A/N: Well it is officially the Christmas season and since the lovely holiday is taking over the story, I figured I should update this more quickly. I'll have you know that something BIG will happen before the 24th rolls around, or at least that's what I'm planning, anyway let's continue...

Ch 4: We Like To Party

One day, one day was all I had left till judgment day. Everyone would arrive for the party and then the Christmas chaos will ensue. Despite all the wrong turns it could take I held an aura of calm around me as I've done so many times before. When you have an entire robot army against you, you'd have to grit your teeth and bear down as well. I find that the streets are not as crowded as they have been on some days this season especially around Thanksgiving. I thought shopping around Christmas Eve would be crowded but I got to say, the numbers I saw about the streets were enough to draw my eyes away form the ground and keep them up. I felt that if I didn't, I'd bump into people left and right, they'd recognize me as Shadow and a the chase would ensue.

Never you worry folks; I always manage to get away. Chaos Control really comes in handy. But I digress, I'm not out among Station Square again to admire the wintery scene. I had something very different in mind, something more personal. I told you before how I often stay calm even in the most frustrating of predicaments this one is no different. But, just in case, I had on full winter garb. My usual scarf is wrapped around my neck but this time I also have on my black trench coat with crimson details. Plus, I put on my sunglasses to hide my eyes form view, and a wool hat. Why do I need all this you ask? The answer to that is quite easy to understand, it's my disguise. Since I don't often go out in public I needed to at least attempt to hide my identity lest I want another group of fan girls shouting that they want my babies.

You probably think it will be difficult to do this huh? It's because I only come up to your thigh isn't it? Well, with the hat on, most people think I'm just another pre-teen child catching up with my parents. It works despite it being crude. I finally turn the corner and about a block ahead my destination falls into view. Still, I keep my pace at a walk so as not to look conspicuous. As I approach the door, I look to either side and then enter. The warm climate is a welcome feeling to the arctic breeze outside. I walk into the store and glance at a few of the items on display. I also see I'm not the only one here. There are quite a few men around no doubt because their wives have dragged them in here one way or another.

I ignore the few looks given to me and locate the register near the back and wait. Soon one of the workers comes up behind the counter and notices she has a customer. But, taking into account the size of said customer she reacts as such. "Aw, looking for a little something for your crush?" I turn to face the teenage female and lower my shades the picture of annoyance in my flaring red pupils. "Oh my god I'm sorry, I…didn't recognize you for a minute."

"Understandable, I am trying to keep a low profile in here. But onto business, I think its time you owe me that favor Sammy."

"Of course, follow me please." She opens the counter and I'm allowed to go behind. As ordered I follow her into the back room of the store. As she closes the door I finally know it's safe for me to take off my disguise so I remove my hat and sunglasses. Looking around I find the room is smaller than I first thought. All I see are a few shelves, their rather large safe, and a workbench. I know, someone was working with some power tool on it. I see Samantha walk up to the stranger who I soon remember is her father. On one of my strolls through the city I ended up walking by their store, and I could hear the distinct sounds of a robbery so what do I do? My curiosity makes me go inside and take down the culprits.

The father-daughter thanked me for saving their lives along with their business and they said they owed me one after that. Well, I don't like to keep debts hanging so I called them earlier and here we are now. "Shadow old boy good to see ya again, so I here you're looking for something special."

"That's the basic idea, got anything good?"

"Well that all depends my friend, what's it for?" I explain everything I've been up to these past few days, minus myself bashing my head into a tree of course, and give a good description of what I wanted. He taps his fingers on the table in front of him. He had a lot of information to process. Eventually he looks at me and says "You really care for this Rouge girl that much?"

"I'd die for her" (and yes I actually would). He snaps his fingers and gives a small nod. "Then you'll have nothing to worry about. But, I will need about say, 3 hours, at most, for this little gift."

"Take as long as you need, but I will need it by Wednesday."

"Don't fret Shadow; it will be done long before then. I'll call you when it's available for pickup." We shake hands on our deal and I find myself looking for something to fill 3 hours time. I figured now would be a good time to finish my shopping for everyone else. Finding a good gift for Sonic and Amy together was quite difficult considering that I've never actually seen where they live. My search continues as I go down the fifth aisle in a row…

oOoOoOo

The only question I keep asking myself is why. Why him, why now, why do this at all?!?! I haven't been able to sleep well since hearing that haunting message he left me. Omega has asked about it because he has detected anomalies in my body. I just tell him it's nothing for him to worry about but I'm starting to think the next time I won't get off so easily. How can you talk with something that lives off of logic and nothing else? Look at me, I haven't been able to think straight and I'm usually fully focused on my goal no matter what it is.

Maybe that's my problem. Shadow's actions have thrown me completely out of whack, just like three years ago. GOD DAMMIT WHY DO I KEEP GOING BACK TO THAT NIGHT?!?!?!?! Things have never been the same since then. Whenever I even think of his name it just brings back bad memories. But, then why did I accept his invitation? Deep down, did I really believe what he said like I did so long ago? If so, does he really want to resolve this conflict between us? I don't know what's wrong or right anymore. On one side, I go to the party and see what he really wants. But, on the other side, I ignore what I said and don't go, then hope this all blows over. But then again, I've been doing that for a long time and it's doing jack for me now.

Damn that hedgehog, it's all his fault I'm this way. I should just go there and punch him the face for screwing with my head. Then I suddenly feel like shooting myself for even thinking that. I'd never even think of hurting him, but I'm so upset right now that I can't tell up from down. My thoughts come to a halt when I hear Omega coming into the room. Though I'm holding my head, I know he's staring at me again because he's stopped in front of me. "Scanners indicate your body temperature has risen, are you okay Ms. Rouge?" I just sat there silently hoping he'd go away, but I knew he wouldn't so I finally caved. "……What should I do?"

"Does not compute, rephrase request."

"Shadow's party you tin can……I'm not sure what I should do. No matter how I think it through it never seems right to me. There is such a gap between us that I don't want to see him again, but I can't help but think about him. All he's ever done is push aside those who want to help him. All I wanted to do was help him live a happy life but he doesn't care. I can't stand the thought of him but he's all I can think about! Even after all he did…I……I still love him……Omega, please tell me what I should do?!"

"Records state you accepted Shadow's invitation. Primary functions state you must follow through and obey orders." I wanted to bash in his metal head. He just didn't understand what I was saying, and then I remember he's nothing more than a robot whose life had been programmed into him. Making the connection between our words I finally understand how he connects requests with commands. Despite his blunt logic, the bucket of bolts is right. I could whine all I want but the truth is that I told Shadow I'd be there. The least I could do is try and sort this out face to face.

oOoOoOo

As I walk back down the path tom my house, I glance again at the small item I was carrying in one of my pockets. I swear he and Samantha have turned this kind of craft into an art form. I do not care what anyone else thinks, Rouge will love it. Finally I enter through the front door and immediately tuck away the small box from the small pair of eyes that were floating towards me. I half expected Tyke to chew my ear off about where I had been for the past few hours. Instead I get this. "I need help dad, wrapping those things is harder than I thought."

I laugh and ruffle his head, then follow him down into my basement. There's not much down there since I use it for storage of various items. Not to mention the small workshop turned wrapping station. I brought in a couple tables and moved my table saw to form an L-shape with the tables, while the saw was moved back and used to hold the wrapping paper, bow, ribbons, and all that holiday junk. I ask what he's attempted and he shows me one of the boxes. Needless to say it needed work. I had to rip off what he had done and start over.

Tyke perches himself on my head and observes closely how to do a neat wrapping job. I unrolled some paper and placed the box on top of it. I do some basic measurements to ensure that I'll have enough to do this in one shot. I cut off the piece from the roll and then comes the fun part. I roll the box, holding the edge of the paper about a third of the way up one side, so the first four sides get covered. I take two pieces of scotch tape to secure the free edge. The next part is tricky; I face one of the unwrapped sides and place my thumbs in the middle of the loose paper. I then press inward to create two trapezoidal shapes. I fold the top one down and tape it, then I fold the bottom one up and tape that and viola, your box is wrapped.

Tyke had already selected the tag and bow so I left the remaining parts to him. After sealing the gift with both our signatures we start the repetitive process all over again. I put on the Holiday Pops CD I had bought days ago for some music. I can't explain why, but the classical sound made me forget how annoyingly repetitive some of the songs could be and it fast became my favorite. Now that Tyke had the right idea on what to do we soon finished within the hour. He gives me a high five for a job well done and we head back upstairs. I find my large list of things to do (which isn't so large anymore), and I find all the essentials had been taken care of. The house was dressed in holiday fashion, we had a good looking tree, and the guest rooms had been cleaned twice over. By all accounts we were ready for a party.

That moment both of our stomachs growled in hunger so we moved into the kitchen. We pulled some leftovers from the fridge and heated them up. We get into a discussion of what might happen once the guests arrive tomorrow. "You're gonna have to show them around seeing as how none of the guys have been here before."

"Well I knew that from the start, they'll each get a tour as I show them to their rooms."

"Okay…hey dad, mind if I ask you something personal?"

"When do you not?"

"Very funny dad, do you really plan on telling her when she gets here?" I put down my utensils and clear my throat, the topic was unavoidable so I just went along with it. "Yes I do Tyke."

"Good, so how are you gonna do it eh?"

"You really want to know that?"

"Yeah, hit me with it."

"Well…" Tyke gets out of his chair and comes closer to me so he could get every detail of my plan. He brings his phantom ear to my mouth and I say "…it's a secret." The look on his face was priceless. The combination of anger and frustration was perfect. "You are no fun dad." I just laugh and we return to our food. This was it, the last night before everyone arrives. For the first time in three years the gang will be back together. As I stare into space I smile knowing everything is finally going right.

I wish I could've remained that way but it was not to be. Tyke, having the enormous mouth of his, had once again made my thought train crash. "I wonder dad, what are we going to do about food. I mean we can't really expect to order take out every night, and it's been a while since I had anything home cooked." Way to go Tyke, somehow and someway you always know how to be my killjoy. My head suddenly gets intimate with my table, I had completely forgotten about what everyone is going to eat.

Though I do have a full size kitchen it's not like I use it every day. I do not consider myself to be a world class chef, but I also don't consider my cooking as garbage. I just follow the recipe as closely as possible and hope for the best. But, Tyke was right, we needed someone who can really work up a good meal considering Sonic would be here and he could pound down all of the food in Paris in a single gulp. Then, one of the greatest ideas I ever had struck my mind. I bring my head back up and put on my traditional evil grin. "Tyke…are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He just gives me a clueless look and continues eating. He wouldn't have to worry long anyway. After we clean up, we decide to hit the hay early after all, our house was soon to become a motel and we needed every ounce of energy to make sure things go smoothly.

oOoOoOo

Sometimes I am surprised how the weathermen can come up with these predictions and they end up being totally wrong. The sky was far from clear, there was overcast, and things were most certainly not dry. The morning forecast said we had fallen victim to a sudden snow storm and would get a good 10 inches. Still, a little flurry won't stop me from flying, though it does make it harder. It's a good thing I was able to find one of the chaos emeralds so tracking was not a problem. In fact, it was all I had on me that I could use. The Tornado is stuck in my workshop because I decided not to take the time to warm it up, so it's just me and Chap, who's tucked in the folds of my coat.

I can't believe Shadow of all people was the first to get the whole group back together. Amy is usually the one who pulls this kind of stuff. I can't remember how many times we celebrated back in the day. But, after Shadow up and disappeared things just died down. I'm sure Chap is excited to see his friends from his Kindergarten days. I think he said Shadow's went by the name Tyke. That was the most I ever heard of Shadow at all, but since becoming a Chaos Hero Chao, Chap has spent all his time with me in the workshop.

He said everyone would be there, I wonder if that includes Cream. Lord knows no one has seen her in years either, she and Vanilla just up and left one day for places unknown. Vector took it hard, no one saw him for a week, not even Charmy or Espio. This happened a few months before Shadow left and I've heard even less of her. Charmy, Espio, and I did all we could to dig up any evidence but we never found anything. I wonder how she's changed after all this time…

My thoughts are jumbled as the emerald in my hands starts glowing brightly which means I must be close. I land on the nearby side walk and start my patrol down the lane. Each step I take the light gets brighter and brighter, showing me that I'm getting ever closer. Suddenly, the light dims somewhat and I turn back around. I find a small driveway leading up to one of the bigger houses in the cul-de-sac. As I walk closer to it, the light continually shines brighter than before. I knew right then and there that this was the place.

oOoOoOo

It's about 9:00 am when Tyke says that the chaos emerald on the tree is glowing. My only conclusion was that it had finally begun, and the first one to arrive was the only person I did not give my address to, Tails. Seconds later, I hear someone knock at my front door and that only confirmed my suspicions. I take a calm breath as I open the door being careful not to get too much of the falling snow inside. Now I know it's been three years but I never expected this from Tails.

Puberty had done him a lot of good as he now was about as tall as I am. To accommodate his growth spurt, like me he had started wearing clothes (you know why folks). As he took off his coat I noticed he was wearing a black denim vest with large pockets on the chest area. Complimenting it were the brown cargo shorts and matching sneakers. To wrap it up, he had a pair of pilot's goggles on his forehead and half-finger leather gloves on his hands. Not to mention the nick in his left ear, it gave him a very mature look.

Then I notice his companion, another chao, this one being a Chao Hero. I can tell because it had a shiny halo on top of its head. What struck me odd is that its features faded into a dark shade of pink and that's not his style, but then again compared to Tyke, the extravagance was there. I notice the deep blue chaos emerald in his hands, no doubt what he used to find me. As the chao go do their own thing Tails officially greets me with a quick and strong hug. Now I know for sure he's grown in more ways than one. "I guess three years does this kind of thing to a person kid. Then again, I'm not sure if I should call you kid anymore."

"What it was just puberty."

"Exactly my point Tails, by the way, who's your little friend with Tyke over their?"

"Oh that's Chap he's been my assistant in the workshop for a while now."

"Why am I not surprised, where are your bags?" To answer my question, he pulls out a small device from one of his chest pockets. From a distance it looks like a pen but he just asks me to show him to his room and he'll show me. We head up the stairs to the second floor. I gave him the room closest to the stairs since it was built to be a single. I put a few simple decorations like some electric candles for the windows. Anyway, Tails pushes something on the pen-like object and I see a flash of green before I find his luggage at my feet. "This may look like a pen Shadow, but it's actually a mass storage device capable of carrying anything up to 1000 pounds. Having a chaos emerald helped with my research since a small fake emerald is the built in power source."

"Still the mechanical genius, it's nice to see some things don't change." As he begins to unpack I am unaware of what's taking place outside until we both hear faint voices coming from outside. We look at each other and I head back down to answer the door. Before I open it though, I put an ear up to the wooden surface to listen more closely as to who could be out there.

"Are you sure this is the right house?"

"Yes, I'm totally 1000 sure……mostly…"

"Oh dear let me see the map……you've been reading upside down again Knuckles." From that I can assume Knuckles and his girlfriend have arrived. Apparently, Knuckles' intelligence had not changed either as he and his companion were arguing about where they were. Actually it was more like she was arguing while he just tried to get a word into the conversation. Even as I stand there, looking right at them, they do not acknowledge me so I try to break it up for them. "Uh, if you don't mind I think people are starting to stare at you."

"Sorry to bother you mister but could you direct us to this address…"

"Tikal…" Knuckles was doomed to fail at his attempt to stop the lady echidna next to him as she proceeded to ignore him.

"…were going to a holiday party…"

"Tikal, we're here…"

"…being hosted by our friend Mr. Shadow and…"

"TIKAL!!!"

"What?!"

"I said, we're here, HE is Shadow." Tikal gives me a funny look, and then gives one to Knuckles, then to me, then back to Knuckles. She does this five time before I give my answer. "He's right Miss, now if you don't mind I think were drawing a crowd." She proceeds into a chorus of unnecessary apologies. I forgive her considering the fact that we have never met before now. After I hang their coats I notice Knuckles is wearing a gold bracelet on his left arm. I also see a similar item on Tikal's arm and I start to wonder. Tyke flies up to me also having seen the pair of bracelets. "What do you think those are for?"

"Well they are descended from the race that used to live on Angel Island so those things are no doubt from their craft. Wait a minute……oh my god…"

"What is it do you know what it means?"

"No, but I'm about to find out." I go to interrupt their personal chat but I first discover something moving around in one of their bags. I crouch down and open the zipper and out flies a pure red chao who, given his appearance, looks like his echidna counterpart. "Oh my, I'm so sorry Streak."

"Is this yours, Ms. Tikal?"

"Actually Knuckles raised him for the most part and please, just Tikal is fine." I see the little red blob fly over to Tyke and Chap so I knew this was another one of his buddies from the Chao Garden. I wonder, just how much like Knuckles he really is? Then I remember what I wanted to talk about so I change the subject. "So, do you mind telling me what those things on your arms mean?" I see Knuckles tense up immediately so it was obviously something big. I felt my theory was getting closer to fact when the peach colored echidna answered for him. "Well…it is an old tradition of our people, but people out here do something similar."

"Similar, to what exactly?"

"Well, they're similar to…oh what were they called…"

"So Shadow, tell me exactly, how'd you get a place like this?" Knuckles was clearly trying to hide something. He had that nervous tone in his voice and I was about to say something when Tikal finished. "Oh yes, the concept is similar to what you call wedding bands, yes I'm sure that's it." I give her a blank stare while Knuckles looked as though he wanted to shoot himself. I see him run his hand over his face then take his…wife aside for a personal consultation. Still, my trained ears can pick up what they say easily. "What was that for I thought we agreed we wouldn't blab until everyone else was here."

"Well he asked and I felt obliged to give him an honest answer." Knuckles heaves a sigh as he calms himself. I roll my eyes because I'm getting somewhat impatient of their behavior. Knuckles hasn't changed much since he always seems to be starting something, meanwhile I think Tikal does nothing but apologize. But, the holiday is still young so I show them to their room. I get immediate praise from the Misses, and Knuckles, well. "Wow Shadow, just how much free time do you have anyway?" Oh yeah, he was still the same old, dense knucklehead we all knew him to be. I wonder how such a kind woman like Tikal could see in a guy like him, but trying to think over that would no doubt give me a migraine so I walk back into the living room to fins out where our little friends went off to.

Knuckles POV

I guess I'm going to have to adjust to such…luxury for the coming weeks. Compared to the hut we have back on Angel Island, this is a five star hotel. I know he only had a few days to prepare but man he works fast. He's more like Sonic than he admits. My wife is already enjoying the bed as she's making quilt angels. I stop and stare and I wonder how lucky I've been. Despite my duty I'll admit it gets very lonely up there more often than not. Suddenly, one day I find her sleeping next to me. It was as if the Master Emerald granted my deepest desire, or maybe it was just because I was able to protect her from a rouge group of thieves that got too big for their heads one night.

I know I can be hot headed sometimes but her company was a welcome change in my life. I think she found my cluelessness as a source of amusement. But, then again, so did everyone else, but it was something about her that was different. Imagine everyone's surprise when we announced our engagement. It was a bit of good news after all the bad things that had happened to us before locking the egg head away, especially concerning Shadow. He better have a good explanation for that stunt he pulled. My trance is broken when I noticed she's moved out in the hall, hugging some random stranger. I ready myself to pound the guy into the next city, when I notice a pair of orange tails. Tikal lets go of our little buddy Tails, who I soon realize had done some growing himself. What happened to the innocent, yet bright little boy I knew so long ago?

Clearly he was nowhere to be found as a handsome young man was in his place. Heck the vest and shorts he wore looked good on him and I thought I looked good in a pair of pants. "No way…no freaking way, hey Tails!"

"Ah I knew you had to be somewhere nearby if Tikal was here." I go to give him my signature bear hug, and once again I'm surprised. He's able to give me one right back. Wow, seems like he exercised more than just his brain, but I guess moving around all that machinery had to have some effect. I also notice him staring at the bracelet on my arm and I just shrug my shoulders. "Who'd have thunk it, the knucklehead ends up being the first one to get hitched. By the way, thanks for helping me with Cream, I guess the Master Emerald can help in more ways than one."

"No problem buddy, well it looks like the chao are having fun, is that Chap?"

"Yeah, I know the pink can be deceiving but yeah, that's him, he's quite the mechanic for someone his size." I am not surprised by that fact; as soon as our chao were old enough to leave the garden they went their separate ways. I also Shadow's as well, so this is Tyke, a Chaos dark Chao once again, no surprise. We head downstairs as we hear the docile tones of holiday music. It's official, I have to give him credit for the old college try, but then I see his tree and I can't keep my eyes from shooting open. I have to check twice to confirm that it was actually the green chaos emerald up on top. Sheesh, for a first shot, Shadow really hit the nail on the head. Tails moves in front of Shadow's High-Def big screen. From the looks of it, he's plugging in a Wii. I know I can see the Guitar Hero controller with it. He looks back at me with a smug look in his eye and then I know it's on. I got up from my seat next to Tikal and was prepared to rock my brains out when there was a knock at the door. "I got it Shadow, don't worry."

Tails POV

Aw shucks, I was just about to kick Knuckles ass in Guitar Hero, oh well, guests come first. Walking to the door, Chap flies up beside me. I open the door and lose my breath. For the first time in three years I'm looking at my best friend in the whole universe. However, his attention is taken by the young woman next to him who I immediately recognize as Amy. "I'm not sure we're at the right place Sonic, Shadow isn't the type to live in the lap of luxury."

"For the third time Amy, everything you've said doesn't matter because above all else he's unpredictable how else can you explain him throwing a party right out of the blue?"

"Maybe he's finally realized how important we are to him."

"Hah, yeah and I'm going to dye my quills a hot pink……no offense to you Amy, pink looks good on you."

"Aw thank you Sonic."

"Oh my god!" I had to intervene because the moment was starting to look rather intimate. The moment I opened my mouth the focused their attention on me and Amy looked like she was on the verge of tears while Sonic was ready to collapse. That was until she shrieked with the force of 100 crazy pre teen girls and proceeded to glomp herself around me. "Oh my god, Tails you're here!!!"

"Yeah…nice to…see…you too, you can let me go now I need to breathe." She unlatched her arms from around my neck allowing Chap to have his chance to say hello. Sonic walks up to me and we shake hands then he pulls me into a hug, albeit much looser. He lets me go allowing me to brush off the snowflakes hat had attached to my vest. "Wow, who's that handsome man standing there?"

"Oh get off it Sonic I wear this in the workshop, goggles and all."

"Come on Tails, don't sell yourself short heck I'd think I'd date you if I didn't love Sonic so much." I think I feel myself blush slightly. Amy was always one for fashion I never imagined I'd get such a compliment from him. I look behind her and see Chap communing with two other chao. This is Ribbon, a cute little angel that looks like Amy in every way possible, including her hot pink color, and Edge, Sonic's Chaos Neutral Chao. I then realize the set is complete what with Tyke wandering about with Streak inside. Still I wonder what they talk about sometimes. "Holy coconuts Chap you look so amazing!"

"I'm not so sure Ribbon, the Chap I know would never let himself been seen like that."

"This coming from the chao that dreamed of looking like me."

"Wow, it really is Chap, well shut my phantom mouth." As I watch the innocent banter between the trio of little creatures Shadow makes his way outside and Amy takes a round on him. It was so nice to finally meet up with Sonic after so long. After Eggman was taken care of, there was no more need to come together too often, so in my free time I opened up my own garage. Jobs can be far and few at times, but it's lucky that this brain of mine allows me to be good with money. I think that things couldn't be any better at that moment. "Is that the Knucklehead in there, well I suppose the gangs all here."

"Not exactly Sonic, we'll be expecting one more, but for now let's not stand out here freezing our butts off." One more huh, now I wonder who it could be? Shadow looks a little nervous I think I can see him shaking somewhat. Hang on a minute……now I understand. I guess Shadow can't hold a party without one treasure hunting bat to keep him company, maybe Amy's right. Maybe Shadow is really throwing this to revive old bonds, or maybe he's in it for something more. This is going to be a Christmas to remember.

A/N: The gang's all here...mostly since the lady of the evening still needs to show her nocturnal face. Also, what in God's good name happened to the adorable little rabbit and her dairy named chao? I will address that later in the story but for now, focus goes on Shadouge and my plans for them, and don't worry, she will show up in the next chapter.