we're underground.
"Nothing," I muse. "She won't quit until she drives you crazy."
"Hey!" Rouge says, miffed. "Oh, you're so asking for it, Sharkboy."
"Really? Well, I asked Shadow first, so you'll have to take a number," I reply mildly, and her jaw drops temporarily.
"Ooh, nice one. Feisty," she coos, and I scoot away from her slightly to avoid those giant eyes staring at me, suddenly feeling rather bashful. "Coward," she laughs as I edge around Topaz to put her between us. "And, geez, are you blushing? Don't tell me you--"
"No," I tell her as I complete my move, cheeks tinging green. "No, I don't. But you're managing to embarrass me all the same."
"Maybe we should be teasing Rouge about liking you," Shadow pipes up, smirking his revenge at her as she opens her mouth to rebut it.
"Oh, like that would ever happen," she huffs. She's about to explain in greater detail just why she would never consider me an option for a mate, but she's interrupted by the door opening.
Immediately, the room hushes, and I look up, a sudden pit in my stomach.
Sure enough, Commander of G.U.N. Abraham Tower is standing there, Commander Hara by his side. Worried, I get to my feet along with everyone else, gaiety forgotten. A concerned glance to Agatha to see if she knows something reveals nothing, and I return my attention to the commanding human duo.
"We found the base," Commander Tower informs us without preamble, and I feel a grin spread over my face again. "I'm here to brief you."
It's about time, I think. And, this time, I'll get my revenge for sure.
The idea is satisfying. Everyone in the room hurries to gather near in anticipation, and, as we all look at the man leading us, I find myself becoming excited.
"They're holed up in an agricultural warehouse center, and intelligence believes there's an extensive underground facility. Suspicious activity such as unregulated air traffic and large vehicles is occurring around the area, but the local authorities haven't contacted them about the violations, as per our instructions. The chief of police nearest the base informs me that ignorance can't be feigned much longer, as there have been several poorly hidden activities recently. If we're going to go after them, it will have to be tomorrow night.
"Now, as to what we're going to do," he continues, looking calmly across the assembled soldiers. His mismatched eyes catch mine for an instance before moving on to Shadow, and I make my stare a little fiercer. "We'll form two units. One will be the vanguard, clearing the way for reinforcements. The other will be comprised of soldiers prepared to combat the people in the facility after the defenses are down. Shadow," he pauses, looking at the hedgehog. "You'll be first vanguard. It's your job to take care of any troublesome traps or blocks in the path. Eclipse and Rouge," he addresses the two of us, "you're technically part of the vanguard, as well, but you'll be cooperating with the ground unit. Rouge is in charge of watching the rear of the group, and Eclipse will take point."
"How many soldiers are in the unit?" Captain Andrews questions, looking uncharacteristically serious.
"The entirety of Spider Troupe will participate in the infiltration. Captain Topaz will help lead outside forces, coordinating with those of you inside. If you need back up at any time, contact her."
"How many supporting troops will there be?" Shadow asks, acute in his attention with ears alert.
"Currently, we plan on 15, with twenty per platoon."
"300? Do we need that many?" The hybrid sounds skeptical. "How big is the base?"
"Large. There would be more, but stealth would become an issue if we tried to move any more soldiers in one day. It's a small rural area. I'm expecting our..." In a surprising moment, he trails off. I have never seen this man uncertain, but he seems to be looking for a word, the pause awkwardly long. "Er, non-human agents to make up for the lack of numbers." For a moment, I wonder if I should be offended. Commander Tower has never shown any bias before; why did he pause?
"Non-hum--" Rouge starts to say, scandalized, but then stops. "Oh. Right. We can't say 'Mobian' anymore, can we?" She looks at me a little pointedly, and I feel uncomfortable as everyone follows her movement."
"Can't go with 'Chaos Creatures,' either," Shadow muses, ignoring the awkwardness. "'Anthropomorphic Agents'? That's a mouthful. But, Special Agents can be humans, so that doesn't work. We might just have to always go by Team Dark, now that there's not just Mobians. I mean, I was always half, so it worked, and even Omega has a flicky in his core, but Eclipse can't be called a Mobian by any means."
"We know, Shadow," Rouge chuckles. "Team Dark, then."
"You know--" I begin, but she cuts me off.
"We are not going to be Team Darkling, before you ask," she preempts, and I huff.
"It was just a suggestion," I grumble, a little miffed.
"And, as Team Captain, I reject it," she replies, and I shrug.
"Your loss..." I say lightly, refocusing on Commander Tower.
"Yes, well, I'm counting on you, Team Dark," he sighs, giving a minute, exasperated shake of his head. "We don't have as many soldiers as we'd like, and, while we're mitigating that by focusing on a small infiltration, your abilities will be spread thin. Omega is already moving out; he'll be stationed outside, assisting Captain Topaz. Shadow, you in particular will need to pay strict attention to what's going on around you. You're our most mobile agent; I need you to be ready to reinforce the strike unit and the covering troops. If anything unexpected occurs, it's going right to you."
Shadow nods seriously, shifting his weight. I can practically see the whirring of his mind, running potential situations. His alert, crimson eyes have taken my attention; I jolt when I move my gaze back to the Commander and find his mismatched irides looking directly at me.
"That means, Eclipse, that you're going to be Shadow's second. If he has to come off point for an emergency, it's up to you to see Spider Troupe through the base." Abraham Tower's voice is weighty, as if he's not sure I can accomplish the task he's setting me but he has no other option. I stiffen, mouth pulling into a worried expression without meaning to.
My first instinct would be to feel insulted that he would think I am not up to Shadow's standard, but my rational mind quickly finds several reasons his concern is valid. For one, I am inexperienced working with human soldiers. Elite as Spider Troupe may be among its kind, it pales in comparison to the physical capabilities of my own species. I will have to move slower than I like, to ensure the humans' safety. And, despite my training over the past month, I am still not entirely used to the capabilities of their weapons; it is entirely possible that I could misjudge their ability to handle a situation and either go on ahead too soon or hinder myself by staying back when I am unneeded.
For another, my powers do not have the same strengths as my half brother's. While Shadow can blast his way through most situations, I can neither move as quickly as him nor produce the same amount of firepower. And, though I am physically stronger than him, I tire more quickly, meaning I will be able to handle fewer threats to the unit.
With these reminders of my limitations stark in my mind, I swallow anxiously, suddenly unsure myself if I can handle the responsibility of the troupe. A slight tremor travels through my left arm, though whether it is a remnant of my injury or a reaction to my emotions I cannot tell.
"I would be back as soon as possible, you know," Shadow says softly, startling me. My eyes flick to his, and I slowly become aware of the many people looking at me, various thoughts shaping their expressions. Some look apprehensive about my position, but others give me a reassuring smile, and I feel my confidence recover slightly. "We know you're new to this. And, the Captains will tell you what to do, so you don't have to worry about making decisions. You're the sword, not the guiding hand, so try to relax. I may not even have to break position."
"I-I know," I say, trying not to scoff defensively. Surrounded by all of these people, it feels strange to show any weakness. A strong urge to recover my dignity by being arrogant is clashing with my mind's newer knowledge that it's okay to be nervous, and I do my best not to let the internal struggle show.
Despite my efforts, Shadow gives me a knowing look. I bristle slightly at it, feeling reminded of when he was intolerably nosy, but, on closer inspection, his face is a bit different than I thought. Instead of frustratingly blind earnesty coupled with concern, I see a subtle invitation on his features.
If you want to, we can talk about it later. I can give you some tips you might appreciate, he offers through the hivemind, and, mute with surprise, I give him a small nod. Then, marveling at the least overbearing conversation I think I have ever had with him, I try to refocus on the details the tall human Commander is spelling out.
He treated me like an equal, not a misbehaving child, I think, a little shocked at the contrast. Before, it was always "I know best and you don't," but he's actually being respectful! "If I want to," he specified. That's...surprisingly considerate of him.
I am so wrapped up in thought that I miss most of the details, but I know Shadow or Rouge will fill me in on them later. When we finally let out of the emergency meeting and return to our half-eaten lunches, I walk with an odd spring in my step. How I went from feeling barely confident at all to floating airily, I am not entirely sure, but I accept the change happily.
After all, cheerfulness is one of my strong suits.
Author's Note: This chapter still needs a bit of revising for me to be completely happy with it, but I updated because I know it's been two weeks. I apologize for the lack of a one-shot update! I wrote not one but three one-shots, which I may use for the coming weeks because I'm swamped with work and will have trouble finishing this chapter. So, next Wednesday will be the Shadonia I promised, followed by a Shadourge, followed by either a Shadamy or something else, possibly a Brothers in Arms chapter update or another ship. By then, I may be done with work (though it's unlikely). I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and my most sincere apologies for the schedule lapse! I will be updating content every week, even if I don't update this story specifically, so please check for that! If you're interested in reading a one-shot, I have a book titled Sonic One-Shots that they all go into. Thank you for reading!