New story hope you like it. I haven't forgotten about "Shall We Dance?".

Tanoshimimasu!

Chapter 1: The First thing Denied...

Shadow hid behind a large generator listening for movements from his target. The acrid smell of nasty dark blue and pink liquid chemicals perforated the air like a fog, but the dark agent didn't seem to care.

He had received briefing that one of the biggest crime lords was meeting up here with his gang to discuss a weapons deal. After all, what better place to negotiate than an old abandoned Eggman base where nobody would think to look.

Hover shoes became as silent as death as he moved with the grace of a leopard creeping around the area as voices started to come into earshot…

"Luther Lobo," it began smooth and low in tone, "These are some very fine tools you'll be coping from me today. You wouldn't by any chance tell me what you might have in store for them would you?" the male voice inquired.

The one answering who could only be assumed was Luther answered, "I'm afraid not. I enjoy a good chat when it comes to business but unfortunately I can't let this little secret slip out just yet."

Shadow carefully peeked around the a metal crate to get a better view of his target. Luther Lobo was a gray wolf wearing camo pants, boots and a black sleeveless hoodie. Crimson eyes gazed on with a calculated expression on his face as the gray wolf approached a smaller crate in front of him on a table.

"Tell me again exactly what this weapon is supposed to do? I want to confirm that I'm getting my money's worth," Luther asked running a large paw over what looked like gun sitting in the crate.

"It's a gun that uses a special chemical that Doctor Eggman actually created long ago called Mega Mack. It was designed to be poisonous enough to kill Sonic the Hedgehog himself but I made some adjustments to it." the other mobian a red coyote wearing circular shades and suit like clothing explained. "Its acidic, super thick, sticky and one drop is enough to kill at least a twenty people not to mention the fumes it emits when it comes into contact with the air for a certain amount of time can incapacitate as well leave victims with numerous amounts of symptoms."

Luther made a satisfied sound looking running a large paw over the bombs that would surely spray the deadly pink liquid everywhere when it went off.

Shadow quickly thought of what he had to do next. This weaponizing of Mega Mack sounded like it could be problematic even for him if he wasn't careful. A swift takedown of both Luther and his associate would ensure that this mission wasn't even more difficult than he anticipated or so he thought…

While the two criminals were busy discussing prices and quantities, the charcoal hedgehog could easily make out the figure of a blue hedgehog who had seemed to be listening in on the conversation as well. Shadow face palmed knowing the idiot would most likely do something reckless to grab their attention. Without being noticed he made his way over to an oblvious blue hedgehog, placing his hand around a fawn colored muzzle as he dragged Sonic away as quickly and quietly as possible.

"Mmph! Mmph!" were the noises he made as the blue hero struggled in the firm grasp of his rival, panic from being handled from behind driving him to resist.

"Will you stop fidgeting so much? Its me.," Shadow hissed as Sonic began settling down. When the gloved hand around his mouth had been removed Sonic stood up straight and looked at the GUN agent standing in front of him.

"Shadow? What are you doing here?" the blue hedgehog asked clearly surprised to find his rival here.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied smoothly adjusting his gloves while looking back over the railing to make sure that his two targets hadn't moved.

"Tails said he got a signal that someone may be here and I came over to make sure nothing suspicious was going on." when he received the raised eyebrow expression he quickly continued his explanation. "We also have a way of knowing when someone comes into the bases and starts messing with the machinery. It's a precaution we take so we can be aware of when or if Eggman decides to go back to one of his old bases."

Sonic came to stand beside Shadow also casting his gaze to the two mobians below, "So let me guess, GUN's got you running errands to bust a couple of heads so they can mark something off in their BIngo Book."

"That it is one way to put it yes. Now if you'll be so kind as to let me finish up here, I do have other appointments to attend to," he said leaping down with quiet grace making sure he hadn't been spotted. Several more weapons had been taken out of the crates they were placed in and Shadow grimaced.

Luther Lobo had a device strapped to his entire arm. It had containers strapped around his biceps containing the deadly Mega Mack and went down to his hand where it fit like a glove with small nozzles on each finger. It looked like it might allow him to shoot the substance from his fingers with deadly accuracy and he was.

Luther was aiming his hand at a crate with black spray painted circles sprayed on it. He twitched his index finger and a fast squirt of the pink liquid was shot from his hand and nearly landed a bullseye. Shadow watched as the Mega Mack made a hissing sound as its acidic properties ate through the wood.

"Woah I don't remember that stuff doing that the last time I took a dip in it," Sonic said standing right behind Shadow once more.

"Which makes it all the more important for me to do something about it before he starts trouble," and just as he finished his sentence he was almost surprised as the large gray wolf turned around to look him straight in the eyes before aiming the device and shooting. It was only thanks to the two speedsters quick reflexes that the dodged the killer chemical.

Forced out of hiding the two hedgehogs tensed as they saw figures moving all around the darkest places of the old chemical plant.

"Damn it," Shadow cursed as he instinctively stood back to back with his rival as they were quickly surrounded by thugs in black attire.

"I don't know if you two were just so full of yourself that you thought this was gonna be easy or if you're plain stupid. Did you honestly think I would be willing to make a deal like this without someone watching for nosy runts like you. I don't care if you are heroes with fancy powers, one drop of this and you're done," Luther said aiming the device at the two hedgehogs.

"You take out the thugs and I'll handle the wolf got it?" he said sprinting off before Sonic could answer.

"What?! Shadow!" he groaned and began attacking the first guy who was stupid enough to think he could get a kick in on the fastest thing alive.

Luther kept shooting controlled squirts of pink chemical at the charcoal hedgehog but hover shoes made his task very daunting. Shadow weaved left and right towards the wolf without fear charging energy in his palm to prepare a chaos spear.

Luther cursed and threw himself behind a crate near his associate who was currently in the process of gather his belongings to escape. "Hey where do you think your going?"

"I'm leaving. If you live I'll send you the bill but, I'm not taking any chances with GUN's homicidal military hog," the coyote said already beginning to crawl away using various objects for cover.

Luther Lobo growled at his associates cowardly behaviour but had to put his aggression on hold as a pair of crimson orbs began bearing down on him. He scrambled to his feet and attempted raise the weapon once more but the distance was too short and he was too slow. Shadow was on him in an instant grabbing his hand and pointing it away while he punched the gray wolf ferociously in the jaw. Luther was cleanly knocked out and fell backward, the only thing holding him up was the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow looked over his shoulder to find that Sonic was tying rope around the hands of the thugs who hardly gave him a challenge.

Shadow began removing the glove like weapon from the wolf making sure Luther was nowhere near it. He tapped a button on his wrist communicator requesting pick up for Lobo and his men.

"What a shame. I can't even call this an afternoon workout. Good help must be so hard to find these days," Sonic joked. He looked over to see someone moving behind the crate. In a all or nothing effort one of the thugs Sonic had missed was holding the Mega Mack gun and Shadow looked up just in time to move out of the way while Sonic knocked the attacker out.

"Whoops must of missed one," he said as he subdued the bold but not very smart thug. Unfortunately this little distraction was all a certain gray wolf needed. The hedgehog thought he had been knocked out but, he had managed to hold on to consciousness just enough to grasp a small cylindrical container filled with Mega Mack that had rolled away during all the commotion. And as fast as he could manage he opened the container and threw the contents at the nearest hedgehog.

Shadow was stunned that Lobo wasn't unconscious but he wasn't for long as the pink liquid splashed right in his face and he screamed. "Ahhhhhhhh!"

The sound of acid melting flesh could be heard as the black hedgehog flailed around in pain. He smashed his shoulder into the nearest crate needing some kind of feeling to interrupt the pain. His eyes felt like they had been placed in boiling hot water and he couldn't stop his screams as the pain attacked such a delicate area.

"Shadow!" Sonic had rushed to his side unsure of how to best aid his rival. He quickly looked around catching sight of a water pump nearby most likely used to flush chemicals from certain pipes after use. He took Shadow by the arm his sense of worry growing as the poor agents arms and gloves were becoming soiled with blood. He lead the Ultimate Lifeform over to the pump and with a strong kick dented the pump as water squirted out from the increased pressure. He made sure Shadow was in the stream of water and watched as pink chemicals and blood mixed with water dripped down the muzzle of the agent. The black hedgehog was still covering his face so you couldn't see the damage done but at least his screaming had stopped.

Sonic knelt down next to the doubled over hedgehog placing a hand on his back. "Shadow are you alright?" he asked tentatively. He received no response so he continued to kneel by the other and offer some support. After a few more minutes Shadow wordlessly sat up to face Sonic. The blue hero then got his first look at the damage done to the agents face. It wasn't pretty…

Shadow's eyes were still closed but the fur and some of the skin on most of his face had been taken off. There were places where blisters and horrible open sores where the acid had eaten away the thin skin of his face down to the blood vessels and were causing them to ooze blood. It was awful sight and Sonic resisted the urge to gag glad that Shadow couldn't see the face he was making at that moment.

"How bad is it?" Shadow managed to say trying to minimize using the horribly scarred muscles in his face as they caused even more pain.

"Well you won't be winning any beauty contests soon thats for sure," the blue hero responded trying to add some humour into the situation. The agent would have made a face at Sonic's stupid comment but he was in far too much pain to do even that.

"Where's Luther?" he asked trying to change the subject. Sonic's eyes lit up as he realized they hadn't made sure to tie Luther up and that he probably hadn't gone far.

"I'll be right back. Will you be ok until then?"

"Yes go catch him before that idiot gets away," he said in a slightly irritated manner and Sonic was glad that even when he was in pain the black hedgehog was still able to show annoyance.

All Shadow heard were rapid footsteps, fakers footsteps as he rushed away to catch Lobo. In the brief silence that followed Shadow tried to open his eyes a bit despite the stinging and the blood dripping into his eyes. He saw darkness and thought that perhaps he was just in a dark area of the plant but then remembered that even if he was the area he was in was still lit enough for him to be able to see something. He tried blinking a bit but he still saw nothing. He moved his eyes from side to side but darkness merely continued to embrace him. It was only for an instant but, fear came to greet him in this darkness. He cast it away quickly. He was Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform. His speed healing would make all of this a fading memory. He wasn't blinded for life after all, he reassured himself.

Sonic came back minutes later filing the silence with the sound of his footsteps. He heard a muffled groan and assumed that he had brought Lobo in tow. "I'm back. Did you miss me?"

Shadow merely grunted to acknowledge the other's presence but then turned his head in the direction of what sounded like muffled laughing. It was Lobo snickering at his fine handy work looking at the scarred bloody face of the agent responsible for bringing him in. He may have been caught but at least he could savor the fact that he had managed to cause Shadow so much pain. It would be a prison story he would pridefully share for many years.

Sonic glared in the direction of the wolf but quickly chose to ignore the criminal and focus on his rival. On his way back he had managed to find some decently clean cloth and as gently as he could manage began dabbing the others face with its wetness.

Shadow recoiled in surprise at the gesture and managed to grab the wrist of the hero. "Relax Shads I'm only trying to help," he said and his wrist was released. Sonic was careful not to rub the burns but dab to keep so much blood from dripping out, still not sure how he could help the other until GUN arrived.

The ebony hedgehog on the other hand eventually became annoyed by the others actions and snatched the cloth away holding it to his face. Sonic said nothing and watched the other with a blank expression for a moment. Then he sighed and sat down beside the other with his knees drawn up in silence.

G.U.N. arrived ten minutes later…

Happy Holidays.

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