Shadow scanned his surroundings before entering the windowless building. The low lighting forced him to blink a few times before his eyes adjusted, and he jerked his worn leather jacket to reposition it. A variety of scents he didn't even want to identify bombarded his nose as he made his way deeper into the large room, swiftly maneuvering around the other people and poker tables scattered throughout. His gaze landed on a tiger with a mangled ear standing in a guard position in front of a closed door. Within moments he was standing directly in front of the rather muscular feline, and their eyes locked for a split-second.
"Terrence," Shadow greeted with a short nod, never breaking his stare.
"Ghost," he replied, cocking a knowing grin as he grabbed the door handle, "The boss will see you."
Shadow nodded, "Good."
"Sasha's in there too, along with the others," the tiger added, his grin becoming more mischevious, and Shadow rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you think you heard floating around isn't true," he remarked and finally entered the private room.
"Sure it isn't," he heard the cat reply, but he didn't get the chance to address it, as his presence was immediately noticed by the other occupants of the room.
"Well if it isn't my favorite hedgehog!" a booming voice called. An old, black bear lifted his bushy arms in Shadow's direction with a broad smile. The red-streaked hedgehog took the cue and strode over to the bear, granting him a quick, and slightly awkward hug, before pulling away.
"It is good to see you again, Ghost. Come. Sit. We have much to discuss," he said and patted the empty seat beside him. Shadow took the chair and glanced at the other inhabitants of the room. Another black bear, several years younger than the one beside him, with a dark blue echidna on his left and a brown bat on his right. A red hawk and an orange lion. The final member was the only female, a black cat in a tight red leather body suit. Her golden eyes never left his, and Shadow quickly dodged her gaze. The tension in the room just became stifling.
Meanwhile
"Hey, Tails, look it's Shadow!" Sonic pointed across the street, where the familiar silhouette of his rival could be seen standing outside of a rundown building before disappearing inside. "Huh, I wonder what he's up to," the blue blur mused.
"And why is he wearing a jacket? I thought he said temperatures didn't bother him," Tails thought aloud, and Sonic grinned.
"Well, let's go ask him! C'mon!" he cheered and grabbed his little brother before zooming across the street in a azure streak. He recklessly dodged the oncoming traffic with Tails screaming in panic.
"And here we are!" Sonic chirped and set the shivering fox down. Tails punched his shoulder, "Ow! Hey, what was that for?"
"Don't do that again without a warning!" he snapped, and the blue blur chuckled nervously.
"Okay okay. Lesson learned, now come on! Let's go find Shads."
Sonic strolled over to the door and opened it halfway before slamming it shut and pressed his back against hit. The orange kitsune tilted his head curiously, a habit he picked up from his big bro.
"Sonic? What's the matter?"
"Sorry, lil bro, but you can't go in there."
"Why?"
"There are many reasons why I don't let you come to this side of town by yourself, and this is one of them. I swore to look after you, and that includes keeping you out of bad places."
Tails crossed his arms with a disbelieving look, "I help you fight a mad scientist with a thousand different weapons that could vaporize us instantly. What could possibly be so dangerous?"
"This is a different kind of bad. I don't even go to these places. Please, just trust me on this one, little buddy."
Tails resigned with a deep sigh, knowing there was no way he could talk him out of it, "Fine. I'll stay out here and keep lookout," he grumbled. Sonic offered a thankful smile and a brief hug.
"Thanks, lil bro. If I'm not out with Shads in an hour, call Knuckles and get us," he instructed and ducked inside before he could get a response.
Sonic's face contorted into a noticeable grimace as he scanned the crowds for his rival, doing his best to veer as far away from the other people as possible. Why are you in a place like this, Shads? he thought.
After a few minutes with no results, he concluded that the red and black hedgehog wasn't in the main area. Sonic flipped through the contacts on his communicator until the ID "Faker" came up, and he selected it. The call automatically went to voicemail after a few seconds.
"Come on, Faker. Answer me," he mumbled to himself as he tried again, "I gotta know what's going on."
With Shadow
Shadow subtly pressed the ignore button on his communicator for the second time, his focus never leaving the table's discussion. Every once in a while he would feel Sasha's half-lidded gaze train on him, but he never looked her way. He knew she wouldn't give up so easily, however, and he could only imagine the kind of talk she would try to pull him into after the meeting.
With Sonic
Emerald eyes finally landed on a plain door with a tiger bodyguard standing beside it. It was the only room with direct access to the main floor without going down a hallway, and Sonic really didn't want to search down that path unless absolutely necessary, which he prayed it wasn't. The blue blur causally trotted up to the grim feline with an award winning smile. The gesture was returned with a questioning frown.
"You lost, kid?" the tiger's gruff voice growled, and Sonic laughed sheepishly.
"I hope not. I'm looking for a friend of mine--"
"Can't help you," he interrupted and made a face that read 'get lost' while not-so-subtly revealing the loaded handgun in his grip.
"You don't even know who I'm talking about!" the hero argued, "Look, let's make a deal. I tell you what he looks like, and you can tell me whether or not he's in that room. Please?"
The tiger scratched his mangled ear in thought before shrugging his shoulders," Okay, but I doubt your friend would be the kind of guy to be hanging around here if he's anything like you."
Sonic wordlessly agreed with an anxious chuckle, "Yeah, well...Let me tell you what he looks like. He's a hedgehog, like me but a little taller. Black fur with red stripes. Upcurled quills. White chest fur, and gold rings on his ankles and wrists. I also think I saw him come in with a plain military jacket," Sonic's eyebrows knit in confusion when he looked up to see the man's confused, and slightly shocked, stare, "What's the matter?"
"How can a kid like you be friends with a guy like Ghost?"
Ghost? Is that what he's calling himself? he thought before replying, "Yeah, we go way back. He's a buddy of mine. Is he in there?"
The male cat nodded and grabbed the door handle, "Yeah, one sec."
With Shadow
"And so the shipment should be coming in here," Shadow said as he pointed at a specific dock on the city map. The door creaked open, interrupting the conversation.
"Sorry to interrupt, boss," Terrence apologized, "but there's a kid here looking for Ghost. Says he's a long time friend."
No one had a chance to answer as a blue streak zoomed into the room. Shadow slouched in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose in the definition of irritation. Not now, Faker. Any time but now..
Sasha glanced over at the ebony hedgehog when a familiar sound resembling a grumble reached her ear, and she turned her attention back to the blue hedgehog standing confidently in the center of the room.
"Who's your cute twin, Ghosty?" she purred, only to receive his natural reaction, a classic eye roll.
"We're not related," he stated bluntly and glared at the surprise visitor, "What are you doing here, idiot?"
"Hey, just coming to check up on an old buddy," Sonic laughed casually, "Saw you across the street and decided to see what you were up to nowadays. But you do look kinda busy, so...see ya!"
Sonic's attempt at running back out was cut off by a firm hand gripping one of his quills harshly, and he turned around to find a red hawk as the offender.
"Hey, G, call your buddy off. Quill pullin' is dirty," Sonic grumbled, for once looking serious, and Shadow could begrudgingly sympathize. Crimson eyes glanced at the old bear beside him before turning back to the scene at hand.
"Quit whining, pineapple," the hawk ordered and tugged on the quill in his grip. Shadow held a fist to his mouth to hide the amused smirk trying to reveal itself, as he knew the reaction he would get.
Sonic elbowed the bird in the gut, and slammed his head backwards, so that his skull and quills smacked the hawk in the face. One of the quills happened to poke him in the eye, forcing him to release the blue blur. Sonic spun around to face his opponent and slugged him, sending the unfortunate hawk sailing into the wall. Everyone besides Shadow was shocked at the amount of force he had used, but years of battling robots and mad dictators could make a hedgehog forget his own strength.
"Idiot, you shoulda known not to do that aft'r Ghost, Dirk," the brown bat laughed and watched the hawk pick himself up off the ground.
"Nice hook, Blue, I didn't think you could get that mean," Shadow commented, and Sonic shot him a look.
"Well, you should know, Ghost. I ain't gonna let a loser pull my quills."
That remark somehow made the others break out in laughter. The old black bear scrubbed his chin.
"I like you," he chuckled with a thick Holoskan accent, "Ghost, what would you say to letting your friend join us for dinner tonight? I'm sure he would get along splendidly with the rest of the family."
Shadow's eyes widened, "With all due respect, boss, that really isn't necessary. He's just a kid. He doesn't have any experience in this field."
"Oh, come now, Ghost," he waved dismissively, "From the looks of things, he could be quite helpful."
Shadow's mind buzzed a hundred miles an hour, trying to come up with another excuse, "Boss, I can't let him. I promised his mother no harm would come to him."
Sonic raised an eyebrow. He had no idea Shadow could lie so easily. The bear in charge seemed to buy it, but the result wasn't what either hedgehog wanted.
"And what safer place is there than with you?"
"He came in here by mistake," Shadow growled, "I'm not going to babysit him. I will take him home, and that is all."
"This kid really gets under your skin, huh, Ghosty?" Sasha purred. The group seemed to have forgotten that Sonic was right there, not that he minded. He was more interested in his rival's relationship with the cat currently grinning at the black blur in a very Rouge-like way.
"I told you not to call me that," Shadow huffed and stood up. Without another word, he grabbed Sonic by the arm and literally dragged him out of the room. He didn't let go until they exited the side entrance, where he shoved the azure hero forward.
"What are you doing here, Faker?" he demanded. Sonic dusted himself off, emerald eyes glaring back at ruby.
"I could ask you the same thing, Faker. What on earth are you doing in a place like this? I don't know the full story, but I know that group looks like nothing but trouble."
"I know that, idiot," Shadow hmphed and crossed his arms, "And you waltzing in like that could have blown the whole operation."
"Wait what?"
The ebony agent pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "For the past two months, I've been under deep cover. GUN has been trying to nail this ring for years, and they sent me in to get the necessary intel in order to bring them in."
"Oh, gee man," Sonic apologized, "I hope I didn't screw anything up."
"So do I," the other growled, "Now get out of here."
"I do have one more question," the blue hedgehog pointed out, "Is that cat your girlfriend or something?"
"No," Shadow snapped a little too quickly, "Sasha is just another member of the ring that won't leave me alone."
Sonic smirked and propped one hand on his hip and check his other hand, "Yeah, whatever. I won't tell your gal, Rouge."
"She is not my girlfriend, Faker."
"Uh huh, yeah, sure. Well, I guess I'll leave you to your job. Can't keep Tails waiting," he grinned and vanished in a streak of blue before Shadow could bash his head in.
"Moron," he accused under his breath and turned to walk back inside. As he opened the door, he accidently bumped into a very familiar feline.
"Hi, Ghosty. Boss sent me to come check on you. Make sure you weren't gonna kill the poor kid," she said in an alluring whisper.
"It would take more than me to kill that idiot," he replied and tried to walk back to the meeting. A furry black tail curled around his middle, and he glared at the one who dared to invade his personal space. She pulled him closer with her tail, increasing his discomfort. Even Rouge knew her limits when it came to flirting with the Ultimate Lifeform, and he wasn't sure what he should do to get out of the situation.
"Sasha, we shouldn't keep the boss waiting," he stated and forcefully unwound the sleek black tail around his middle.
"Fine," she complied, although her disappointment was obvious. To further express her annoyance at being turned down, she strutted ahead of him but winked over her shoulder as a sign that she didn't hold any sort of hard feelings. Shadow hmphed and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Thank Chaos this mission is almost over, he thought.
Special Notes:
Pulling quills is considered highly offensive in mobian culture, particularly for hedgehogs, echidnas, and porcupines.
The jacket Shadow wore was the one assigned to him when he first joined GUN. The reason there was no insignia is because they knew there would be times the enemy shouldn't know his allegiance.
This story is obviously not based in the canon storyline.
Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, and GUN belong to Sega. The OCs are mine, so please tell me if you decide to use one of them and credit me.
Comment if you want to see more missions!
Comment if you have any story suggestions! And please tell me what you think of my stories so far!!!