Shadow's eyes opened slowly to the morning sunrise. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, mostly due to the fact that his bed for the night was the cold, smelly city concrete. He was surrounded by the alleyway walls, towering into the sky above him. He looked up to the stone giants that encased him, his tired eyes glancing over the rough bricks and trash filled alleyway. His back was sore, but it was nothing he wasn't used to, and as he sat up the cricks that popped gave him some measure of relief. He stepped out of the alleyway soon after, dusting himself off and keeping his silent composure as he looked down the sparely populated streets. Cars were finally on the roads, however, and the bustle of the morning was beginning to come into an uproar. Soon, Empire City would become a noisy playground for all manner of people, ones that Shadow himself did not want to associate with.
His mind drifted back to the previous night, to the party. He sighed as he looked to the apartment building across from the alleyway, thinking about how Amy must have been taking it all in. They had been blatant to her, and when she left, she had such an aura of melancholy plastered over her that Shadow thought she might tear down the walls of the apartment with the sheer force of her depravity. He hoped that she hadn't gotten upset at him personally, especially since it seemed he would be around for a while longer on his leave from GUN. Perhaps, he thought, he should get her some measure of a gift- some from of apology for his harshness at the party. He wasn't too harsh, per se, but he still felt some form of empathy for the poor girl, and he felt guilty for being part of the reason that what had happened, had happened.
"I should apologize." Shadow whispered to himself, the warm sunlight washing away his aches and pains as he stepped along the sidewalk, populated only by the early morning birds, so to speak. Humans passed, but only every so often, and each looked to the hedgehog with some look of remembrance on their faces. He had been revered once in these western cities for putting an end to the alien crisis, though just like the ample stars that dotted the sky at night, his fame had grown only to burn out and die, disappearing from everyone's memory.
He started to walk, contemplating on how to make up with Amy over the events of the previous night. He found that, perhaps, it would be best to find time to spend with the others, as she had mentioned- and that included her. The concept of spending pointless time with someone was not entirely new to Shadow, but he had found that in the last few years, he only had time for his work. Maybe, he thought, he could make up for it now.
His white and red shoes clicked on the ground as he headed for the place that he knew she would surely be- her skating rink. It would make sense for her to be there to open up. Last night, he hadn't seen any other employees, though he figured that there might have been a few around earlier in the day. On the walk back to the rink, Shadow found himself passing the same shop that Amy and he had passed. The smell of doughnuts and pastries filled his nose, and to be quite frank, it was a smell that he quite enjoyed. Its scent was sweet, and somewhat creamy for lack of a better word. He did not find himself leaning too heavily toward the liking of cake, but this smelled different. Less rich, and more strong.
Shadow looked into the bakery, seeing a flurry of cakes and doughnuts, and looked to his digital wristwatch to check the balance in his account. He scoffed at the number, wondering why GUN even bothered to pay him if it was only going to result in a couple hundred dollars for his own use. It didn't matter, however, as the black hedgehog paced into the shop and walked to the counter, staring at the variety of doughnuts behind the glass. He saw the different flavors- of glazed and of chocolate- of cream and of jelly, and it confused him as to which was which and why. After a few moments of intense staring, the man behind the counter leaned over to look at the gazing hedgehog, his scruffy face shifting a bit oddly as he spoke.
"Chu uh, need some help there, pal?" The man asked, a slight accent attached to his voice. Shadow looked up at him.
"Er- yes." The hedgehog said. "What... are these?"
"What are these?" The man asked, astounded. "Why, these'r doughnuts. 'Aint that plain to see?"
"They smell sweet." Shadow explained. "I was thinking of getting them as a gift for someone, but.."
"But?" The man asked. Shadow looked down at the array of pastries in front of him, each glimmering in the heated lights they were presented in.
"I don't know which would be best. They're... all different."
The man shook his head, obviously confused as to how Shadow didn't know what he was talking about.
"Well, I would be safe and uh... get 'em glazed." he said.
"Blazed?" Shadow muttered. "Why would I burn my friend?"
"No- a glazed doughnut." The man clarified. "Well- Look- how many do you want?"
Shadow thought for a moment, not quite sure of how many doughnuts would fill a stomach or how many one would need to feel satisfied. After some contemplation he finally decided on four and paid for them, picking up the bag and stepping out. It wouldn't be much further from the store until he found the rink again. The sun was a bit higher in the sky now and its light had shone brightly on the concrete. This only gave invitation for the other, more naturally inclined humans to make their way onto the streets. At that time, it began to become a bit crowded, and it gave Shadow a bit of a hard time finding his way through the masses of humans.
"Dammit," he mumbled, trying to push his way though. "I need to get through!"
None of them seemed to care, however, as he was about half their height and just grumbling to himself. It agitated him to no end as he restrained from bolting through the crowd, knocking them all over. Instead, he crouched down and jumped into the air, landing on the roof of the shop far above the now startled crowd. Had he a Chaos Emerald, he could use it to simply teleport out, but they had been scattered once again as the years went on, GUN holding the only one he knew the whereabouts of aside the one that Sonic held. It made things much more annoying for him, as he couldn't control his space the way he wanted. Nonetheless, he saw the rink down the street, and decided to make his way toward it by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
Shadow dropped to the doors of the establishment as he got close enough, making sure to step into the building before he could be swept out into the crowds. Initially he noticed that there was no bell on the door, more than likely either because Amy had gotten tired of its ringing, or that she didn't have enough customers to bother to put it up. He made his way further, but stopped as he heard Amy speaking.
"No... no..." he heard her say as he looked up at her. She had not heard him enter, and it was apparent that she was distraught from something by the way she was looking at the counter. Shadow stepped closer quietly, making sure that the bag he held made no noise. He inspected her actions further, keeping his normal, almost angry looking glare.
"I don't understand," Amy mumbled, standing behind the counter and looking at some papers that held the rink's name. "How did this... happen? I just... the.."
"What's wrong?" Shadow asked, once again startling Amy into a scramble backwards as she gripped the papers she was looking at firmly in her hands. Her chest raised and lowered a few times before her eyes registered who stood before her, and she looked away for a moment. She placed the papers face down in the cubby behind her, keeping from making eye contact with the black hedgehog.
"Um, hi, Shadow." She mumbled. She kept her gaze toward the counter as the hedgehog walked closer to her, the bag gripped firmly in his hand.
"You look distraught." Shadow said, tilting his head. Amy's response was but a shake of her head.
"You should know about that." She pouted, sitting down on the chair behind the counter. Shadow sighed, closing his eyes.
"Fair enough." he muttered. "Look, Amy-"
"Shadow, whatever you're here for- now's not a good time. I have to... to..." Amy scolded before trailing off, her eyes wide. "No, no, this is actually perfect! I need you to watch the rink while I'm out!"
Shadow flinched a bit, straightening up. He stood there for a moment as Amy looked to him with hopeful eyes, ones that he was sure looked better without the clouding of tears.
"Amy-" he started, "I didn't come to watch I... wanted to apologize."
"You can 'apologize' to me by helping me, Shadow! Please!" The pink hedgehog called, almost begging though her tone suggested that she was at least somewhat keeping it together. It seemed as if she was in no mood to speak of the previous night's events, though that was all shadow was there for. He let out a little sigh, knowing that if he were to make things right, then he should oblige in her request.
"Fine." he said, stepping behind the counter. "What do I do?"
She grabbed the papers, folding them and holding them firmly.
"Just accept money for people who come in, a-and there's a concession stand in the back, but no one runs it. Prices are on the boards. See ya!" the girl said, running out the door at the front of the lobby hastily. Shadow reached toward her and almost called out for her, but quieted down and closed his eyes. He grumbled to himself, shaking his head as he placed the bag of sweets on the counter. How he got himself roped into this was clear, but he wanted it to be over already. He supposed that it didn't matter, though, and that it wouldn't be too bad.
"This is what I'll have to start doing anyway." Shadow supposed. He could stave off hunger for a while and sleep on the ground for a few days, but eventually he would need a bed and food. And thinking of food, he found that his stomach growled lowly with the intensity of having not eaten in two or three days. He shook his head, and looked to the bag, opening it and seeing the four, tasty looking doughnuts. For a moment, he began to reach into it to take one for himself. He stopped, though, and shook his head, closing the bag.
"No, that's for Amy." He shook his head, thinking to the last night.
"I should have eaten cake." Shadow muttered, but immediately remembered what Amy had said about the concession stand in the back. He nodded, thinking that he would simply go behind the counter, pay for some food, and make it. There was a fault in that plan, though- If he went to the back, who would watch the front? Perhaps another employee could help, shadow thought as he looked back from the lobby to the adjacent skating floor. He raised his eyebrows as he saw only a couple kids skating around with their mother; no employees darted across the floors, cleaning or otherwise. There were no employees at all, in fact.
"How does... she works here by herself?" Shadow thought aloud. A beat of sweat dripped on his head as the kids began to come off the stage, the soft cooing of their mother drawing them to her as her long hair bounced with her movements. She got her children ready and began to head for the lobby, presumably to leave. Shadow simply stepped back to the counter, sitting down at the chair as he looked downward, the kids and their mother stepped past, ice skates now off. They did not pay him mind, and walked to the door and into the street. Shadow watched them leave, and thought to himself that perhaps now he could go make some food. Though, he was again presented with the problem of watching the counter.
He shook his head, knowing that he made a promise, but the call of food was tempting and it seemed as if wouldn't be busy any time soon.
"Alright. Quick break won't hurt..." he muttered to himself, stepping back to the rink, and seeing the concession stand across, on the other side. Stepping around the ice, he looked to the cubbies holding the skates that the patrons would use. There weren't many, but probably enough for a few small groups to put on. It was confusing to him why there were so little, and why the place was so empty. Perhaps, he thought, it was because of the shoddy, faded paint, or the location, though some major improvements could be made providing Amy spent just a little more money.
The thoughts dangling around in his head were interrupted as he found himself in the concession stand, turning the lights on and gazing to all the foodstuffs in stock. His face scrunched up as he looked to the block cheese that looked old and half melted, that was to be put on the nachos.
"This... looks disgusting." Shadow muttered, guessing that if the rest of the food was at this quality, he would have to go hungry
"This looks disgusting..." Sonic said to Tails, at the poorly and messily put together chili dog, assorted with all kinds of toppings that he wanted nothing to do with. "I mean, c'mon- mustard? Why put mustard in chili?"
Tails only shook his head, looking through the newspaper as the two sat in the diner, eating an early lunch. He sat it down, taking a bite of his salad as the quiet conversations of the other customers quietly rang through the building.
"Some people have to like it, Sonic. That's why it was added in in the first place." the fox mused, chuckling. He looked over out the window as Sonic began to rant.
"I mean, Tails, it's called a chili dog, man, not a chili and mustard dog." the blue hedgehog said, tapping his foot under the table. "Whatever. Guess I'll go hungry."
Just as he finished speaking, Amy ran down the street past the diner, papers in hand. Tails saw her and looked questioningly as she passed.
"Uh, why is Amy running?" Tails asked, leaning over to watch her further. Sonic peaked up and watched her go, too, shrugging.
"Dunno." Sonic said, scratching his cheek. "I kinda feel bad. I want to say something but..."
"She might need space." Tails cooed, looking at his salad. "And we need to leave in a few hours, so you might want to go get everything ready."
"Yeah, I can do that." the blue hedgehog muttered. "Comin' with?" Tails nodded in response, asking the passing waitress for a check and a to-go box. Once everything was paid for, the two exited, Tails leading the way as he looked up. The clouds were beginning to darken.
"Looks like it's gonna storm a little earlier than expected." the fox called back to Sonic.
"Ah, you serious?" he replied, to which Tails nodded.
"We have to hurry, then." the engineer called, running for the apartment. Sonic began to follow, but as he did he looked to the light pole beside them, a poster for the National ASCEND Skating Competition, being held in Empire City. He thought that maybe that's why she was running. He knew she wanted to put her own show on, but maybe that would help her.
Sonic smiled, the thought of something going right for Amy giving him at least some sense of happiness.
"Oh, this is all going wrong!" Amy yelled, looking up to the rapidly darkening sky. "Please don't rain, please don't rain, don't rain!"
The soft clicking of her shoes on the concrete echoed through the alley she had occupied. She was trying to take any shortcut that she could to get to the building that served as her goal. The streets were beginning to get less crowded as the imminent threat of rain caused many to retreat to shelter, and she found it much easier to navigate as she burst around the corner of the trashy alleyway and onto the open sidewalk. She began to huff as she ran a bit faster, though she couldn't keep it up for much longer. Her lungs began to burn as she slowed, holding her knees and crumpling the paper in her hands a bit, looking down to the paper after catching her breath just a bit.
On the paper, a large red stamp that read "LEASE PAYMENT OVERDUE" was plastered onto its front. Amy stared at the paper for a moment longer, gulping.
"I need to talk to her..." She mumbled as a drop of water landed atop the face of the paper. She shook her head and sighed, looking up as the drizzle sprinkled her already sweating face, cooling her skin.
"Great..." Amy mustered, beginning to walk again. "...It's raining."
Amy stepped up to the door of the building, an almost traditional house in the heart of the city. The drizzle had begun to fall just a bit harder by then, but thankfully the downpour hadn't started yet.
She tapped her foot as she knocked again, this time louder than the last.
"Serena!" Amy yelled, "I need to talk!"
It took a moment, but eventually she heard the rustling of the locks up and down the doors just before it opened, a messy haired brunette standing in the doorway.
"Oh, hello, Amy." She said. "Are you here to pay for the lease?"
"I can't pay for the renewal just yet." Amy said, holding the papers tightly. "I need more time, you can't kick me out!"
Serena sighed at Amy and rolled her eyes.
"Amy, you had a six month lease." She answered. "You're really telling me that in six months, you didn't make enough money to renew again? You're running a skating rink."
"It only opened like three weeks ago! We had to make the rink!" Amy said, sighing. "You know I'll pay you the lease, Serena!"
"Do I?" the woman replied.
"Yes! Look, I can give you some now!" Amy explained, pulling her wallet from the purse she held. She pulled out a wad of money, giving it to her. Serena counted it with some look of skepticism on her face, sighing.
"Amy, this is six hundred dollars." she said. "This is a tenth of the renewal."
"I know, I know!" Amy said. "Can that at least just... buy me some time?"
Serena thought for a moment, looking at the money and back to the pink hedgehog just before shaking her head.
"Fine, Amy." She said, turning her head. Amy's eyes lit up, a huge relief releasing the weight from her chest. "But only for a month. Have my money then, got it?"
"Yes! I will, I will! I promise!" Amy yelled to her, smiling wildly. "I-I'll be back in a month then!"
"Better be." Serena mused somewhat playfully. "But seriously- I'm giving you a chance here Amy."
"I know!" She called. "I won't waste it! I promise!" Amy stepped off the steps, beginning to wave at her. "See you!"
"See ya." the woman called, closing the door. Happy with her second chance, Amy giggled and cheered in the middle of the sidewalk, just before a jolt of lightning lit up the sky, and the drizzle burst into full blown rain.
"Oh, come on!" Amy yelled to the sky, the water making quick work of soaking her. Just as she stood in the rain, her hunger caught up with her, and she blushed a bit.
"I should probably get back.." She thought, still staring up at the sky. "Shadow is... still there."
She thought about Shadow for a moment, and about what exactly she would say to him once she got back. She was conflicted on how to feel about his presence, especially after the events of last night. She understood, though, somewhere inside, that they only did everything they did because they cared about her, and that meant Shadow, too. He even came to personally apologize- something she hadn't expected at all.
"Well, I'll see when I get there." She thought aloud, her stomach growling as she began to run down the street. "Should probably get something to eat first..."
Shadow sat at the counter, staring at the bag of doughnuts, eyeing it with a strong aura of hunger emitting from him. He found himself reaching for it, but he grabbed his arm and stopped himself.
"No- these are for Rose..." He mumbled. He sat back up, staring at the door, seeing the pouring rain from it and issuing a sigh. "No one's coming in this weather."
He looked to the bag again, his mouth beginning to water. He figured that he would soon need to find a distraction, otherwise he would resort to eating the gift he had bought. He looked over to the open rink through the other door, thinking for a moment.
"Ice skating huh... Can't be much different from my boots." he thought out loud. He rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding. "Guess I'll see what all the fuss is about."
He stepped away from the counter, sure that there would be no customers for him to induct. Without hesitation, he stepped to the cubbies he had seen earlier and looked at the skates. He saw more than a few different sizes, but eventually found his own. He looked skeptically to their new appearance, a bright white and blue. He wondered for a moment if it was really entertaining enough to build a whole building dedicated to it.
He grabbed the skates, slipping off his air shoes, his black socks relishing at a chance to breathe. He hadn't taken them off in weeks- he never had a reason to. Now though, he found himself taking them off for something he found quite trivial. He slipped his feet into his replacements, breathing in.
"Well," Shadow mumbled, strapping on the ice skates, taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."
Shadow stood up, almost slipping at first but quickly finding his balance. He stepped on the fine, dull blades until he reached the ice, where he stepped on, beginning to break into a run. The traction was much more slippery and less controlled than his air skates, though, and he found himself falling face first into the ice with a grunt.
"Dammit!" he yelled, slowly pushing himself up. Anger initially coursed through him from the mistake, though he quickly calmed down. "It's okay." he muttered to himself, "I'll just try it again."
Shadow balanced himself on the ice, being sure to judge the traction beforehand as he pushed off, shifting his feet smoothly to a slight angle, one he knew would gain him speed- at least, he thought he knew. The thin blades were much harder to move than he initially thought, as he was used to being practically weightless on a sheet of air. This was not the case anymore, and caused Shadow to fall once more. As he fell, though, he clenched his fist for just a moment before holding out his hand-
"Hello?" Amy called, opening the door to the vacant lobby, holding a take-out brown bag in her hand. Shadow wasn't there, but that bag he was carrying still was. She walked up to it, a bit of disappointment in her chest that the hedgehog wasn't there. She opened the bag, seeing four glazed doughnuts inside.
"Oh- cool..." She cooed. "They look a bit stale, though..."
Just as she spoke, she heard Shadow's grunt, and she stepped over, investigating. She stepped past the door that led to the rink, seeing the hedgehog on the skating floor.
...
His palm hit the ice, and he immediately pushed off his palm, doing a front flip back onto his skates wobbly.
"Why cant I do this?" Shadow yelled, clenching his fists, and crouching. "I just need to go a little faster... get my speed up."
Amy stepped closer to the short wall of the skating floor, setting her lunch down there as she watched Shadow, tilting her head. She had gathered from his speaking that he was having some measure of difficulty, but she was confused as to why, since he skated all the time. She supposed, though, that it might have been different. She didn't call or interrupt him, though. She wanted to see what he was going to do.
Shadow darted forward on the ice, the blades clacking loudly as he began to forcefully swivel his legs as he skated somewhat slowly at first, slowly gaining the speed he needed along the longways side of the floor.
"Let's, get, MOVING!" he yelled, taking his left foot and slamming it against the ice, throwing himself forward at a rapid pace, faster than Amy had seen anyone go on the floor. He bolted down the side of the floor, and when he got to the curve he placed his feet apart, one hand to the ground as he twisted them, skidding to a stop as he huffed. It was much harder work than stopping his air skates, but he pulled it off, panting and looking down to the ice.
On the other side, Amy saw his speed, her eyes lighting up as she clapped loudly, giggling.
"Heeeeyyy!" She called. "That was super fast!"
Shadow jerked his head up from looking at the ice, seeing Amy on the opposite end, waving at him. He took a deep breath and stood up, feeling comfortable on the skates now. He gulped and skated over to her, though this time more slowly.
As Shadow approached, Amy slid the bag of food over so it did not sit directly between them. The black hedgehog glided his way over easily, stopping himself with his hands against the short wall.
"You're back." He huffed, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. Amy nodded at him, a smile gracing her face as she watched him.
"Uhuh." She mused, a chuckle escaping her lips. "You know, that was pretty impressive. Not too polished but.. you could practice."
"It's challenging." Shadow said simply.
The two stood for a moment, staring at each other, before they both spoke at the same time.
"I got you-" Shadow said, as Amy said "I can show-"
The two both went quiet, blinking, though Amy apparently found it funny, as she giggled.
"You first." She told Shadow.
"Uh... thanks." Shadow said, being gifted the right of first speech twice in a row. "I uh... bought you some doughnuts. From the bakery."
Amy tilted her head, smiling.
"You mean, that bag was for me?" she asked. Shadow nodded.
"I had wanted to give them to you as a sort of peace offering." he explained, "But you ran off. Is everything alright?"
"That?" Amy said with a bit of a chuckle. "I can explain that later, but it's fine for now."
Shadow smiled slightly. "Well, good."
They stood in a bit of silence once more before Shadow looked at her expectantly, and she jumped a bit.
"Oh! Yeah!" Amy yelled. "You should let me show you a thing or two on the ice!"
Shadow thought for a moment- thinking that it wasn't necessarily a bad idea, but his stomach growling interrupted them before they could continue. Shadow held his belly, looking away as Amy laughed at him, covering her mouth.
"You hungry?" She asked jokingly, snickering.
"Quite." Shadow replied simply, looking away. Amy giggled at him for a time longer, before grabbing her bag.
"Well, I got myself some lunch..." She said, looking to him. "But I can split it, if you agree to stay for some skating lessons."
"Really?" Shadow asked, perking up just a little, and looking over to her.
"Sure." She said happily. "I'm in a good 'nuff mood! Come on to the tables!"
Shadow nodded, and stepped off the rink, slipping his skates off and walking with Amy back.
"By the way, speaking of food, Amy, that concession food is absolutely disgusting."
"Yeah, I know."
NEXT TIME ON: SHADOW ON ICE
CHAPTER 4: THE FIXER-UPER
"What are you doing?" Amy asked as shadow carried a few cans of paint inside.
"What is Eggman up to?" Tails asked, the Tornado 3.0 flying high over the ruins. A robotic base hung off its edge, taunting them.
"I need to make enough money to pay for the lease" Amy said, holding the crumpled papers in her hands
"ASCEND?" Shadow mumbled, looking at the poster, reading it. "I think..."