This is a little experiment of mine. While Bitter Cold and Caged Time are practices, this plot bunny refused to not be written out. It's set in a AU world loosely inspired from the comics. Enjoy :D

He shifted his stance, struggling to push down the urge to tap his feet as he stood still behind sharp blue curtains, his frame almost vibrating with anticipation and nervousness. A stab of fear coursed through his mind at the idea of being late, and against his will he responded to it almost immediately. Worried eyes the color of emeralds looked at the digital clock set on one of the plastic tables, narrowing at the time displayed on it.

[6:02 PM]

He resisted the urge to peak through the heavy curtains. What is taking them so long? Wasn't he supposed to start at 6? Had something happened? Did Eggman decide to crash the party?

If yes, why hadn't Topaz informed him of it?

The anticipation was killing him. He felt as if he was going to die from lack of oxygen. Wether it was the stress that sent him to a early grave or him chicken in out and leaving, he could barely hold himself together. For someone used to running across Zones in mere minutes, the massive, lavish room the Galla was held in felt way too small for his comfort. It was as if he was going to collapse from the weight of the stares and whispers.

Sheer force of will kept him from cracking.

Sonic wriggled his hands nervously, sharp green eyes imagining the waiting crowd in front of him. The blue hedgehog couldn't believe he had reached this point so soon in life, and while normally he would enjoy defying everyone's expectations, defying the natural order, this was the time where he needed to pull bureaucracy out of his ass.

As much as people called him charismatic, this was a completely new field for the Blue Blur.

He could do this, right? Remember what Tails said. I just need to read what I wrote and be as cool as cucumber. Blue ears lowered slightly at the thought, a surge of melancholy sweeping over him as he remembered that his friends hadn't been allowed into the function, and were going to watch his first public appearance since his promotion from the comfort of their own homes.

It didn't feel fair, but it was too late to change it now.

A murmur came from beyond the curtains, snapping him out of his troubled thoughts.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here is your new leader, Commander Sonic the Hedgehog."

Topaz' strong voice soothed him somewhat, making him remember why he was there. Sonic straightened up and breathed in deeply. Stepping out of behind the curtains, he focused on the back of his friend's head, refusing to make eye contact with any of the dignitaries below.

It was showtime.

He walked up to the podium with as much grace he could muster, ignoring his stomach doing backflips and his quills standing up, threatening to tear the fabric of the vest Topaz had forced on his poor self just before the event. He placed the papers he held so tightly on the smooth metal podium, emerald eyes flicking down at the first line for a moment to reassure himself.

Do I really want to do this?

Below, the crowd waited.

A really, really big crowd of aristocrats, contributors, generals and ministers.

Sonic took another deep breath to steady himself, gripping the edge of the pedestal tightly as he surveilled the humans below. He'd come this far, he could make it through some silly speech, right?

He had worked down to his bones to get this position, the blue hedgehog wasn't going to give up now, not when this post would allow him to aid thousands of poor souls in need.

Yes, I want this. For them. Green eyes blazed, and alight with a new purpose, the Blue Blur straightened up, hesitation gone as looked at the gathered crowd and began talking.

xxxxxx

Surprisingly, it was easier than he'd expected.

The fact he'd spent the last three weeks working on this did help things along. There was no way he could screw up with Tails on his side.

(Fuck yes for little brothers with IQs higher than the population of Green Hill Zone.)

After his speech was over however, came the most annoying part of the event, and the one that made him silently wonder how much time was left until his first grey parch of fur. Several journalist asked him about how he'd felt about his new job, or what he planned to do about Eggman and his growing Empire threatening the safety of the Zones.

Sonic answered those questions as smoothly as he could, making sure to remark that he'd been at the front lines against the megalomaniac human, and he'd defeated the crazed scientist in combat each time they've fought.

He even preened a bit at the cameras, hoping the insane Doctor was watching. Let him see how far he'd come -before Sonic had been just a mere glorified soldier at the front lines, scrambling to defeat each new wave of robots with his unnatural speed. After tonight, he held one of the most powerful positions on the planet, and was in command of a vast army.

If Eggman thought he was a nightmare before, the old man was going to have one hell of a bad time now.

Just as he had hoped, Sonic's outright challenge of the manic dictator seemed to relieve the tension in the room, as it had been a important topic for the new leader of Mobius' largest military organization. Either way, it was something Sonic was very knowledgeable about, and it seemed that his honest replies had been enough to sate the press if their faces were anything to go by.

Three hours after his speech, Sonic was finally able to jump off the podium, shuffling away with a relieved sigh as he ran his fingers through his quills. Topaz followed close behind like a shadow, the bags under her eyes just as big as Sonic's own.

The Blue Blur silently hoped this kind of a event was going to be a rare thing.

He wasn't feeling like having stress lines at nineteen, thank you very much.

"Told you it wouldn't be that bad. Now, if you hadn't stayed up until midnight yesterday, things would have been a lot smoother." The woman halfheartedly chided him as she was handed back the papers he'd kept on the podium in case his memory decided today was the day it would take a vacation.

"It was worth it." Sonic muttered reflexively as he made his way through the sea of sapients, keeping a eye out for voracious reporters. Now that the speech was done, the cobalt male wanted to relax...he had a feeling however that it would be the last time he would do so once he entered the office officially. "Besides, light up, will you? My time in office has barely started and you're already trying to make me worry." He looked back at her and smiled roguishly. "Save the worrying for later, alright? Now' the time for a party!"

"I don't think spending the night in a room filled with your employees and providers is supposed to count as a party." The brunette chortled behind him, but he ignored the human in favor of pushing his way towards the tables, skipping around the talkative crowd with the skill of a veteran.

"Just wait for the magic of alcohol to kick in!" Sonic retorted as he left her behind, dodging dignitaries with the skill of veteran. Several humans cast him sideway glances and some even tried to talk to him, but Sonic turned a blind eye and the sea of people quickly swept them away.

The young hero looked around, eyes narrowing as he scanned the faces of the G.U.N. agents and civilians. To his mild surprise, the hedgehog found that Towers was missing from the crowd of officers. It seemed as if the former Commander had refused to come to his first speech, not that the blue hero was complaining about it.

He didn't want to see the vicious human any more than he needed. It served the old man right, for him to stay at home. Who would want that paranoid fossil to stick around anyways? It would be asking for trouble, give the man's shady background and less than stellar choices that led to him retiring.

Content, Sonic swiped a glass of wine from one of the waitresses and greedily drank the alcohol, letting himself savour the taste of victory.

His joy, however, quickly ended when Topaz walked by and snatched the glass away from him.

xxxxxxx

It was only after midnight that Sonic entered his new office bearing a slightly tipsy walk, the four glasses he'd managed to sneak under Topaz's hawk-like watch enough to leave him in a slightly inebriated state.

Thankfully the Galla was held in the main compound, otherwise he'd have to find a spare room to sleep him. The Commander possessed his own quarters adjoined with the office however, so Sonic was saved from having to curl up in a corner somewhere and sleep off the exhaustion and alcohol.

It wouldn't have been the first time. Despite how much he argued, Knuckles' initial assessment of him being a light weight had yet to be disproven. Once more Sonic felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of his friends not being told him that his life was about to get a lot more complicated with his new job as Commander.

Chasing those thoughts away, he turned back to his task and blearily searched for the light switch. Sonic frowned as his hands rested on the place he remembered the switch being from his last visit where he'd checked that Towers had fully cleared out, but instead of a small switch he was greeted with the feeling of hot plastic seeping into his glove, burning his fur.

Yelping and suddenly wide awake at the sharp warmth, the young mobian jerked his hand away and quickly tore the offending cloth off, letting it fall on the expensive carpet. Oh, he was definitely sober now. Sharply looking up, he blinked at the sight of the destroyed switch.

It looked as if someone had take a blowtorch to it.

Had Towers decided to leave him a parting gift? He wouldn't it past the vengeful human to do so. Looking around, Sonic stilled as he spotted something, or rather someone, who had no business being here.

A figure sat on the Commander's seat, gleaming red eyes piercing through Sonic's jade ones.

It gave the intimidating creature a refined, menacing look, and coupled with the lack of light, it was a scene straight out of a nightmare. The sharp, almost reptilian eyes analyzing his every move made Sonic shift uncomfortably on the spot, despite the young male's want to stay as collected as possible while facing the most powerful biological weapon of all times.

Huh. The reports were right, his eyes really do glow. Sonic thought idly as he held the intense glare, refusing to roll over at the challenge. Not one to be outdone -despite the fact he was in a enclosed space with a being who could snap him in half with his pinkie- the cobalt officer placed his hands on his hips and regarded the older being with a faintly annoyed expression.

"Geez, you could have least tried to make a less cliche introduction. The only thing you're missing is a glass of champagne and a fuzzy cat." The ruby eyes blinked slowly, a mixture of disbelief and mild irritation Sonic had grown accustomed to over the years of working at G.U.N.

To be fair, he almost pitied the fool. There was a reason Topaz is the only other agent that didn't quit at the mere implication of having to work with him. He was too much of a chaotic presence in the workplace for many to bear; at the beginning of his career, the fact that he could go toe to toe against Eggman's best creations and win was what earned him the favor of the people.

Still, pissing off the Ultimate Lifeform of all people was way out of his pay range.

(The alcohol might be partially responsible for this.)

Not having expected that from his newest threat, Shadow the Hedgehog looked terribly, genuinely confused. Admittedly, his reaction was both cute and amusing for Sonic. It was likely that the immortal was rarely caught off guard.

"Excuse me?" The obsidian creature retorted slowly as if he was speaking with a mouth full of lead, likely not believing what he was hearing.

"I mean, I'm not raining on your parade or anything-" Sonic began as he stepped closer and leaned over the desk, his mouth making words while his mind was elsewhere, memorizing the other's appearance and making sure there were no weapons pointed at his brain. "-but this is the kind of thing a movie villain would do. I'm sure you've been practicing this for a while and god knows how much time you waited until I came to my office, but you kinda failed to do that spinning trick-"

"Do you think this is some kind of joke?!" The dangerous experiment snarled as his quills rattled ominously, which the young Commander counted as a personal win.

Sonic offered the older mobian a roguish grin, the alcohol in his blood daring him to keep pressing the elder's buttons.

"Well unless you were waiting here to do some really kinky shit to me, I don't see anyone sitting in my desk but me." The young hero said arrogantly, shifting his weight and watching as the other's tan lips thinned with annoyance.

"It's still Tower's desk." Shadow replied automatically, but Sonic caught a slightly twitch in his left eye. "There is still a few days left of paperwork to go through before you come into power. There is still a chance he'll try to stop the transition."

Just like that, the amusement was gone from the emerald eyes.

"Excuse me," Sonic began with all the indignation of a aggravated viper. "-I earned that desk fair and square." He exclaimed, poking the white fluff of his attacker's chest with a particularly miffed finger. Who could blame him? He had every right to be annoyed. Shadow stared down at the gloved appendage with a slight glare, as if he was contemplating snapping the offending digit in half. "Tower was forced to stand down after all of the shit he tried sweeping under the rug. I forced that bastard to roll over and hand me his seat."

"That isn't the version printed in the newspaper." Sonic turned his nose up and huffed at the male's retort. To be fair, given what he heard of the Ultimate Lifeform, he hadn't expected the other to be such a thick-headed individual.

"Well, the people of the United Federations won't be very happy to learn their military leader got laid off because he was selling weapons to renegades, stealing money from the state or participating in inhumane experimentation." Sonic stressed the last word, watching carefully as the glowing ruby eyes narrowed. "Not to mention the ARK fiasco. With the level of blackmail I have on him, he won't dare step a toe out of line. He's retired now, for the right reasons."

Sonic had made sure to tie the man's hands behind his back with steel rope. He won't hurt anyone else ever again, not if I can help it. How could such a monster even get so much power?

Shadow was now eyeing him carefully, as if he was seeing him in a whole new light.

"...you're not what I expected. "

"What did you expect then? I'm curious." Sonic retorted, ears flicking as he gazed down at rage Ultimate Lifeform intensely, watching the muscles under the thick black fur tense up. While the blue hedgehog admitted he was checking the other out a bit -anyone would be jealous of the bio weapon's appearance- the speedster wasn't blind to the danger he was in.

"You're the youngest general in decades." Shadow began, scrutinizing him intensively. "When I learned that you were getting promoted straight to Commander, I believed you were a puppet. Your exploits are adequate, but they meant nothing against the political backing Tower has." The creature paused, staring at him in a calculative manner.

"...this changes things."

"I can assure you I'm nothing you've ever faced before. You shouldn't underestimate me." Sonic smirked cockily as he crossed his arms. A spark of challenge gleamed in his eyes, daring the Ultimate Lifeform to respond.

Shadow did so, promptly.

The cobalt hedgehog grunted as he was forced against a wall, the weight of the furious immortal cutting off his air supply. He wriggled and trashed within the iron grip, cursing himself for not having paid more attention to his opponent. He hadn't even seen the other move!

"H-hey! What gives?!"

The hand around his neck was tight, threatening to break his spine.

"Regardless of what happened, I came here for one reason, and one reason only. Stay out of my way." Shadow hissed into his left ear, making the hero unwillingly shiver and press back against the wall in a instinctive attempt to shy away from his attacker. "Try anything against me, mortal, and I will destroy you." The promise in his voice was clear; Sonic believed he would do just that.

Despite the threat on his life, the blue hero held the other's gaze just as intensely.

"I'm the Commander now. If you hurt civilians, I'd have to stop you, by any means necessary." Sonic choked out, green eyes refusing to look away from his attacker's. "I'm not letting you hurt innocent people."

His words seemed to trigger something in Shadow. The creature's eyes widened slightly, his deadly grip slackening enough for Sonic to breathe -but suddenly red eyes flashed and the speedster found himself being pinned higher up against the wall with a strangled gasp, his feet dangling uselessly in midair.

"Are we clear?"

Sonic silently considered this. In the position he was in, it would be easily to use his pinned position as leverage and kick the other in the stomach...and yet, he didn't do so as soon as he thought about it. Shadow wasn't the Ultimate Lifeform for nothing. He couldn't afford to piss off the weapon of mass destruction in a populated area.

Agreeing seemed like the best way to go if he didn't want to end up in the hospital at the very least, or a destroyed base at the worst. He'd only started his turn as the Commander; the last thing Sonic wanted was to give his opposition any ammunition on how he was too inexperienced and young to have this job.

Humoring the moody creature really was his only choice.

"S-sure." Sonic wheezed out through the hand threatening to crush his windpipe. "So long as you don't hurt civilians or blow up buildings, I won't send the entirety of the Federation on your ass. I'm not Towers. I won't attack, I'll retaliate."

The ruby eyes peering down at him narrowed, their owner's mouth opening to respond to the wheezed out demand -only for the elder to pause as his ears twitched, catching a distant sound unheard by the struggling hero. Shadow suddenly stepped away from his target, the blue male falling into a heap at his feet, gasping for air.

Muttering under his breath, Sonic slowly staggered to his feet, refusing to be so vulnerable in front of someone like Shadow.

The Ultimate Lifeform noticed this if the amused glint in the ruby eyes was anything to go by. The creature raised his left hand, making the mobian tense up at the perspective of being attacked -but instead of lashing out at the glowering blue hedgehog, the coal-colored being merely reached into his quills and pulled out a familiar crimson jewel.

Huh. So his informants were right. He has the red Chaos Emerald. Sonic thought as he backed away, sensing the impending power waiting to be released. It didn't escape the young hero that the immortal was much more powerful when in possession of one of the mythical gems.

(Well, fuck.)

"I'll see you soon, Commander."

A flash of light burst forth from the Chaos Emerald, momentarily blinding Sonic, who could only stare at the scorched carpet where the biological weapon of mass destruction had been standing. It had been just a fraction of a second, but he swore he'd seen the other smirk.

Did the little bastard just mock him?!

(Soon. That mean he was going to come back.)

The sound of the metal door snapping open forced him out of his thoughts. Topaz had slammed the door open, a gun in her hand as her eyes darted about after spotting the tired blue hedgehog leaning against a wall, searching for the threat that was long gone.

"What the hell did you get yourself into this time, brat?"

"Topaz, please shut up and get me a glass of water."