Shadow the Hedgehog 2: The Revenge of Maria, Ch 5

    Breakfast the next morning was the same as always- croissant, bacon, fruit, and a small glass of orange juice to wash it all down with.  Rouge, sitting across from him at the long table in the dining hall, looked down at her halved pear on her miniature plate and picked at it with her fork.  "Is anything wro-?" he started, dipping the soft, buttery pastry in his Nutella.
    "NOTHING!"  She abruptly dropped her fork; the look in her eyes was wild and unstable.  The entire room fell silent as everyone looked over not at the quivering bat, but at Shadow.  From the look in their eyes, it was undeniable that they were all hiding something.  To say that the silence was uncomfortable was an understatement.
    "...If you say so."  Shadow was tired of playing games with these people, but he threw in his trademark menacing glare for good measure.  He had better things to do with his time.  The Commander had requested him in his office immediately after breakfast, so he picked up his plate and absconded quickly as everyone shakily returned to their individual conversations.             
    The Commander's office was vast and striking.  The rich mahogany furniture shone from the late morning sun that drifted in from the colossal window behind his desk.  The Commander paced cautiously around his office before finally speaking.
    "Shadow, do you value your job here?"
    "It has its moments," the surly hedgehog replied, tapping his foot on the hard-wood floor.  "However, I don't appreciate things being kept from me.  If something is going on, I deserve to know."  The Commander smiled slightly at this.
    "All will be revealed in good time.  In fact, the reason I called you in this morning pertains to that.  We need you to go on a mission.  I cannot reveal the exact details, but we're sure that you'll be very pleased with the project we are working on."
    "So... everyone here knows about this but me?"
    "We're very efficient here at GUN," replied the Commander, smiling once more.  "That's why all who fail to comply are penalized.  Speaking of which, Agent Rouge will not be accompanying you this time.  We know about the wrist-bomb-- it had a tracking device installed.  This time, we decided to bring in some outside help."  He nodded to someone leaning against the wall behind Shadow. A pair of bright green eyes glinted mischieveously at the black hedgehog.
    "Absolutely not," Shadow sighed with disgust, immediately realizing who it was.
    "It's nice to see you too," Sonic retorted.
    "Are you saying that you're unhappy with our decision?"  the Commander asked with a genuine hint of a threat in his voice.  Shadow sighed with defeat.  "Good.  Gentlemen, er, gentlehogs, I need you both to pick up a package from a... holding facility, yes that's it, a few towns over.  I've already briefed Sonic over the finer details," he nodded towards the blue hedgehog.  "As we discussed earlier, this mission should take four hours, no less."
    "But if we're only going a few towns over..." Shadow started.
    "Uh, excuse me," Sonic said, turning to Shadow and pointing at himself, "I do believe that I'm in charge here, and when I'm in charge, we listen to the Commander-dude.  Let's go, bro!"  He sneeringly slapped the black hedgehog on the back and did his best "Haters Gonna Hate" walk towards the door.  He'd been working on it for some time.
    After the two hedgehogs made it to the town in question, Sonic insisted that they stop for a bite to eat in order to help pass the time.  It felt odd to him to have to go about things so slowly today, but it helped him take his mind off of the goings-on of the past week.  Sally and Tails had recently installed a new super computer and had been geeking out about it since.  The words that they used sounded like they'd be fun to say, but they made Sonic's head turn loops and corkscrews.  His knowledge of IT didn't go much past "Blast Processing" and "Real 16-bit Arcade Graphics".  It was nice to take a break by bossing around someone that didn't talk much.  Shadow went along with it, lest his dissodence be reported.
    "Y'know, Shadow," said the blue hedgehog, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he split his chopsticks and prepared to gorge himself in the plate of orange chicken and chow mein before him, "I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
    "Oh, shut up," the black hedgehog snapped as he picked the onions out of his dish.
    "Whatever happened to nice Shadow?"
    "What are you talking about?"
    "Well, when we were fighting that big lizard thingy in space a few years ago, you said something that, well, touched me."
    "And what was this?"
    "It was something along the lines of 'Sonic, I think I've discovered what the Ultimate Lifeform is- it might be you!'"
    "Are you high?"  Shadow slammed his fist on the table, almost upsetting the tiny jar of low-sodium soy sauce.  "I would never say such a thing.  I am the Ultimate Lifeform, you ignorant faker."
    "Well of course you wouldn't remember- you fell immediately afterwards, bumped your head, got the most convenient case of amnesia I've ever seen, and have yet so say one nice thing to me.  Think of the fangirls, Shadow-- aren't we supposed to be in some loving relationship or something?"
    "THAT.  NEVER.  HAPPENED."
    "And it won't-- not in this fanfic, anyway.  I looked ahead to check and make sure.  But the important thing is that you've been a raving asshole to me for no good reason ever since."  Shadow was fuming at this point.  "Oh, all right.  Be that way.  How's your shrimp?"
    "Subpar."
    "Alright... So, uh... how's your mother?"  Shadow silently stared back at Sonic before speaking.
    "There is a chance that we can get through this without any mishaps, but crack one more joke and I'll..."  Sonic began to chuckle slightly.  "What is it now?" the black hedgehog sighed.
    "You said buttcrack..." Sonic snorted.  Shadow's cold stare got his point across.  Sonic merely smiled and scooped up the rest of the greasy noodles from his bowl.  He paid the bill and snapped open his fortune cookie.  "You will help bring great joy to a comrade," he read aloud.  "That's true-- Sal and I are going to buy Tails' birthday present tomorrow.  What does yours say?"
    "I don't care.  There's no point, it's just a childish superstition."  As Shadow got up to leave, Sonic glanced at the grouchy hedgehog's fortune, and smiled.  He slipped the small slip of paper into his glove and got up to follow.