Chapter Text
Sonic shuffled through the silent halls of GUN HQ, his gloved hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket. Green eyes darted around the space, the grey walls that surrounded him. It wasn’t a very comforting sight. It was tight, constricting. It was trapping him. He shuddered and his back quills stood on end. He didn’t like being indoors, and it didn’t help that there were no windows. Sonic understood the rules GUN had put in place to protect the information they stored, but this was ridiculous. I mean, didn’t people need a view outside otherwise they go insane? Sonic needed that, at least.
A human stood in front of the elevator, rifle in hand as he remained as still as a statue. Sonic offered him a curt nod, announcing his presence with a quiet cough. The agent nodded back, retrieving a card from the pocket on his vest. He held it to the little black box beside the elevator door, and with a resounding beep, the metal doors slid open.
“Thank you,” Sonic muttered as he stepped inside.
The agent simply nodded again, his expression impossible to read under his military helmet. The blue hedgehog shrugged as the doors closed behind him.
Sonic leaned against the back rail in the elevator as it steadily travelled upwards. A soft tune escaped his lips in the form of a whistle as he waited for the elevator to stop. Green eyes were glued to the tiny black screen that displayed the floor number in normal elevators, but this was far from normal. Sonic drummed his fingers against the inside of his jacket pockets. This was taking a tad bit too long for his liking.
When the door opened after what felt like several minutes, the blue hedgehog stepped out into a darkened room. He looked up at the long desk in front of him, glaring softly at the dark silhouettes against the bright, open window. Sonic took a seat in the chair that was left empty for him in the centre of the room. His eyes never left the humans who stared down at him.
“Are we sure he is capable?” One of them asked, turning to her superior who sat in the centre of the long table. “He doesn’t look too special to me.”
“If anyone is fast enough to catch him, it’s Sonic the Hedgehog.” A middle-aged man raised his hand to silence his colleague. “I’ve seen it happen before, it will surely happen again.”
“With all due respect, man.” Sonic interjected, crossing his legs as he leaned back into the chair, slumping. “Wanna tell me why you sent me twenty thousand emails last week?”
The lights flickered on. Sonic groaned, shielding his eyes at the sudden brightness. He squinted his eyes.
“There was no need for that.” He muttered.
“Ogilvie Maurice “Sonic” the Hedgehog,” the man began, his blue and brown eyes locked with the hedgehog’s bright emerald greens, “I am Abraham Tower, Commander of the Guardian Units of Nations. We have been acquainted before.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Sonic waved him off. “And please, just call me Sonic. Ogilvie just makes me feel old.”
“My apologies,” Abraham’s stern expression remained unchanged. His gaze never left the blue hedgehog. “And forgive us for our insistence for your service.”
“Cut to the chase already,” Sonic crossed his arms, tapping his foot on the floor. “I don’t have all day, I’d rather run.”
Abraham sighed. He turned to the man at the right end of the table and nodded at him. The suited man left his seat and marched towards Sonic, handing the blue hedgehog a folder of paper. Sonic raised an eyebrow before opening the cardboard folder. Green eyes widened as he stared down at a pair of red eyes he never thought he’d see again. His throat grew dry and his heart clenched in his chest. He slammed the folder shut and glared at the humans above him.
“What is this?” He demanded. “I haven’t seen Shadow in years.”
“A decade, exactly,” the woman who spoke up earlier commented. “It has been exactly ten years and eleven days since we lost contact with him and the rest of Team Dark.”
“What makes you think I have contact with him? Or any of them?” Sonic scrunched his nose. “Like I said, I haven’t seen him in — what did you say? — a decade.”
Abraham raised his hand again, silencing the room once more.
“You, Sonic, are the fastest thing alive.” He spoke with a stern voice, his eyes staring rigorously at the blue hedgehog. “Despite all of our efforts and procedures to locate Team Dark, we are unsuccessful. You and I both know you have the ability to find them, if you only tried.”
Sonic sighed. He didn’t want to try.
“I do not know what transpired between you and Shadow that caused your disdain and his disappearance, but we need to contain him. From what we have seen of him lately; he is nothing more than a common criminal now. With his power at his disposal, he is too dangerous to be left roaming free.” Abraham glared at him knowingly. “We are not asking much of you, except for you to bring him into custody.”
“And that’s all? Then I never have to see him ever again?” Sonic asked.
Abraham nodded.
“That is all.” The human answered. “Bring him back to us, and we will not ask for your help again.”
Sonic huffed. He opened the folder again, flicking through the pages of notes and information he was given. He hummed under his breath as his eyes flicked through the writing.
“You got yourself a deal, Commander.” The blue hedgehog closed the folder with a confident smirk on his face. “But on one condition.”
“I’m listening.”
“I work with my military, my friends.” Sonic tucked the folder under his arm. “The Restoration and I are more than capable of bringing Team Dark in for you, so I want none of your armies or squadrons or even spies bothering us.”
The other humans on the table muttered to each other. Sonic ignored their insensitive comments and outraged cries and instead chose to focus solely on the commander himself. Abraham’s face made no changes. The middle-aged man simply raised his hand again.
“Silence.”
When the table fell silent again, Abraham took a deep breath in and brushed his silver hair back.
“Your condition will be accepted,” he announced, “you and the Restoration will capture Shadow the Hedgehog, without our help, and bring him into custody to us. All the information we have of him and Team Dark are in the document we have provided you.”
Sonic bowed his head and hopped to his feet, flicking through the folder again as he made his way towards the exit. He pressed the button on the wall and the elevator doors opened. As he stepped inside, Abraham called out to him one last time.
“Best of luck to you, Sonic the Hedgehog.”
“Thanks, dude.” Sonic gave him and the rest of the GUN superiors a thumbs-up. “See you soon.”