Disclaimer: I don't own the Sonic Team...or Fall Out Boy...or their song: Dance, Dance. But I do own Lacey the Cat, Chad the Panther...or the other unnamed charries. Yeah...
Shadow squinted through the bright pink-and-green lights. He was surrounded by girls and boys...he wished half of the room would leave. Or three fourths of it. Or all of it. Yeah, all of it would do. How did Sonic and his friends manage to talk him into coming here...?
"And for our next performance...Fall Out Boy!" A pink hedgehog held up some weird-shaped can, a half-groggy look on her face.
Sonic's face twisted in embarrassment. "Ames, get down from there!"
"She should be arrested," Shadow huffed. "For underage drinking."
"Um..." Tails blinked. "And underage kissing-of-old-men."
Sure enough, Amy was kissing a (most likely) 50-year-old-wolf. Sonic facepalm'd himself. "Cream, avert your eyes."
"Um..." Cream put her hands in front of her eyes, turning away from the scene.
The band that Amy just mentioned - Fall Out Boy - came out on stage, pushing Amy and the wolf away. They immediately started playing a song Shadow never heard before. In fact, he'd never heard of this band.
"GO, FALL OUT BOY!" Amy jumped off the stage, crow surfing. "DANCE, DANCE!" She screamed, along with the chorus of the song.
"I guess it's called...Dance, Dance?" Shadow guessed, whispering to himself.
"Ya guessed right, fly guy."
Shadow turned around, seeing a pretty black cat with blond (with a black streak on a part of her fringe) teased-and-straightened hair, blue skinny jeans, a black tight Fall Out Boy t-shirt, black high heels, and minimum make-up - well, minus her heavy silver eyeliner and clear lip gloss.
"Sup, the name's Lacey. Fall Out Boy is my fav band!" She made the "rock-on" sign with her fingers, then started jumping up and down during the chorus. Shadow smirked at this pathetic little flirtatious she-cat. He shrugged, walking out of the club. He walked around the corner, found a little place by the wall, then sat down on it. He could still hear the thumping drums by the band.
"Sorry, dude, I'm no good with words." The she-cat followed, sitting down beside him.
"Yeah." And I'm worse. Shadow then felt like he needed to say something, something important to this cute - but nothing more - wild kitten, but it was stuck to his tongue.
"Well, um, okay, then..." Lacey turned away, walking around back to the building. Shadow closed his eyes, sighing.
"EEEEEECH!"
Shadow's eyes shot open.
"Hey, babes, where do ya think you're goin'?" A husky man's voice (with a pinch of a New York accent) growled.
"Back inside the club, duh!"
"No, you're not. You be stayin' right out here." Shadow blinked at the sound of crunching pawsteps and laughing men.
"Pretty little kitty," A different voice hissed.
"Get away from me!" Lacey screeched. Shadow shot up, but hesitated to help the girl. Why should I help her? What has she ever done for me?
Shadow shook the thoughts away. He ran around the corner, mouth gaping in minimum shock at five tough-looking, motorcycle-jacket wearing men (hedgehogs and wolves, to be exact) circling Lacey, who bared her teeth.
"Boys, the girl is with me." Shadow put his arm around Lacey fake-protectively. "She's my step-sister."
The wolf who had first spoken's face softened. "Oh, sorry dude, didn't mean to be hittin' on your sister."
"You should be sorry." Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Come on, Maria, you need to come back inside before mom finds out you got outside." Shadow led Lacey back into the club, leaving the men in shock.
"Where'd you come up with Maria?" Lacey asked once they were well away from the gangsters.
Shadow shrugged, surprising himself that the sound of the name didn't make his hackles rise. "First thing that popped into my mind. Besides, they don't need to know your real name."
Lacey grinned. "Good point." The she-cat kept grinning at him, looking him in the eye, and Shadow couldn't help but stare.
"What're you doin' with my girlfriend?"
Shadow tore his gaze away to see a tall, handsome, yet gruffy-looking panther.
"Chad, he was just helping me. He saved my tail back there." Lacey yawned, scooting closer to Shadow.
Chad crinkled his nose, leering at Shadow. "You saved my girlfriend?"
"Um..."
"Well," Chad snapped, "Don't do it again."
Shadow felt his temper rising. Did this poorly dressed panther think he could tell him what to do?
"Step away from my girlfriend," Chad said slowly, like he was trying to teach a four-year-old what pi was. "Get your hands off her arm."
Shadow blinked, glancing at Lacey. She looked calm, but her ears were flat against her head, her lip jutting out slightly. Shadow was no animal anatomist, but he knew that flat cat ears meant they were mad or dissed.
"Clover." He snapped flatly, "Get away from that hedgehog or I'll tell them all your secret on stage."
Lacey blinked quickly, her eyes widening and her ears sitting straight up. "No. You wouldn't."
Chad smiled evily. "I would and I will."
"Chad, don't." She looked distressed, shaking her head slowly.
"Yeah, Chad, don't make your girly-friend unhappy." Shadow smirked.
Chad glared at him. "What did you say?"
"I said," Shadow snarled, "Don't make your girlfriend unhappy. You don't know what you're missing until she's gone."
He snorted. "Whatever. Come on, Lace."
Lacey flattened her ears against her head again. "No. I'm not letting you boss me around anymore."
Chad's nose flared. "I'll tell them all. Every single one."
Shadow watched as Lacey's eyes grew moist, but her voice was still pretty strong, though a little wobbly. "Fine. Tell them. Tell them all, Chad."
"What the heck is he talking about?" Shadow whispered to Lacey.
Lacey sniffed, parting her pitch black fur to show Shadow many, many dry cuts along her arm.
"Who did that to you?" Shadow cocked his head slightly.
"..." Lacey turned her face away, about to answer. But Chad beat her to it.
"Herself. The emo freak."
"Um..." Shadow turned away from Lacey as a teardrop rolled down her face. He didn't like to see people cry.
Lacey sniffled. "I never wanted to."
"Fall Out Boy is done!" Amy yelled, still drunk or high or maybe both. "And who will perform next?"
"Me." Chad walked up on stage, holding the microphone in his paws, his dirty nails not shining in the lights like Amy's had. The crowd grew silent. Who was this mangy panther?
"Lacey. Lacey the Cat. You think you know her, or maybe you don't, but - "
"Stop, Chad!" Shadow snarled.
Chad ignored him. "You think you know her. Do you? Sure. But think again. Part her fur all along her right arm. You'll see."
A few hedgehogs and echidnas stepped forward, but Shadow jumped in front of the crying she-cat, snarling.
"Move, punk." An echidna growled deep in his chest, tightening a fist. Shadow heard Lacey hiss. The echidna rushed forward, pushing Shadow out of the way. Shadow felt his temples grow hot. He didn't want to be embarrassed here, now, not in front of all these people, and...
Shadow rushed forward himself, butting the echidna away with his shoulder. The echidna rolled on the ground, but glared up and steadied himself against the wooden floor. Shadow quickly shot a glance to his right side, seeing Sonic gape his mouth open in awe.
Can't lose her like I lost Maria...Shadow shook the thought away. It was too painful to bear. Besides, he didn't like this cat like that...did he? He wished she really were his sister now!
"Hedgehog, move or else I'll jam my fist up your chin." The echidna snarled through his teeth.
"I'd like to see you try," Shadow retorted.
The echidna jumped up, running over to Shadow. Okay, then. Shadow didn't want to do this, but...
"Chaos Control!"
He blinked, looking around at the frozen time. Lacey's ears were flat against her head again, baring her teeth and looking like she was about to jump at the echidna. The echidna was in midair, leaping at Shadow. Shadow grabbed one of the hedgehogs and moved him in front of the echidna. Shadow backed up and stood by Lacey, putting his arms around her to prevent her from jumping.
"Chaos Control!" Shadow snickered as the echidna head-butted the hedgehog, who jumped back in horror. The echidna turned back around, baring his teeth. In a split second, the echidna rushed forward, knocking Shadow to the ground. Shadow glared at the echidna as he pinned him down, pulling something out of his back pocket.
It was a glistening sharp pocket knife. The echidna raised it over his head, ready to strike down.
Shadow closed his eyes, prepared to die. But he looked up, and saw a small black paw looming over the echidna, holding a tight grasp on the knife.
"Let go, kitty!" The echidna snarled.
"It's not worth it," Lacey whisper-snapped.
The echidna slowly sighed, nodded, and stood up. Lacey let go of the knife. Shadow glanced up at Lacey, who took a deep breath and kneeled down by Shadow.
"Why're you freaking out about my arms? I thought we came here to party. Let's keep doin' it!" She yelled. Everyone shrugged, and started dancing again. Chad glared at her, and slowly walked off the stage. Lacey's eyes rested on him for the moment, then was looking at Shadow again.
"Thanks, dude. I just realized, I never learned your name. And?"
"My name is Shadow, the Ultimate Life - oh, what the heck! I'm Shadow the Hedgehog."
Lacey put one hand on the back of Shadow's head, and put the other on his back. Shadow's eyes widened, afraid of what she was about to say.
"Don't say it," Shadow snapped. "I can't take it."
Lacey glanced at him, confused. "Say what? I was going to help you up."
Shadow felt his cheeks burn intensley. "Oh." Shadow stood up, grunting in frustration as he saw Chad was a few pawsteps away.
"Come on, Lacey. We're goin' home." Chad snapped.
"No." Lacey said flatly.
"What?"
"I said, no. I'm breaking up with you, Chad. And besides, blackmail is illegal. Why would I want to date someone who could be arrested?"
"Oh, yeah? Well..." Chad sputtered, "He could be doing illegal activity. You barely know him."
Lacey sneered. "I'm not dating him, doofus. He's my new best friend."
Chad growled. "Whatever." He walked out the nearby door. Shadow smirked (but made sure Lacey didn't see).
"So...best friend...wanna go get a latte' at StarBucks?" Lacey smiled.
"Hmmm...sure...best friend." And, in the heat of the moment, Shadow smiled back. He put his arm around Lacey's, and he did the same with her. They walked out the back door, and when it swung behind them, Lacey stopped. She looked up and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath as rain pummeled down against the two animals, plastering their fur against their bodies. She then gazed at Shadow, and licked her lips, as she leaned forward.
A thousand thoughts ran through Shadow's head. Is she about to kiss me? Should I stop her? What if I don't want to stop her? Then what? I can't do this, what about Maria? I -
Shadow stopped mid-thought as Lacey's lips met his, his eyes open in shock. But a moment later, Shadow closed his eyes, putting his hands on Lacey's waist, pulling her closer.
Who knew the rain would make for the most romantic feeling of all?