Just who.. am I?

Why am I here?

I should be dead, but I'm somehow alive.

Since my purpose was fulfilled, what is there left?

Do I have any meaning anymore?

Suddenly, the memory of the pink hedgehog that went by 'Amy Rose' flashed in his mind. The ebony and crimson hedgehog looked down. Why did she just appear? Is that some kind of sign, Maria? The hedgehog sighed, as a paper drifted by. It read:

WANTED

Shadow the Hedgehog

Paying 10,000 rings to whoever finds him

Underneath those words, it had a picture of Shadow. The hedgehogs eyes widened. They want me? But.. why? It was obvious he wouldn't get any answers standing around like this, so the ebony hedgehog, Shadow, took off towards Station Square.

(With Amy)

The pink hedgehog was washing dishes as she listened to the morning news, innocently humming away. Suddenly, she stopped, the glass plate colliding with a shatter. She didn't even notice the mess. On the TV, the news caster was explaining that "there is a wanted hedgehog. GUN was paying 10,000 rings to whoever catches the hedgehog. The hedgehogs name is Shadow, and here he is." Surely enough, the TV screen changed to a picture of Shadow, the exact one who had disappeared 3 years ago.

Does that mean that he's back?

Where was he all these years?

Oh, the girl had so many questions, she was overloading with them. She finally decided to rush out to find out herself where the ebony hedgehog was.

(With Sonic)

Sonic, who had also been watching the news, because he had nothing else to do, spit out his soda at the mention of Shadow.

"Tails! TAILS!" Sonic yelled

No response.

"God dammit TAILS!" he shouted.

"Quiet down! I'm right here!" the fox groaned, rubbing his head. "Now what is it?"

"Look at the TV."

Tails' expression went into utter shock. "He's... alive!"

"I don't know man, but I do know one thing: if Shadow is a criminal he WILL be brought to justice," the blue hedgehog growled.

Tails whistled innocently as he said, "You're probably afraid that he'll take Amy from you, almost like last time.."

Sonic blushed a light pink. "I-oh-um..!" He tried to retort back, but was too flustered to do so. A knock on the door saved him. Tails stuck out his tongue to Sonic as he went to answer the door.

"Oh! Hi Amy!" Tails said, loud enough for Sonic to hear.

"Oh my god... Tails..! Did you see.. the news?" Amy gasped. She had ran all the way here, after all.

"Why don't you come in, Amy? You seem like you need to rest a bit," Tails offered.

Amy nodded and went inside. As she spotted Sonic, her heart started to flutter. Even though it did, she was too tired to do or say anything. "Can I sit here?" Amy asked Sonic, still catching her breath.

"Yeah. Sure," Sonic said, acting like he didn't care.

Tails snickered in the kitchen before coming out with some lemonade. He handed the glass to Amy, who tried to be as lady-like as possible as she she drank the beverage. When it was all gone, she let out a content sigh.

"Thank you, Tails," she said with an innocent smile. Sonic glanced over at Amy for a second, just to see that smile. Of course, Amy didn't notice. "So, anyways, about the news. You guys saw it right?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye. Sonic's ear twitched in slight annoyance.

"Yeah, we did. Sonic was struck in awe. I wonder why he's wanted, if he's actually alive.." Tails pondered.

"What do you mean, Tails?" Amy asked.

Tails was deep in thought. After a few moments, he spoke. "It was years ago, when we were pretty young. GUN had wanted a criminal who was presumed dead. In the end, he really was dead. It leaked out that GUN had used the wanted criminal sign to cover up something top secret."

"So you're saying he could still be dead?" Sonic asked, a grin on his face.

"Yes, Sonic. That's exactly what it means," Tails sighed.

Amy thought about it some. "But.. what if he wasn't dead and GUN didn't have a clue since no one has heard anything from him? What if GUN was just presuming he was dead, covering up this top secret business while he was actually alive?"

Sonic and Tails looked at her before they began to laugh their asses off.

Amy frowned at this. It was just a hunch..

"Sorry, Amy, but that was just outrageous," Tails said, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, Tails is right. There's no way that would happen," Sonic agreed, still laughing a bit.

That was when Amy snapped. "You guys don't even CARE do you? If Shadow WAS alive, I'd surely choose him over you two! He's actually a nice and understanding guy! You guys are just to blind to notice because you DONT CARE!" Amy yelled, storming out. Before she left, she stopped in her tracks, and looked at Sonic, her face filled with hurt and tears forming. Then, she just left, like that.

The two were left alone in shock.

Did that hedgehog really mean that much to Amy?

"What was with that expression?" Sonic wondered. It bothered him, for her to make such a face.

"Probably because she's fed up with you ignoring her and avoiding her, acting like you don't care about her. To be honest, I think she just snapped when we laughed at her.." Tails sighed. He started to make his way back to the workshop.

I better go after her. Before Tails could notice, the blue hedgehog was out of there in a flash.

(With Amy)

Amy was running, tears streaming slightly.

Ugh! Those guys are such... such..!

She suddenly stopped, hearing a voice that she had recognized all too well.

" Having trouble, Rose?"

She looked around, but found no one. There was some rustling from above, and Amy stood there in shock. I knew it! Her shocked expression soon turned to that of complete joy. There he was, Shadow the Hedgehog, in the flesh. Her eyes twinkled slightly, still streaming with the left over tears.

"Is... something wrong?" the ebony hedgehog asked as he jumped down from the tree branch, landing right in front of her.

Amy turned a light pink. "Oh- um.. I'm just happy to see you're alive is all..." she said lightly.

Shadow observed her, leaning close to her. She blushed even more and turned around, placing her hand over her heart. What is wrong with me?

"Well, you did seem quite upset about something. Care to share?" Shadow asked, a slight tint of worry in his voice.

"Oh! Nothing really," Amy brushed it off.

Shadow frowned at this and turned her around, looking her in the eye, coming close to her face. "You should know by now that I can see through your lies," he whispered. Amy was a bright red by then.

"Okay, okay... I'll tell you..." she whispered back.

Shadow smirked and backed away. "Get on with it, then," he said playfully.

Amy rolled her eyes jokingly. "Well, if you must know.. Sonic and Tails kinda pissed me off... Sonic was the reason why I was crying slightly, though.."

Shadow cocked a brow. "What did that faker do this time?"

Amy laughed nervously. "I..." She knew she couldn't lie to him. She let out a breath. "It's stupid..."

Shadow smirked. "There's not such thing as stupid, Rose," he insisted.

Amy smiled slightly to herself. No getting out of this one.. "Well, it was kind of about you.."

"About me?" He was even more interested than before.

"Well... GUN has you as a wanted criminal for some reason... but since we thought you were dead, Tails thought GUN was just hiding something top secret. He said it's happened before," she explained.

"So what made you upset?" Shadow asked.

Amy frowned. "Well, basically, I told them that you could still be alive. They laughed at me, saying how outrageous that idea was... Yet here you are, standing before me."

The last part made her smile.

She soon noticed Shadow's gaze had drifted behind her. "Well, it seems we have company."

With that, Amy turned around, surprised to see the last person she wanted to see. "What do you want, Sonic?" she sighed.

"Look, Ames, I'm so-" it was then Sonic noticed the ebony hedgehog before Amy. Sonic took a step back, stunned.

"Hello, faker.." Shadow greeted with a smirk.

Sonic glared at Shadow. "You! What are you doing with Ames?" he shouted.

Amy sighed, about to say something, but Shadow beat her to it. "Nothing really. She was just telling me how much of a nuisance you are," he exaggerated.

"Wha-? Hold on Shad-" Amy tried to stop him.

Sonic looked at Amy, obviously hurt. "Is... that true Amy?" he asked.

Amy narrowed her eyes at the hedgehog. It's not like he cared anyways. He always avoided her, ignoring her when she would try and get his attention. She put a hand on her thigh, and her expression turned into a smirk. "As a matter of fact, it is."

Sonic's eyes widened, then he glared at Shadow. Shadow understood, with just that glare.

This was war.