Well, here we go. My first fanfic that doesn't totally suck and need to be deleted within a day of being on the site. Yaaaay! :D I still don't think it's that good, but it's better than some of my previous ones. I know that the title sucks. I really should work on thinking of titles before I start the fics :3 If anyone has a suggestion for a better title, tell me in the reviews. You'll get a virtual cookie.

All characters belong to Sega. I think. Enjoy :]

She's nowhere to be found.

The blazing sun peaks out from behind the fluffy white clouds, the heat warm on my quills, but the scene surrounding me is far from content.

I step gingerly through the massacred bodies, my eyes scanning for something, anything that could tell me that she had been here.

I hope desperately that I will spot her amongst the lifeless forms, but I also dread it.

She could be far from here, alive, or she could be strewn across the floor, dead as the lush green grass that had once covered this depressing area. I feel a hand clamp onto my shoulder and turn to look at Knuckles, his eyes full of sorrow.

"She's not here, Shadow."

I stare at him for a moment, and then shake my head and carry on searching. She has to have come through here sometime. There has to be something to show me that she's alive.

But there's not, there's nothing.

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Sonic and Tails approach Knuckles, and then shake their heads grimly. I bite down on my bottom lip, all the while still looking for her sweet, sweet face.

Damn Eggman, and Damn Sonic. He just had to bring us all along.

"Shadow, she's not here. C'mon, we've got to leave."

I sigh and nod my head, traipsing after the four of them and helping to lift Cream, Espio and Amy, who are all unconscious, into Tails' vehicle.

Everyone else involved in the battle is already seated, and I squeeze into a seat between Silver and Mighty.

There's no sign of Blaze anywhere.

We've lost Tikal too, but the purple feline is all that clouds my thoughts.

The journey is dismal, dreary, and nobody speaks; we're all too busy searching for the missing girls. There's a rustling in the bushes to the side of the car and every single one of us look across hopefully, but it's only a wild badger.

The girls are nowhere to be seen.

We finally arrive at our destination, but there's no celebrating. The battle's over, Eggman, Yassen and Damien are defeated, we're home. But things just aren't the same without Blaze and Tikal.

Marine's telling jokes, trying desperately to lighten the mood, but it's not working.

I retire to my house and go straight up to my room, not even caring that my parents aren't there to greet me.

Blaze is all that matters.

I sigh sadly and perch on the edge of my bed, my hands reaching for the photo on my bedside cabinet. It's of Silver, Knuckles, Sonic, me and the two girls - the day we first met Tikal.

It was only a year ago, but it seems like so much longer. As I keep staring at the picture, I feel tears pricking the back of my eyelids.

A single tear begins it's journey down my cheek and lands on the photograph, and I wipe it away, furious with myself.

I'm Shadow the Hedgehog.

I'm rude, I'm sarcastic, I'm cool.

I don't cry.

Never.

I hadn't cried when Maria had died. True, I'd been devastated, but I hadn't cried like Amy had, and she'd only known her a few weeks.

I hadn't cried when I heard the news that my dad had been in a terrible car accident.

I hadn't cried when I'd fallen out of that tree and broken both of my legs. The pain searing up my legs had been unbearable, but I had held my tears.

And now here I am, crying over some girl that probably thought I was an ungrateful bastard.

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but she's never going to want to go out with me, is she?

Why date me, when she could date someone with the likes of Sonic, or Knuckles?

I don't mean anything to her.

But I still can't help thinking about her, thinking about us.

There's a small chance, ever so small, that we might possibly work out.

No, who am I kidding?

I shake my head and crawl into bed, bringing the covers up to my knees.

It's been a long day.

~x~

I'm awoken by the sound of hushed voices outside.

I climb out of bed and over to the window, curious as to who would be out this late at night. I'm used to the drunkards, but these people aren't drunk, far from it, they're completely and utterly sober.

I crane to my head to see better, and catch a flash of purple and orange.

My eyes widen in shock, but then I shake my head.

No, of course it's not them.

I'm imagining things.

I crawl back into bed.

~x~

Next time I wake, it's morning.

Screams echo in my ears, and I jump up and over to the window.

A huge robot, about the same size as the house I'm standing in, is terrorizing the streets, and the rest of the gang is trying desperately to defeat it.

I race out of my room, down the stairs and through the front door, curling up into a ball and flinging myself at the robot, kicking him in the eye. It roars in pain and claws at me, sending me skittering across the pavement, dampened from the heavy rain.

Sonic looks at me and gestures, and I nod, knowing exactly what he means.

It's been about two years since we last peformed the move, and there's so much that could go wrong, but it could mean the difference between life and death for all of us. I curl up into a ball again and he runs towards me confidently, and then leaps onto my back. I jump up as high I possibly can, and Sonic transforms into Super Sonic.

I'm Super Shadow.

I gather all of my strengh and launch myself at the huge robot, while Sonic does the exact same thing. Our bodies connect with it's giant face, and it howls in pain, before sinking to the ground.

But it's not over yet.

The huge mechanical objects struggles back to his feet and begins to shoot lasers at everyone and everything.

We only seem to have made it worse.

Cussing, I rise to my feet, having being punched by the robot.

My right arm falls to my side, limp and lifeless.

The robot seems to notice my injury and swoops towards me, an evil glint in his eye.

"Well, this sucks." I announce to no one in particular, rolling to the side to escape his attack and throwing a rock at it.

His robotic eyes narrow, and then he turns around, facing the weakest one of us all, Cream.

"CREAM!" Rouge cries out, but the warning comes too late.

Cream gasps in shock and raises her hands to shield her face, but the robot has already charged up a powerful laser and shot it at her.

I scramble to my feet and race towards her, but before I can do anything a fireball comes out of nowhere, and hits the laser, slamming it into the wall.

And then another fireball, much bigger and brighter than the previous, appears and hits the robot, engulfing it in flames.

It howls again and falls to the ground.

And then all is still.

There's a dazzling flash and then the robot vanishes from sight.

And they appear from behind it.

It's them.

Of course.

Blaze and Tikal are home.

There's silence for a few moments, and then Cream jumps to her feet and runs over to Blaze, enveloping her in a massive hug, which seems to trigger everything else. Tikal walks over to Knuckles and pushes her lips against his and I sigh, wishing I could be that upfront.

Blaze manages to detach herself from the rabbit and walks over to me, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Blaze." I look down at her.

"Shadow." She looks up at me.

I look away and take a startled step back as I feel the weight of her lips against mine.

My eyes widen in shock and I stiffen, but I soon relax and wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer to me as I deepen the kiss.

I can feel dozens of pairs of eyes on us, but I don't care.

All that matters is the purple feline in front of me.

She's safe.

DA END :D

I'd appreciate it if you would review. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what I could improve on :3

Thanks.

~ | Ellstar | ~