The G.U.N. briefing room was too quiet. Shadow stood at the front, arms crossed, staring at the holoscreen like it had personally offended him. The rest of the group settled into their seats, some paying attention, some very much not. Will was spinning in his chair. Cream was trying not to giggle at him. Silver looked like he wanted to evaporate. Shadie sat with her boots kicked up on the table, eyes half-lidded, already radiating dangerous little sister sarcasm. Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright. Here’s the plan—” Shadie raised a hand without even looking up. “Is this the plan where you talk for twenty minutes and we do whatever we want anyway?” Will choked on nothing. Cream burst out laughing. Even Silver smiled nervously. Shadow glared. “You know, sometimes I truly hate my family.” Shadie didn’t miss a beat. She leaned back, kicked her feet down, and said loud enough for the echo to answer her: “Take a number. The complaint line opens never.” The room exploded. Will actually fell out of his chair laughing. Cream slapped both hands over her mouth but failed to hide her giggles. Silver wheezed like his soul was escaping. Shadow stared at Shadie with the exact expression of a man wondering how adoption papers could be reversed at his age. Rouge, who had just leaned against the doorway with a coffee, smirked. “Oh honey, did she get you already? I wasn’t even here for two minutes.” Will pointed at Shadow from the floor. “He thought he had control! He thought—he THOUGHT—!” Shadow silently accepted that no one in this room respected him. Shadie shrugged innocently. “I’m sorry, Shadow. I really am.” She wasn’t. “At least you have a plan. We just have entertainment.” Shadow opened his mouth to argue— —and Will cut in before he could breathe: “Hey, be grateful! Some families fight. Ours roasts each other until one of us cries!” Shadow: deep exhale of eternal suffering. Rouge took a sip of her coffee and patted his shoulder. “There, there. You married into this chaos.” Shadie pointed at her. “And he adopted me into it.” Will: “And he’s stuck with me forever.” Cream: “And me too, Uncle Shadow!” Shadow stared at the ceiling, whispering his final wish to the heavens. “This is my life now…” Shadie grinned. “Correction: this is your circus. We’re just the clowns.”
