Iskra and Shadow were silently resting against a tree as four other officers were seen desperately trying to fix their GPS system and pinpoint the exact location of Ivo's laboratory. Iskra was not really in the mood to help, oddly enough. After a rather frustrating and sleepless night in a country he wasn't accustomed to, he really just wanted to relax and chat with the ebony. They seemed to get along rather well, and Shadow was more than elated to have a respectable conversation with a decent person.

They were located just outside Slaboda. The little town was surrounded by two main forests and the shore. The north forest was where Shadow lived and the forest they were currently located in was in the southeast. Just past that was the beautiful coast where Ivo's laboratory was located. A few meters passed that was a beautiful floating province, soaring hundreds of feet in the air called Angel Island. No one was really certain why or even how it got so high. However, according to the myths, the ancients believed it was the master emerald attempting to reach the heavens to end a horrible famine. Shadow had heard the story many times, of course. Sometimes from Sonic but surprisingly more from Ivo. For the short time, the ebony lived with him, he wouldn't stop talking about the ancients and their beliefs. For such a hardcore scientist, he sure had a very strong core belief system.

"So you're technically related to Ivo, right? That's kind of cool. To be honest, I've always wanted to meet him. I didn't even know he was a mad scientist. Our country mainly knows him as a fantastic coach. He was quite an amazing one at that. I suppose you can call me a bit of a fan." The general spoke clearly as the ebony had noticed a certain glimmer in the general's eyes that made him chuckle inside.

"Really, now? What did he coach exactly? I had no idea he even did anything related to exercise... He's a little on the chubby side, after all." Shadow joked faintly as the others lips had curved down to a slight frown.

I guess the petty and sarcastic insult didn't really make him that happy...

"Mainly gymnastics. I did a little extra research before we left and I believe you're uh... boyfriend? I think? Was a world champion way back when and was lucky enough to be trained by the best coach of the continent. Even people in my country at one time fled to the high-quality coaches Jednak had to offer. That was until the government stopped funding the Olympic system and completely dropped all its coaches, unfortunately." Iskra shrugged slightly as he watched the other officers closely, making sure they were still doing their job.

"I suppose that was probably for the best... Funding an Olympic system is very expensive and the money was probably needed for more important things. Regrettably, I don't really know much about this country... I only arrived a couple years ago and that was after all the craziness of the dictators and what not. But according to Sonic, it was a very awful and scary time." The ebony kicked a rock beside him slightly before glancing back at the general whose face had turned slightly dejected.

"That's what our country still believes Jednak is like but it looks like things have really cleaned up nicely!" Shadow noticed the immediate change of attitude from gloomy to hopeful, as one of the officers approached the both of them with some good news.

It was nice to see someone with a positive outlook on things. Especially a general who had probably seen many tragic events.

"Sir... Everything seems to be in working order. May we commence with the mission?" One of the many G.U.N soldiers spoke clearly as they both nodded in agreement before starting on their way.

"Sounds like Ivo has really let himself go, huh? Really a shame. He used to be so beautiful, at least in my opinion. He's the only human I've ever seen with bright red hair." The officer continued as he quickly pointed to his own brown hair before smiling innocently.

The other officers started leading and looked especially annoyed when they noticed that the general was chatting up a storm again. How odd for such a professional and highly awarded officer to be so inclined to make petty conversation.

"That's quite surprising. He's completely balled now, hides his eyes with shades and has a huge stomach but tiny appendages. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he has some kind of medical condition by how weird his body looks." Shadow mumbled under his breath as even he thought his words came out a little too rude.

"Really? That's quite saddening to hear. He used to be so obsessive with his looks and what not. At least according to the copious amounts of media surrounding him at the time. I wonder what happened to him. I hope he's not like secretly dying and just never got around to telling." Iskra's face become incredibly concerned as the thought alone was enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

They continued making their way through the forest as the ebony stopped for a minute to give the other man a slight pat on the shoulder. The human nodded slightly as his face returned to its normal cheerful features.

"I'm MORE than certain he would have let me know, at the very least, if he had some serious condition. As for what happened to him, I guess this country chewed him up and spit him out... Nonetheless, I kind of wish I got to see him in his prime. I really don't know enough about his past. Speaking of which sounds like you know an awful lot about him..." The ebony smiled slightly mischievously as he gently poked the already blushing man's shoulder.

"Oh uh well... Um... I did say I was a fan, didn't I? I always admired his ability to help little prepubescent Mobian's win an Olympic or world medal... He must be really good with children or at least a great motivator." He laughed awkwardly while playfully swatting the ebony's hand away.

"Not from what I've seen. His last kid was locked up in a cell. I couldn't believe how heartless he was." The ebony responded in between coughs as he attempted to keep himself composed.

Shadow's face immediately turned serious as the memory of his little robot child entered his thoughts. It had been just over two months since the kid plunged into the ocean along with his beloved. Rob had jumped in to try and save them both but only came out with Sonic. For the first few weeks, all Shadow could really do was throw up and sometimes cry, but thankfully after tons of TLC, both Rob and Sonic were able to get him back to the way he was. However, he never really felt like he fully recovered.

Since then, the image of the child gasping for air as he was pulled to the bottom of the ocean created this weird pounding pain in his stomach. It wasn't the child's fault in the slightest... And yet... He had to die in such a lonely and horrible way. But there was nothing the ebony could do about it now. Nonetheless, his heart still desired to find Celik and give him a proper burial at the very least. He never felt so strongly about laying someone to rest. He did call upon a search team but, as he suspected, there were no signs of him. No out of place metal parts washed onto shore, at least for the time being. So, he decided to try everything in his power to not think about it but the stupidest things seemed to trigger him. Before he knew it, he would be crying in the grocery store for no real apparent reason. How irritating grief could be, especially for someone normally so controlled.

His walking became slightly staggered as he started to feel the weight of grief pushing down on his body. It hurt just as bad as it did... How he wish it didn't. Continuing to walk through the twigs and rocks of an overgrown and thick forest slowly became gradually more challenging, and the general noticed the sadness emanating in the charcoal hedgehog's eyes and body almost immediately. He stopped in his tracks a little, allowing the other soldiers to get ahead a bit before taking a step closer to Shadow and giving him a gentle pat on the back.

"It's okay. You don't need to talk about it. I completely understand. However, it's hard to believe he would ever do something like that. It sounds like a completely different person." Iskra sympathized slightly before giving the ebony a little nudge to try and cheer him up.

"That's what... Sonic said too..." Shadow replied slowly, seeming to be deep in thought at the moment and lost in his own thoughts.

"Well... I suppose it doesn't matter. It's not like I'm probably ever going to meet him or have a conversation. But, in a way, I would like to... I really want to know how he got from where he was to where he is now." The general replied bashfully as he quickly cleared his throat before continuing their venture towards Eggman's base.

"That can be arranged more easily than you think." The ebony countered slyly as he quickly followed behind.

"Heh. You're quite a charming fella. I can see why that blue hedgehog has the hots for you. Speaking of which, you made sure he didn't follow behind, correct? He seemed pretty determined to come with us." Iskra quickly turned his body to face the ebony before starting to walk backward as he looked at the charcoal hedgehog with slight skepticism.

"I'm sure he's fine..."

Bright emerald eyes concentrated carefully on the group of government officials, cautiously making sure none of his movement's evoked suspicion. He couldn't, for the life of him, remember exactly where Ivo's base was and knew he was going to have to... Ever so carefully... Follow them. He tiptoed about ten or so feet from the group, making sure he didn't lose track of them for the first few miles. Suddenly, when he was about halfway through the forest, he heard an odd sound. It was very faint but he knew it wasn't anyone he was following. It sounded suspiciously like a child's voice and he knew that was not a good thing to hear in a creepy forest. He glared around, turning his head in every direction he could, trying desperately to look for a source. To no avail, unfortunately. Whatever it was, was no longer there, or even worse, never there to begin with. He sighed softly before scratching the back of his ear and turning back around to continue following the group. Unfortunately, they had already run off, and the azure mentally punched himself in the face for losing track of them. This was when he decided that he had to try and locate Eggman's base by himself or, at least, try to go back the way he came...

He shifted his weight from one foot to another while uncomfortably glaring around. He was looking for some kind of familiar route but couldn't find it. He paused worryingly after hearing strange quick footsteps and lunged towards them with little to no regard for his safety. He continued to take random frustrated steps, irritatingly glaring at every animal and falling leaf. He knew he was probably just paranoid but he felt so uneasy in this neck of the woods. It wasn't just that it was dark and very compact, it was also the smell. Granted it mostly had the waft of oak-wood trees and soil but there was something in the background. It smelled slightly metallic and rusty with just a hint of burning plastic. He couldn't imagine this being a good scent to have in a forest, mind you the many thick trees surrounding him. He continued taking ragged steps, each one getting more and more flustered until a thud below his left foot snapped him to attention. He tapped it again, revealing a heavy metal slate buried deep into the forest ground. Someone had purposely put leaves and shrubs on top of it; that was certain. He squatted to the ground, his arms dangling to either side of his knees, before reading the encryption. It read EMERGENCY HATCH: DO NOT USE UNLESS NECESSARY. Why would there be an emergency hatch this far into the forest? He poked the metal slab with his pointer finger, frustratingly trying to find a way to open it. Quickly, a little-lettered keypad popped out of the side. It had five empty spaces on the screen, and Sonic knew he had to figure out the password. He just had to find out where this secret tunnel went to.