Who's ready for chapter 4? :D

Special thanks to PoeticLover1996, who, had it not been for her, I would have eventually put a hiatus on writing these fics. You're my inspiration, girl! Stay awesome! *hugs*

I also wanna thank everyone who reviewed. We're at 35 already! Holy crap! That's awesome!


"SHAAAAAAAAADOOOOOOOOOW!"

Shadow stiffened. "What is it, kid?"

He had nothing against the youngster, but sometimes he was just too loud.

On the other side of the fence, Charmy absolutely loved Shadow! He looked up to the dark hedgehog in many ways. He was brave, determined, cool, mysterious-the total package! Shadow may not think he's role model material, but Charmy did-and he still does.

"Why do you call me 'kid'?" Charmy asked him.

"Because you're younger," Shadow stated matter-of-factly.

"And you're like what, fifty?" Charmy snickered, and Shadow huffed. Realizing his mistake, Charmy was quick to start apologizing. "Oh Shadow, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean what I-!"

Shadow put up a hand, and Charmy closed his mouth. "You're alright." Shadow crossed his arms again, and the bee shot him a megawatt smile. "Look, kid...Charmy..."

"Uh huh?" Charmy beamed.

Shadow was going to say something; maybe it was to gently turn Charmy down for anything even remotely stupid, maybe it wasn't. But for some reason, all he could come up with a sigh and a hesitant, "...What do you want?"

Charmy rubbed his arm, his feet touching the ground for the first time in their conversation. "Just...wanted to see how you were doing..."

Shadow blinked. He wasn't expecting that.

"How I'm doing?" he repeated.

"Yeah! And, well, I was wondering if I could..." Charmy treaded nervously. "If we could...?"

Shadow waited with thinning patience. "Hm?"

"If we can...hang out sometime or something? Go on an adventure together?" Charmy finally finished, hope dancing in his eyes.

Shadow opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Don't you have your own team?" he attempted.

Charmy shrugged. "I've been with Vector and Espio for as long as I can remember! Besides...I wanna follow you!"

Shadow breathed slowly through his nose.

Be nice, be nice, be nice...

"I know you mean well...and I appreciate the thought but..." Shadow turned his back to him. "Once you know who I really am...you wouldn't want to be around me."

Charmy buzzed, lifting himself into the night air. "...Are you always this dramatic?"

"Hmph." Shadow almost smiled. Almost. "Take it or leave it."

Charmy artfully put a finger to his chin, appearing deep in thought. Shadow didn't even get to ten when Charmy exclaimed, "I'll take it! So is that a yes?"

Shadow caved. A smirk twitched at his lips.

"Hope you can keep up with me."

And with that, Shadow was off, with his future sidekick flying beside him.


After his morning run around Station Square, Sonic slowed down once he reached Mystic Ruins.

"Hm, I wonder what Tails is up to?" he wondered. "Well, guess I'll find out!"

Meanwhile, Tails was doing his normal tinkering in his workshop. He had always been an early fox, and he became ambitious when it came to his work.

"Hey, Cream, can you pass me the screwdriver?" Tails peaked his head out from underneath the Tornado.

Cream hopped up from the beanbag, walking over to Tails' red toolkit, which lay on the floor feet away from him. Bending over, she dug through the unfamiliar tools until she found what she was looking for, then leaned over to hand it to him. "Here you go, Miles!"

Tails flashed her a grin in thanks and disappeared again.

And that's when Sonic arrived.

"Hey, guys! What's going on?"

"Hey, Sonic!" Tails called, his yellow arm emerging in greeting, and Sonic high-fived him; Cream hopped into his arms for a hug. Tails popped out once more to add, "Amy's inside the house, making breakfast."

"Okay," said Sonic, giving Tails a thumbs-up and a wink.

Why would he tell me that?

Shrugging the thought off before he could dwell on it too much, Sonic pushed the door open and entered the house.

And his mouth dropped.

Amy turned around, hot steaming plate in her hands, and her face lit up. "Sonic!"

He had never seen her in pajamas before, let alone a cute apron to go with it. She wore a light purple, long-sleeved shirt (that reminded him of the rose he had given her some years back, a promise that he'll never leave her), the sleeves a bit too long, and a pair of shorts in a darker shade of purple. Her socks were polka dotted, much to his amusement, her quills pulled back and up.

"W-What's that I smell?" Sonic asked in a dreamy voice, taking in the pleasing aroma.

Amy smiled wider-if that was even possible-and set the plate down for him to see what was on it. Sonic, now reaching the table, gave out a not-so-manly squeal of glee and hunger.

"While I was making the donuts, I thought of you so...I made these just for you, Sonic!" Amy explained, taking off her apron.

"You made these for me?" Sonic lifted his gaze to her, and a faint blush stained her muzzle as she nodded. He licked his lips, his stomach already growling with anticipation; green eyes studied the deliciously decked out chilly donuts before he quickly snatched one and engulfed it down entirely, moaning in delight.

"Well?" Amy asked nervously.

"Oh my God..." Sonic moaned, eyes closed in pure bliss, unaware of what he was saying. "I love you so, so much!"

"Careful, Sonic. Wouldn't want Knuckles to hear you say that!"

Sonic opened his eyes, snapped back into reality, oblivious to the blushing hedgehog next to him. "Wha-? Tails!"

The two-tailed fox giggled with his shorter companion, they going for the chocolate and strawberry glazed toppings instead.

"Thanks for making breakfast, Amy," Cream thanked her. "Mm...these are delicious! You always made the best donuts."

"Aww, it was nothing, Cream. It's the least I could do," Amy said back, picking up a strawberry donut with sprinkles.

The four friends ate their breakfast in mutual silence, having the occasional conversation every now and then.

After Tails was finished, he went back to his tinkering, and it wasn't surprising when Cream excused herself from the table mere moments later to go follow him.

"Whelp! That was fun," said Sonic, standing up to stretch. "Hate to rain on your parade, Amy, but this guy's gotta make like a banana and split!"

Amy frowned. She didn't want him to go.

"O-oh...-Hey!" she called out to him just as he lifted a foot, hand out in his direction.

"Uh?"

"Um..." Amy rubbed her arm, feeling another blush creep along her cheeks. "You'll be back, right?"

"Oh...Hm." Sonic scratched his nose. He couldn't exactly promise that, per se, but he didn't want to upset her. An upset Amy made a very scared Sonic.

And that girl was as fast as he is when she had that hammer.

Sonic shuddered at the thought.

"Maybe," he said finally. "I'll be around." Before she could appear more crestfallen, he added, "Keep your arms warm for me when I get back!"

And after a wink and thumbs-up, Sonic was gone, leaving a suddenly very giggly Amy.


"Oof!"

"Hey! Watch where ya-! Oh-crap-Sal! We've gotta stop running into each other like this!"

Embarrassed, Sonic held out a hand, helping Sally off the ground.

"It's alright, Sonic. What's up?" Sally asked, dusting herself off.

"Just left the Mystic Ruins. Didja know Amy can make some mean chilly donuts?"

"Chilly donuts?" Sally repeated, amusement sparkling her blue eyes. "Hmm, that's new."

"I know." Sonic got that dreamy look again.

"Yeeeeah, listen," Sally said, and Sonic nodded to let her know that he was listening. "Rouge told me that she wants me to meet up with her at this place called G.U.N. for lunch...Do you know where that is? I'm kinda lost."

"'Course! I'll take you there lickety-split," said Sonic.

He ran her to G.U.N.'s headquarters, then continued on, hoping to find an adventure...


"Rouge?" Sally called. "Rouge, where are you?"

"Well, well, well," Rouge came around the corner and Sally turned around. "If it isn't my favorite chipmunk."

"I think I'm the only chipmunk you know." Sally grinned.

Rouge returned it. "Touche." She looked over her shoulder at someone Sally couldn't see. "Will you hurry up?!" the ivory bat snapped impatiently.

Sally was surprised to see Shadow appear, he fixing his glare on his friend and partner.

"Rouge?" Sally piped up, and she felt his eyes on her then. "I thought it was just you and me?"

"It was until Shadow insisted that he come with us," Rouge told her sweetly before giving Shadow a dark look that even he couldn't compete with. "Right, sweetie?"

Shadow sighed. "Since I don't have a choice."

Sally stifled a giggle behind her hand, following the two agents out of the building, Rouge leading and she trailing behind with Shadow.

"You really didn't have to come along, you know," she told him, keeping her voice low.

His red eyes narrowed at her. "If you didn't want me around, then you could have just said so."

"I didn't mean-"

"Then what did you mean?"

They stopped walking then, staring each other down with a growing intensity.

"Just...trying to be nice here," Sally said slowly, beginning to walk again, her auburn hair bouncing with her firm stepping.

Frowning, Shadow kept pace with her.

"What is it now?" Sally demanded, noticing his staring.

"I...I'm sorry." Ugh. He hated apologizing. The words put a bad taste in his mouth. He wasn't good at this whole 'being nice' thing.

She noticed the troubled look on his face, in his eyes, and found his reluctance and difficulty to get the words out a bit comical. She's heard many stories about Shadow from Amy, so she was expecting this. She understood, even if she didn't know the entire truth.

She wasn't sure if she even wanted to know.

Oh well. Who knows? They might actually become friends.

She opened her mouth to say something back in return, but he now walked ahead of her, never casting a look back to see if she still followed.

"...Or not," Sally thought out loud.


"Oh, Knuckieeee!"

Knuckles groaned, refusing to open his eyes. "This is all just a dream. A nightmare. Yeah, that's it. A nightmare. I'm having a nightmare. And any minute now I'll wake up in peace-"

"You do realize she's hanging right over your face, right?" Sonic's cocky voice called out.

Oh...nooo...

Knuckles opened one eye and regretted it, screaming bloody murder and scooting back on his butt as Rouge flirtatiously advanced on him.

"What's the matter? Not happy to see lil' ol' me after a long day of guarding that gorgeous emerald of yours?"

"I'm never happy to see you, Rouge," Knuckles snapped dishonestly, hopping to his feet, already on the defensive. But if she ever found out that he had been wondering where she had been all day, he'd kill himself. "What do you want?"

"Do you want me to answer that honestly?"

Knuckles' mouth dropped, suddenly going as red as his dreads.

Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Cream snickered from where they stood together.

"You. Let. Her. On. My. Island?" Knuckles started for Sonic, his voice coming through gritted teeth.

Amy put herself in front of Sonic before Knuckles could do any damage to her love, he looking down at her in surprise and-was that smugness?-as she retorted with, "Excuse you, but I don't see your name on it!"

"She told you," said Sonic cheekily, and Knuckles sent him daggers, retreating back a step nevertheless.

And nearly ran into Rouge in the process. Coming very close to her, er, well-developed bosom, Knuckles whirled around and struck a lame karate pose at her, his right arm and leg raised dramatically in the air, and even went as far as a high-pitched, "Hooooowwwwha!"

"So how was your lunch break with Sally and Mr. Shadow, Rouge?" Cream asked, and Knuckles lowered his stance, calming down a bit now that Rouge's attention had been averted.

"Well..." Rouge examined her nails. "Mr. Sour-hog was grumpy the whole time, but Sally wasn't bothered by him. A doll, isn't she?"

"Where are they now?" asked Tails curiously.

Rouge smirked. "I made him walk her home."


Oh Rouge. Gotta love that bat, huh? XD I enjoy writing her, and I hope you like the way she's written!

You'll definitely be seeing more of her, that's for sure!

Who thinks we can get up to 40 reviews for the next round? LEGGO!