Shadow wasn't a fan of G.U.N, not after all they did to him. He didn't like the idea of working for the very same government that killed Maria. And he knew Sonic definitely didn't approve his decision to become an agent for them, though he tries to hide it. Shadow himself didn't really approve the decision, but, G.U.N had the most reach throughout the world, they could give him resources that while he didn't exactly need, helped him do a lot of good. 

Not to mention what better way to watch them than to be one of them? 

So, no, he didn't like G.U.N. But he did like his job. And his team, he was proud to be Team Dark's leader. Team Dark was one of G.U.N's best teams, and that gave them a lot of leeway for a lot of things. For one, G.U.N easily covered Rouge when she couldn't help sneaking a gem or two, and when Shadow broke a few laws (and, most of the time, a few bones) suddenly no he didn't. They didn't have to worry about the copious amount of damage Omega caused either. 

But one thing Shadow could not stand? 

How much G.U.N sent them out for and how little breaks in between. Shadow knew they did it because of him, he was the Ultimate Lifeform. He didn't need sleep, nor to eat. He could last longer out on the field than all of their other agents. He would sometimes have to go weeks, and one specific time a full month, without time to sleep or eat. But just because he didn't need it to be physically healthy, didn't mean he didn't need it to be mentally healthy. But what irritated him more than all of that, was that they forced his team to do the same. Of course he didn't actually let that happen, he always made sure they could rest. Even if he didn't himself. But the point still remained. 

On a particular April afternoon, Team Dark was going on their last mission before a well deserved three week break. Or, well, they would be. If the Commander would actually start telling them what the mission is. The tall human stood in front of them, looking down at the papers scattered along his desk. Ignoring the group of mobians that stood in front of him.  

It irritated Shadow to no end. 

He stifled a growl as he glared at the man. "With all due respect Commander, are you going to tell us what the mission is?" 

The Commander didn't even look up as he said, "Yes Agent Shadow, I will. As soon as Sonic gets here." 

Shadow felt his quills bristle. "What?!? Why is he coming here?" 

He gave out a heavy sigh, and finally looked up."Because Shadow, I want him to join you on this mission." 

Shadow stood straight, "Why? My Team is very much able to handle whatever you have for us. We don't need that Faker!" 

"Shadow, don't be so uptight dear, I'm sure the Commander has a good reason. Let's just hear what the mission is first, ok?" Rouge placed a hand on his shoulders, giving him a smile. 

Shadow growled, but relented. At that moment the door burst open, and Sonic stomped through. 

And he was pissed. He was scowling, and his hands were fists at his sides. His eyes were nothing but pinpricks as he stared down the Commander. Shadow could honestly say he had never seen Sonic this angry at a non super-villain in the entire time they knew each other. 

"You. What. The. Fuck?" Sonic stormed up to the desk the Commander was now sitting behind, slamming his hands on the table so hard it shook. "Where the heck is all of Tails' savings? My savings? WHY THE FUCK, do I have letters in the mail telling me I need to pay $100,000,0000 dollars in fines?!?! Then followed by your stupid call, saying to meet you here to make it all disappear?" Shadow raised an eyebrow, Well, this just got more interesting. A look at Rouge confirmed she thought so too. 

The human didn't flinch at Sonic's outburst, he simply shook his head. "Mr. Hedgehog, I had nothing to do with this. This was all done by the higher ups, but I can assure you, you will get all your money back and the fines will disappear."

"They shouldn't have been there to begin with." He seethed. 

The man frowned, "Technically, they should have been there from the beginning, as I'm sure you're aware those fines are for the copious amounts of damage you cause when fighting." 

Shadow couldn't keep quiet at this, "What the hell do you want him to do? Let you all fall to the Doctors devices? If anyone should be getting fined it's the villain that actually causes the damage, not the hero that tries to stop it." 

Sonic nodded, "Yeah! And trying to use it to blackmail me is a new low!" 

The Commander shook his head, "I didn't say I approved of it. Because I don't. I'm just the messenger. It was the actual government that decided the fines, not G.U.N. I am trying to give you an opportunity to keep your money, that you obviously need to keep up with your brothers inventing habit and your own traveling one." 

Sonic was shaking with barely concealed anger, this was striking a nerve Shadow noticed. He narrowed his eyes, that's not the only reason they needed money it seemed.  

"And what would that 'opportunity' be, I ask." 

The Commander looked Sonic in the eyes, "I can tell you're not going to like this, but, given the circumstances, I do believe you don't have much of a choice." 

"Just. Spit. It. Out." He said, through gritted teeth.  

"G.U.N needs you to become an agent. And we will make the fines disappear and give you back any money the bank took." 

Shadow could feel his jaw on the ground. Rouge let out a shocked gasp beside him. Sonic? He simply stared at the commander like he had a second head. Which, Shadow supposed, would make more sense than what had just come out of the human mouth. 

"You're joking." Sonic muttered, then louder. "Why the fuck would I work for you? G.U.N is a corrupted shithole, and I am NEVER working for anyone of any government." 

Omega spoke up, from his station next to the door. "SONIC WORKING FOR YOU IS AN UNATTAINABLE GOAL. YOU THINKING OTHERWISE MAKES YOU INCOMPETENT." 

The Commander frowned and stood up. "Listen, like I told you before. This was not my decision." Shifting his attention to the blue hedgehog, "And even if you figure these fines out, they are planning to threaten taking you to Starfield Island Prison for multiple charges. Last time I checked a lot of people there want you dead. I am trying to save you from a lot of trouble, Sonic. I went against a lot of orders by asking you simply to join now." 

"Well, thanks, but no thanks. I'm not working for G.U.N end of story." He whipped around and stormed back out of the room. Slamming the door behind him. 

With a heavy sigh, the Commander sat back down. "He's going to make things extremely hard on himself, by doing this."

Shadow frowned, "You can't exactly blame him. G.U.N has given him every reason to hate working for you guys." 

Rouge stood from seat, "And Blue is known for working only with his friends. He's a free soul Commander, you shouldn't be surprised." 

"I'm not Agent Rouge. I knew this would happen, I was hoping it wouldn't though. Agent Shadow. You understand where he is coming from the most correct?"

Shadow nodded, "Yes sir." 

"You also know why I'm doing this? And that it's better for him to accept it now, rather than later?" 

Shadow frowned harder, "I suppose so." 

"Good. Go and see if you can talk to him. This is his choice, and if he chose the hard way, then that's what he chooses. But someone needs to at least try to set him straight." 

Shadow shook his head, "Nothing I'm going to say is going to work. Sonic's too stubborn to give in like that." 

The Commander glared at him. "Do your best Agent." 

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Shadow huffed, this was supposed to be a simple mission. Now it was in the afternoon, and they hadn't even started the mission yet! Instead he was running around Station Square trying to find Faker to convince him to say yes to something he himself wouldn't say yes too. 

It was irritating. 

Bitzz Bitzz "Shadow, how's everything going hun? It's been three hours." 

Shadow slowed down, looking down at his communitater. "Not good. I can't find Faker. He isn't in any of his usual spots." 

A sigh came through the small wrist device, "Did you try calling him?" 

Shadow rolled his eyes, "Of course I tried to call him first. He didn't answer. I'm heading back. It's 12:00 and we need to get started on that mission."

"No can do sugar, Commander wants Sonic an agent before we start." 

Sadow sighed, "Of course he does. Well, you have any idea where he could be?"

"I'm not sure hun, try calling Tails?"

"Not yet. I don't have him saved in my communicator."

"Here, I do. I'll send his number to you."

He started off again, "Thanks Rouge."

"No problem hun." With a click she hung up, and a moment later he was calling Tails.

"Hello? Shadow, is everything ok?"

Shadow nodded, "Don't worry fox, I'm simply calling to see if you know where I can find Faker."

Shadow watched as Tails bit his lip, thinking for a moment before responding. "He might be at Vanilla's. If this is about what I think this is about..." 

Tails was obviously hoping that Shadow would explain more, but the hybrid simply left it at that and ended the call after a short 'Thank You.' 

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Shadow finally found Sonic at Vanilla's, talking to the rabbit in her living room. The hedgehog instantly bristled upon seeing him. "Shadow if you're here to talk me into joining, you're not gonna succeed." 

Shadow shook his head, "While that is what I was sent here for, that is not what I attend to do."

Sonic raised his brow, "It's not?" 

Shadow frowned, "It's not. What you do, is what you do. I personally agree with where you're coming from. But I think you should play along for now, until we figure out what they're playing at. G.U.N often gets sloppy when they think they got what they want. It's really the only reason Rouge and I know so much of their plans as we do." 

Vanilla placed a calm hand on Sonic's shoulder, "You won't be giving in, you'd just be fighting in a different way you're used to." She said, giving him a soft smile, "No one is going to take away your freedom Sonic. You'll have your friends to make sure of that." 

Sonic frowned harder, looking from the rabbit to the hybrid back to the rabbit. "I don't know." 

Shadow sighed, "Think about it faker, pretending to agree will be a lot less trouble than making you and the fox broke and you taken to prison." 

Sonic sighed, "I guess we do need the money...and going to prison isn't any fun." Taking a deep breath, the hedgehog nodded, "Fine I'll play along for now. But just until we know what their plans are." 

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Back at G.U.N HQ Sonic was silently seething still. Sure, he agreed to play along, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it though. So as they pulled all the paperwork, and set dates for his 'training' he stood in the corner glaring at everything. 

It was unsightly. 

Shadow was uncomfortable with the completely out of character actions his rival was exhibiting. Wasn't brooding in a corner his thing? And since when was Sonic ever quiet for more than a few minutes? 

Never, that was the answer. 

So, watching as Sonic snarled at the gray haired scientist tasked with checking his heath, Shadow decided it was probably his job to figure out how to calm the angry hero. Easier said than done, unfortunately... 

Might as well cut to the chase. No sense trying to dance around it right? Of course. Being straight to the point almost always worked, this should be no different. He'll just go up there and tell Faker to stop acting like an overgrown child. 

Decision made, the hybrid got up and crossed the office where they were all situated. "Faker. You need to calm the fuck down. Stop acting like a child and just let them get this done." And with a well placed glare, he crossed his arms, daring him to argue. 

Which, true to their rivalry, he of course did. "I'm not gonna make this easy on them, Shadow. They forced me into this, I'm not gonna just lay down and take it!"  

"There are other ways of doing that than throwing a tantrum."  

"Is it annoying?"

Shadow frowned, rolling his eyes. "Of course it's annoying, I wouldn't be telling you to stop otherwise."  

"Is it preventing them from doing what they want easily?" 

Shadow sighed, now seeing where this was going. "Yes, I suppose it is." 

Sonic gave a sharp grin, "Then this is the perfect way." 

Shadow simply deadpanned the blue annoyance, but didn't argue. 

He smiled triumphantly, "I rest my case." 

Shadow frowned harder, but again, didn't respond. He just rolled his eyes, returning to his seat as the Commander finally walked in waving the scientist away. "Don't bother with the check-up. He's healthy."  

"B-but sir it's necessary for him to become an agent." 

The human reached his desk and looked up, "Then he can complete it after Team Dark completes this mission. I would rather them get it done today. We have all the next three weeks to formally make him an agent." The scientist nodded and backed out of the room, leaving them alone.  

"Now, let's get to business shall we? There is an unusual energy source coming from RoseThorn Grove, we checked and it's not Chaos Energy which means it may be dangerous. Go check it out and report back." 

Shadow frowned, "That's it? Why the heck did you want Faker to join so badly for such a small mission?" 

The Commander didn't look up from his papers. "That is none of your concern, Agent Shadow. Now go, I really do want this done by nightfall."  

Grumbling about the unfairness of the situation, Sonic was the first out the door, already halfway down the hall by the time Shadow and Rouge had gathered their belongings. 

"Whoa, hun. Wait up!" 

Miraculously the hedgehog listened, stopping and turning around. "Let's just get this over with already!"

Shadow frowned, "We will Faker, but we have to make a plan on what we're going to do once we get there first." 

Sonic huffed, "Why? We just need to see what it is! If it's Eggface, we shut him down!" 

Shadow growled, "Listen, like it or not, you're a part of this team now. And that means you do as I say. And if I say we need a plan, then damn it we need a plan!"

With narrowed eyes he muttered "Fine." 

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The initial plan was simple, keep quiet and stealthy while they approached the coordinates. Once they determined what they were dealing with, they would make a more detailed plan. Most likely involving taking whatever the cause of the spike of energy to Tails to examine. It was hard to tell if Sonic actually planned to be 'quiet and stealthy' but Shadow supposed he just had to trust him. 

RottonThorn Grove is named after its thorny undergrowth, where roses of all sorts grew twisting together into a sharp barrier. The bushes took over every available space between the tall gnarled oaks, some of the more vine-like rose bushes climbed the trees. The wood was quite beautiful in this aspect, even if it did make it difficult to traverse through. And difficult it was, by the time they were halfway there the thorns had shredded their socks and shoes. 

It was slow moving, and after far too many hours spent navigating the underbrush, they finally arrived in a cave. Shadow quickly scanned the area, no sign of Eggman or anyone else. But that didn't mean that...that...why was he having trouble thinking? 

"THE SOURCE OF CONCERN IN WITHIN THAT CAVE. IT IS INTERRUPTING MY SCANNERS."  

The cave was mammoth, its opening the size of a small house. It was pitch black inside, no light could shine inside the inky blackness. It gave off a sense of mysterious danger, not bad but not good at the same time. 

His thoughts were jumbling together, the energy radiating from within the cave was sickeningly strong. It left him winded and strung out, as if he was exhausted from simply standing. 

It seems to be doing the opposite to Sonic however, the hedgehog wouldn't stand still. Almost as if he had all the energy in the world, he was buzzing about unable to pause for a moment. He would whisper about anything and everything, or sing a song under his breath. He also seemed on edge, as if every sound was a threat, every movement an undetectable risk.  

It got worse as they moved further into the cave, the energy now had a weird sound to it, a sort of crackling buzz. Shadow, more times than he liked to admit, had to pause as his mind went blank and all he felt was this intense emotion. He couldn't place what emotion he was feeling, not for the life of him, but it was so strong it consumed him. 

It should have only taken an hour to reach the source, but time had no meaning within the cave. Shadow knew it took longer than that, but an exact amount was far too complex to figure out. 

"I shouldn't have to say this, but whatever this is, don't touch it." He whispered, to...everything....to say much more. 

"No rebuttal here, hon." Rouge sounded as affected as he did, and for a second he was glad he wasn't the only one feeling this way. 

"How are we supposed to not touch it, yet bring it to Tails? Do we need to grab it with a rag or something? Maybe Omega can hold it, but that could be dangerous too can't it? I can hold it, I feel great, but then again that may be because of that thing anyway so that's not a good idea is it?"  

"Faker, shut up, please." Shadow couldn't stand the talking, it rang far too loud in his ears, far too much to try to comprehend right now.  

At long last, they entered a cavern lined with crystals of every color. In the center, floating as if suspended by wires, was a circular gem. Orange and green, its colors swirled hypnotically. Shadow had to pry his eyes away.  

Sonic on the other hand, didn't seem to be able to do the same. 

~*~

He gazed at the gem, its glow urging him closer. 

Touch.

A voice not his own whispered in his mind. He was no stranger to foreign voices, but this one was different. It seemed to wrap around him, and within him all at once. It clouded his mind and soon all he could see was the gem. All he could hear was the whispering voice. 

Touch. 

Come.

Become One With The Gem. 

 "Faker, stop! What the heck are you doing?"  

The urgent cry went ignored, unheard by azure ears. 

Touch.

Come.

Join. 

{ Thank you for reading!!!

Stay Scary and Read On!}