Shadowpaw: Hey, guys! How are you? This is Shadowpaw and I will be your host for today's chapter.

Shadow: Darn...

Shadowpaw: (ignores him) My friend, Dragonluvr1993, is writing it mostly from my view, so you'll hear a lot from me. Now I hope you enjoy it!

DL: (yells in background) Hey! Disclaimer, guys!

Kussia: Sonic andthe music and books that she puts in her storiesdo not belong to her. The only things that do are the plot, setting, and her and her friends' characters. The bios are on her look-up, and if you have any questions, ask.

Shadowpaw: Now that THAT'S done...

Shadow: Please review, because she feels sad when she checks her account and no one has reviewed. So, ENJOY!

CHAPTER 1 Well, hello…

The mall was normal, like any other mall. Well, almost normal; because it was home to the Sonic team. Okay, not home, you know what I mean.

Sonic was sitting on a bench eating a hotdog. He yawned and looked at Tails. He was playing Sonic Heroes with Knuckles on the portable PS2 Tails made. Tails smiled and punched the air. "Yes! I won again!" Knuckles sighed and put the controller down. Sonic smirked and yelled to them, "Maybe you would win, Knuckles, if you took off those huge gloves!" Knuckles growled, "Shut up!" Tails smiled. Nothing was out of the ordinary, other than the team.

Of course, the normality didn't last long. The ground started to shake violently, making several teenagers scream and run. Sonic and the others, though, just casually stopped bickering and looked around for Eggman, who was obviously the cause of the shaking. Who else would bother to come to a mall full of flirting teenagers if not Eggman trying to kill Sonic?

Suddenly, a giant robot with a drill on its front came out of the floor of the mall. Eggman stood up from his chair. "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hello, Sonic! Ready to admit you're doomed?" Sonic just yawned. Knuckles was already snoring, and Tails was reading a book, "How To Rid Your Mall of Pests". Eggman grumbled. "You! Listen to me! Give respect to your better!" Sonic looked around. "Who's that?" Eggman got angrier. "Aaargh! I'll get you for this!"

He got back into his robot thing-a-ma-jig and turned on the drill. Sonic yawned again and said, "This is getting old, you know. This 'I'm evil, fear me' gig? You need something new." Suddenly, they all heard a hissing sound. Sonic looked around. Something black shot out from behind a plastic tree and got onto the robot. It made a dent in the metal and scratched the paint. Eggman yelled, "No! I just got this waxed, you fools!"

Something gray fell from the ceiling and hit the robot's foot with some metal stick. The black thing hissed and jumped to the other foot and cut it off completely. The robot fell, and the gray blur (seemingly) flew to the cockpit and smashed the glass. Eggman yelled, "No, this can't be the end!"

He pressed a button, and he flew out on his little black egg thing and out the conveniently open front entrance. The gray and black blurs fell to the ground and looked at the Sonic team. The gray thing was a gray squirrel with gray eyes and an army vest on, who was taller than Sonic. The squirrel had two swords in his paws and sheaths at his side.

The black thing was a black cat with amber eyes, white paws and a white tip on her tail. She had her claws out and a flare in her eyes that made Sonic shuffle his feet. The black cat spoke first. "Who the heck are you?" Knuckles walked up to her. "We should be asking you that." The cat raised an eyebrow. Tails looked at the cat and squirrel. "So… who are you?"

The cat pointed to herself. "I'm Shadowpaw, and this is…"

"Kussia." (pronounced koossai)

"Right, Koumai."

"Kussia!"

"Whatever, Bowtie, now who was the fat dude? He made me drop my tuna sandwich." Sonic sighed. "That was Eggman, unfortunately. He's really full of himself."

Kussia nodded. "I can see that." Shadowpaw agreed. "Yeah, he acted as if he was the king of the world. Ya know him?"

Knuckles groaned. "Know him? We see him so often, he comes at a schedule now! Tomorrow he comes at 6:30 pm!" Shadowpaw snickered. Tails pointed at them. "Do you guys know each other?" Shadowpaw and Kussia looked at each other, and both said in unison, "Never met him." (Kussia said her) Kussia nodded slowly. "Soooo…what now?" Sonic shrugged. "Wanna get a bite to eat?" Shadowpaw clapped her paws. "Yeah! I'm hungry after kicking that fat moron's butt!" Kussia said, "Want to come over to my place? It's not far from here." Sonic shrugged again. "Sure. Let's go."

Shadowpaw, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Kussia walked out of the mall, chatting. Suddenly, Sonic ran behind Knuckles. Knuckles jumped. "What's the deal, Sonic?" Sonic shushed him and pointed over at the grocery store. Everybody followed his gaze, and everybody (except Kussia and Shadowpaw) groaned. Amy was walking out of the store, a huge tower of bags and boxes wobbling in her hands.

Kussia blinked. "And who exactly is that? 'Shopzilla'?" Shadowpaw smirked. "It looks like she could use some help." She walked over to her. Sonic tried to call her back, but she was already across the parking lot. She got in front of Amy and knocked on the pile. Amy stopped. She said muffled, "Who is it?" Shadowpaw yelled into the towering pile, "Do you need any help?" Amy yelled back, "Yes, that would help a lot. Thank you!"

She picked it up and gave it all to Shadowpaw. Shadowpaw's knees started to shake, and she took careful steps towards the car Amy…wait, car? Amy walked over to the pink car and opened the door. Shadowpaw dumped everything in, and it all magically fit. She collapsed on the ground, panting. She saw a bunny looking down at her. Her vision focused, and Cream tilted her head. "Are you okay, Miss?"

Shadowpaw nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just helped Miss Shopzilla carry her things to her car." Cream frowned. "Car? You mean she turned sixteen already?" Tails came walking up, dragging Sonic. Sonic was yelling, "No, don't do this, Tails! I'll never forgive you! No, you can't make me! No!" Tails shook his head. "Quit whining, Sonic, we'll protect you."

Amy's ear twitched, and she looked at Tails. "Sonic? Where?" She saw Sonic shivering behind Tails. She smiled and started to run towards him, but Knuckles grabbed her and pulled her back to her…car… He shook his finger. "No, Amy, leave Sonic alone. Can't you see him stressing out?" Amy looked over his shoulder. Sonic was still hiding behind Tails. She sighed. "Aww…"

Kussia and Shadowpaw introduced themselves to Cream and Amy, while Knuckles and Tails tried to calm Sonic down. "You don't want Shadow to see you like this, do you?" Knuckles said, trying to get the point across. He wasn't really worried about Shadow; he was more worried if Rouge came and saw him. He would get laughed at for a month!

Tails sighed. "Well, come on, we might as well go to Koumai's house." Kussia crossed his arms. "It's Kussia." Tails shuffled his feet. "Sorry…" Shadowpaw whispered to Kussia, "Why's he so scared of Pinky?" Kussia looked into Amy's…car…and saw a Sonic plushie. He also saw a Sonic purse, Sonic shirt, Sonic sign, Sonic pillow, and a bunch of other things.

Kussia turned back to Shadowpaw. "I can think of a few reasons…"

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"Whoa…" Knuckles stared at the huge mansion. It was (in theory) about forty stories tall and had a hundred or more rooms. He looked at Kussia. "This is your house?" Kussia stared at him. "Doesn't everyone have a mansion?" Knuckles shook his head. "No, not really."

Kussia shrugged. "Oh well, that's life, now let's go eat!" Shadowpaw ran inside. Then, everyone heard a "what the" and a crash. Everyone ran in to see Shadowpaw face to face with Shadow.

"Uhhh…who are you?" Shadow stared at her, not coldly, but not cheerfully either. "My name is Shadow." Shadowpaw looked at the lamp she had knocked over when she turned around to see the black thing she had passed on her way to the kitchen.

She turned to Kussia. "I can fix that." Sonic finally got over his shock and found his voice. "What are you doing here, Shadow?" Shadow glared at him. "I was hungry and the window was open, so I decided to drop in and get a bite." Kussia looked nervously at Shadow. "Now when you say 'open'…"

Then, they heard footsteps from another room, followed by Rouge. When she saw the Sonic team, and Knuckles, she said sarcastically, "Oh, what a surprise seeing you here." Knuckles growled, "What are you trying to steal this time, bat girl? A diamond necklace?"

Rouge glared and said, "You know, Knuckles, I do care about things other than jewels." Knuckles scoffed. "Like what, boots?" Rouge 'hmphed' and said, "If you're so interested, why don't you find out yourself?"

While they were bickering, Shadowpaw was interrogating Sonic about Shadow.

"How do you know him?" Sonic glanced at Shadow. "We've been rivals for a loooong time. You know, guns and fights and stuff."

"Right, I know, but why?" Before he could answer, Rouge yelled, "I am better than you, big hands!"

"Big feet!"

"Big nose!"

"Big-oww!"

Knuckles clutched his head, a little lumpy after multiple contact of a pair of hard and sharp boots. Rouge stomped away. Tails shook his head. "Wow, Knuckles, you really have a way with the ladies." Knuckles snapped at him. "Shut up!" Shadow shook his head. "And he still clobbers Eggman with that thick skull."

As Sonic and Tails were (trying to) stop Knuckles from getting into a fight with Shadow that he wouldn't win with just his anger, Shadowpaw slipped into a room. It was obviously a guest room. It was nice (not the walls) and comfortable, but it didn't have a real theme. The room had walls that were a kind of pale yellow, a bed with beige sheets, and a dresser. It was sort of livable, but not really decorated or furnished. Shadowpaw was so into the detailed design on the bedposts, she didn't see, or hear, Kussia come in.

"Like it?"

Shadowpaw jumped, then sighed when she saw him. "Don't do that, you almost gave me a heart-attack!" Kussia ignored her. "I haven't had enough time for all of the rooms, so it's not exactly…homey. But, with a little work, it could become your room."

Shadowpaw raised an eyebrow. "Are you inviting me or something?" Kussia shook his head. "No, no, I'm just saying it could become yours. Where do you live?"

"Uhhh…"

"I'll take that as a 'nowhere'. Well, that settles it. This is now officially your room."

"But I-"

"Sorry, gotta go and get the others rooms, really busy, bye!"

And with that, Kussia ran out of the room. Shadowpaw sighed. She looked around the room. With a little work, it could be mine.

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Shadowpaw wiped her forehead. "There, that should do it!" She stood back and looked around her new home. She had painted the walls a clean white, and replaced the beige sheets with some black sheets and white pillows. (Complementing herself, obviously)She had put in random things in the dresser, since she didn't wear clothes that often, (she thinks her fur is enough) and a desk by the window. She was lucky to have a window; very few rooms had one.

After she had cleaned the room, she had hid a bunch of stuff (money, pendants, etc.) in places, and put a night table by the bed, with a lamp, clock, and journal on top. The journal was under lock and key, so she wasn't too worried.

She walked out of the room and shut the door to find Shadow standing, looking bored. She frowned and walked over to him. "Whatcha doing?" Shadow didn't even look at her. "What does it look like?"

"Looks like nothing."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "No way, detective, you should be on CSI."

Shadowpaw frowned again. "Are ya grumpy?"

"No."

"It sure looks like you are."

"Well, I'm not, so, there."

Shadowpaw shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say." She walked back to her room. She sat on her bed and started to read one of her favorite books, by Alan King, called "Help! I'm a prisoner in a Chinese bakery!" (real book) He always kept her smiling, even on a rainy day; nothing like humor to get a cat out of water.

When she was at the part when he critiqued about how adults are too serious about Little Leagues, she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Shadow, now open the door."

She put the book down and opened the door. Shadow was standing there, looking at his shoes. He looked up. "Hey, I heard you cut up Eggman's robot pretty badly. How'd ya do it?" Shadowpaw smirked. "Easy. My claws are sharp."

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Everybody gathered around Kussia. He held up his…paws…and they all quieted down. He cleared his throat and said, "I would like to show you guys the party room! Please do not touch-" But everybody ran past him and into the room. It had millions of buttons on the walls, and tables surrounding a dance floor. Everybody gazed at it all, and Kussia got up and dusted himself off.

He walked over to a wall, and he pressed a button. A disco ball popped out, and he shook his head and pressed another button. A jacuzzi popped out, but before anyone could jump in Kussia pressed another button. A giant stereo popped out and dance music blasted from the speakers. He ran over and turned it down, after seeing how Shadowpaw and Tails and the others cover their ears. He walked to a table and sat down. Shadowpaw looked around and saw most of the guys just standing around, looking around.

She ignored the fact that she was doing just that and rolled her eyes. She walked over to Kussia and said, "Are there any other songs?" Kussia walked over to the stereo and pressed random. It suddenly blasted on 'Fatboy Slim – Kung Fu Fighting Remix' and everybody looked around, unsure of what to do. Shadowpaw also ignored the fact that Kussia had that song and walked to a table and waited.

Finally, as she was sure would happen, Shadow (she didn't think it was him, just for you to know) walked over there and sat down in front of her. They both sat there, looking at each other, before Shadow said, "Nice mansion, huh?" Shadowpaw nodded and looked around at everybody. Poor Sonic was being tortured by Amy pestering him, Tails and Cream were dancing, Rouge and Knuckles were both glaring at each other, and Kussia was…sitting.

Shadowpaw sighed and said, "This is the life! So this is how the other half lives!" Shadow looked at her questioningly, and she looked down. "Before this, I traveled from place to place. I've been to New York, Hawaiian beaches, the Himalayas, Mt. Everest, the works." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You must have had a lot of money, then, huh?" She shook her head. "Nope! I hitched rides and sneaked on planes the whole time!" Shadow stared at her, but she kept going. "I remember when I went to that awesome theme park. I was with a few friends, and we didn't have any money, so we came in through the back and cut lines and everything!"

She sighed and closed her eyes. "That was the greater years of my life! But those dumb orphanage people kept following us, and got us one by one. It was horrible, watching them take someone else away, and we couldn't do anything!" Shadow nodded slowly, and she opened her eyes. "Have I been rambling again? I always do that when I remember the glory days." Kussia walked up to them. "'Glory days'?" Shadowpaw nodded. "Yep! They were the best years of my life, until…"

She stopped. Shadow and Kussia stared at her. "Until…?" She shook her head and said, "Never mind." Kussia and Shadow looked at each other, but let it slide; they'd get it out of her sooner or later. Shadowpaw looked around, and saw a photo booth. She blinked and ran over to it. Shadow and Kussia followed her to see what she was up to. She was studying the directions, standing right in front of the curtain.

Kussia formed a plan.

He positioned himself behind Shadow and aimed for the curtain. When Shadowpaw stood up and was about to walk in, Kussia pushed Shadow. He ran into Shadowpaw and they both landed in the photo booth. The camera flashed multiple times, and the pictures came out. The first two were blurry, then the next had Shadow on the seat looking down with Shadowpaw under him, looking up. They were staring at each other, shocked. The next two were the same, then the next one had Shadowpaw whipping up and throwing him off. The next had her arguing with Shadow, and the next one had them holding up their fist. The rest were blurry, except the last one having them sitting on the seat, panting.

Kussia snickered and pulled out the pictures and stuffed them in his pocket. He waited a couple seconds, and they emerged from the curtain, still arguing. Shadow shook his head. "It wasn't me, it was-" Shadowpaw interrupted, "If so, why were you on top of me?" Shadow tried to defend his point, but in the end he gave up. She was too stubborn and wouldn't give up. Kussia stood there, leaning against the photo booth, whistling. Shadowpaw kicked the booth, then held her foot and hopped up and down. "Oww!"

Shadow glared at Kussia, but he ignored him. Instead, he went to the dance floor and tried to formulate a plan for Sonic and Amy…

Anyway, Shadowpaw sat down at the table, still fuming. Shadow sat down at a table behind her, and they both sat there, glaring at the opposite wall. Finally, Cream came over and stood next to Shadowpaw. She tilted her head. "What's wrong, Miss Shadowpaw?" Shadowpaw grumbled, but didn't reply. Cream frowned and saw Shadow. She skipped over to him and asked the same thing, except with 'Mr. Shadow'. She got the same reply, and she thought hard.

Then, she snapped her fingers and walked over to Shadowpaw. She turned her around to face Shadow. She had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice. She turned Shadow around. He just kept glaring. She walked to Shadowpaw and opened her eyes. She growled, but didn't do anything. Cream smiled and walked away. Shadowpaw watched her leave, and went back to staring at Shadow. They both didn't move. Finally, Shadow shuffled his feet, and Shadowpaw rubbed her arm. They looked away.

Then, Kussia turned on 'Hoobastank – The Reason' and walked over to a table not too far away from them. He waited. Shadowpaw twiddled her thumbs, and Shadow whistled. Soon, Shadowpaw yelled at Kussia, "Can you change that, please? It's annoying!" Kussia smirked and pretended not to hear her. She scoffed and looked at the ground. They sat there, nervously. Finally, they stood up and said, "Sorry…" They stopped and stared at each other.

Shadowpaw and Shadow both raised their right hand/paw. They raised the other. Finally, they both yelled, "Stop copying me!" They stopped and growled, "I'm not copying you!" They stopped again and yelled in unison, "Yes you are!" They continued at it, until Cream came over and smiled. The both looked at her and said, "What are you smiling about?" They glared at each other, and Cream giggled. "I guess Kussia was right after all!"

Shadowpaw and Shadow both looked at her. "What do you mean?" Cream smiled. "The ones who fight the most…" They stood there, blinking. Then, Shadowpaw started and stuttered, "What? I…Why would I…who does he think…no way!" Shadow blinked, and then he finally caught up. He looked at Cream and shook his head. "No, uh uh, no way! Why would I like her? She's crazy!" Shadowpaw glared at him and growled, "Excuse me? Look who's calling who crazy!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "Well, you are, 'Miss Kitty'!" Shadowpaw growled. "If you call me kitty one more time, I-" Shadow laughed. "You'll what? Purr me to death? Whatever…" He mumbled under his breath, "Kitty…" Shadowpaw hissed and tackled him. They scratched and kicked each other, and Cream stood there, smiling. "They must like each other a lot!"

COMMENTARIES

Shadowpaw: I'm gonna kill you, DL...

DL: What? I thought it was pretty good...

Shadow: I'll help you, Shadowpaw...

DL: Put down that hammer, Shadow. That's Amy's.

Amy: Give it back, Shadow! I need to knock out Sonic and tie him up!

Sonic: HELP ME!

Kussia: This is going nowhere fast.

DL: So, anyways, i hope you review! I worked hard to rewrite this, and i'd be really sad if it all goes to waste!