#for narrative reasons he only ever starts talking when he briefly gets reunited with Ta- I mean Nine later

[brainworms-all-night-long]

Hey what if I got possessed by the spirit of sonadow and rewrote the first interaction scene between Caitlyn and Vi for my Prime Arcane AU

[1,180 words]

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Nervousness gripped his entire being as the elevator numbers trickled upwards in negative numbers until they reached -40. It did not ease in the slightest once taking in a breath of the stale air and stepping into a gloomy corridor illuminated by weak, cold blue light. And in fact it only rose once the sound of repeated thuds echoing of the grimy walls reached his ears.

Still, he needed answers, and knowing he was close or at least finally had a tangible lead to get him to them, he solidified enough courage to walk all the way towards the source of the beating sound, behind a rusted, steel cell door.

The enforcer stood there in silence, getting the few glimpses allowed by the weak light at the prisoner who appeared to be beating into the harsh brick wall with bare hands and knees, unflinching. Sweat clumped together their dull blue fur and their quills bristled as they stilled, definitely alarmed now to Shadow's presence without him needing to say a word. They turned their head around silently, and green eyes glared through his head as they sneered at him.

Shadow let his own features harden and braced for the interrogation. As said he needed answers, and he won't budge until he gets them.

"I checked through everything available. There seems to exist no tangible record on you."

The prisoner, a blue hedgehog with either what seemed to be a scar or a tattoo of a crooked S on their cheek, bloodied knuckles and knees wrapped in dirty bandages, and messy quills turned to fully face him. He seemed to quickly size him up and down with a flick of his eyes and then began to slowly pace inside of the empty cell.

Shadow took all of the currently discernable information about the other as he ran through the questions in his head one last time.

"What did they lock you up for."

No answer. He simply continued to circle around like a hungry wolf stuck in a cage, eyes looking on and away from him, each time sending a death glare more prominently than the last.

Not a talker then huh.

"You attacked a cellmate. Why?"

He merely shrugged, at least something to confirm they were simply being difficult on purpose and not def.

"He was a witness for an ongoing investigation."

Still bouncing wall to wall, the blue hedgehog threw their head back with a toothy smirk as if proud of themselves.

Shadow's patience was running thin but honestly, he should've expected a prisoner that seemingly beats a wall for fun would be a headache. That silent cockiness was also getting on his nerves.

He gripped his notebook tighter as a means of keeping himself grounded, a cool head was needed for this and he needed to think more thoroughly..

Lost in his head for what was probably a bit too long, he was startled by a sudden bang on the cell door.

Quills bristling, mouth turning to a comically deep scowl, and eyes bulging wide he barely managed to keep himself from jumping back.

Quickly leveling his expression down again, he feigned being unimpressed and stared at the blue hedgehog now plastered onto the cell door with a wide shit-eating grin on his face.

Illuminated by the light just a bit more, his irises were eerely small and eyes sunken while patches of their fur were visibly missing, damaged, broken up by scars and smeared with grime and dried blood.

It took everything in him to keep his expression neutral.

Upon locking eyes with the blue prisoner, he suddenly burst out laughing. But it was a hoarse, disgusting laugh, as if he hadn't used his voice for years, let alone laughed out loud in such a manner as now.

Shadow failed the battle with his facial muscles and finally grimaced as the prisoner transitioned into a coughing fit. Gross, dry coughing and wheezing filled the endless corridor for a few seconds before he simply smiled at him, yet the eyes had all but disdain and indifference behind them.

But he acknowledged Shadow's presence properly at least. It was a chance, maybe.

Shadow looked to the floor where a worn-out red line dictated the distance one must keep from the cell. With a collected sigh, he stepped over it while opening his notebook. Maybe the notes could jog some cooperative reaction while he presented his questions differently.

"Do these symbols look any familiar to you?"

The prisoner, who glanced at him from the middle of the cell where he had just a second ago was holding onto the doors again in a blink of an eye, with a bewildered, questioning look flickering between the pages and Shadow's face.

"I take that as a yes."

Being startled a second time, the enforcer collected himself again.

"Does the name 'Eggman' or 'Ivo' ring any bells?"

The hedgehog hesitantly nodded as he glared at the words just the tiniest bit.

Finally getting somewhere.

"I have a suspicion he was the one who correlated a recent attack on the city, which killed half a dozen enforcers."

The haunting look in the hedgehog's eyes did not leave the notebook for a second as his breathing grew heavier.

"I however need proof to back up my claims." Shadow continued as he closed the pages, directing the other hedgehog's attention to his face and words instead.

The other slowly shrugged their shoulders while giving a nod, but then rattled the bars and motioned both with his head and thumb to the side with, and Shadow is perhaps seeing things, a hopeful glimmer in his eye.

He took a second to understand the gesture, feeling like he needed an actual confirmation.

"You want me to let you..out of the cell?"

The hedgehog gave the most confident nod as of yet, but Shadow thought it the most outlandish. There was no guarantee a Stillwater prisoner won't just run away to cause more havoc the second he blinks or lets his guard down.

"You take me for an insane person? No way I'm trusting someone like you."

The blue hedgehog scoffed, with his face quickly morphing into disgust as he spat to the ground near the door, it didn't hit either of them, but the message was clear.

Without further interaction, he let go of the bars and retrieved back into the darkness of the cell.

The enforcer grimaced again. It seems any chance of further negotiation is over. He turned to leave, a million thoughts a minute running through his head until he paused for a second.

Did he have anyone else to turn to for this? This was the best bet he had and probably will ever get.

What he was about to do was stupid yes, but if it was meant to help people and stop the attacks then maybe...

Shadow continued on his way out, breathing deeply in an attempt to cool off and settle on a new goal.

Good thing that he has just the friend to make a bail of the blue hedgehog possible.

#prime arcane #bro idk what the fuk happeneeddddd #this came to me suddenly #i was just liste ing to dinasties and distopia my head wandered and somehow eneded up with the will to write this whole thing #sonic is mute btw #after the whole Episode Three incident my boi wa straumatized ok #for narrative reasons he only ever starts talking when he briefly gets reunited with Ta- I mean Nine later #and shadow wishes he indeed stayed silent cuz his ass is Insufferable #i actually had a lot of fun writing with sonic being a mute little shit while having the interaction yield the same results as the show #this was the most sudden burst of motivation Ive ever ahd in my entire life this will not jappen ever again #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #crossover #me when I finish writing #sonic prime #arcane