A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, I've been busy.
***
"Oh my God, Shadow's story is coming to life!" Tails screeched as he stood quivering at the doorway.
"Close the door Tails!" Sonic yelled from behind.
Knuckles and Shadow sat in bewilderment as they awaited combat with the creature, attempting to compose themselves enough to fight back. Sonic however was clambering beneath Tails' coffee table trying his best to secretly sneak away only to have his fingers crushed beneath Shadow's jet shoe.
"You coward, running away!"
Sonic peered into Shadows eyes with clenched teeth and tears forming, yanking at his hand to free it from beneath Shadow's weight. The only thing he could manage to whimper was a quiet 'ouch.'
"Hello Tails." The figure beamed.
"It knows my name!" Tails cried, backing away.
"Take Tails if you want just leave the rest of us alone." Knuckles added hysterically.
Tails threw a horrified glare in the echidna's direction unsure of whether to flee or fight back in his panicked state. Acting quickly the fox grabbed the wrench he had left by the side of the door and lurched forward ready to whack the offending enemy.
"As I was saying Tails," The familliar voice continued. "Have you seen Knuckles anywhere?"
Tails stopped abruptly, realizing that the creature stood before him was neither friend nor foe but simply their neutral companion Dr. Robotnik. Frozen on his tip toes, Tails could do nothing but stare at Robotnik as his cheeks burned with embarrassment. Knuckles, Sonic and Shadow had also frozen in position, looking more confused than their little friend.
"Dr. Eggman, what are you doing here?" Tails mumbled as he finally managed to relax his stance.
Robotnik smiled and twiddled his soaking moustache, dripping with rain drops as he answered, "I managed to trick that gullible echidna into gathering some spare parts from a military base for me but he hasn't been back all night, have you seen him by any chance?"
Tails looked back over his shoulder catching sight of a pair of feet crawling away, belonging to none other than Knuckles. If he thought he was going to be tricked by Eggman again and get away with it by hiding in Tails' house he could forget it.
The fox leaned in close to Robotnik and cupped his mouth before whispering, "He's over there by the couch."
Robotnik peered around the door into the living room, taking in the small yet quaint living conditions. The toasty fire and the summery colour scheme beckoned him and he gladly welcomed himself into the house, though his height meant he almost reached the ceiling. Much to Tails' dismay, the man closed the door behind him leaving little or no room to allow him to be kicked out.
Curse my politeness!
"So Eggman," Sonic said as his adversary took a seat on the couch. "What's this I hear about you sending Knucklehead to gather scrap metal for you?"
Robotnik squeezed his moustache in a twisting position like a wet piece of cloth, resulting in a puddle of water soaking into the rug below. Tails clenched his teeth and narrowed his eyes, letting the wrench drop before he lost control and started bashing heads.
"Well yes, I sent him away yesterday evening but it seems he's gotten sidetracked." Robotnik said as he watched Knuckles' pathetic attempt to scamper away.
"What do you want scrap metal for?" Sonic quizzed.
"For my project of course."
"And what would that be?"
"Well," Robotnik smiled. "I'm working on a new doomsday device." Noticing everyone staring at him he added, "Wait...let me try that again."
Before he could continue a thud caused everyone to turn and look in the direction of Knuckles who had been so busy eyeing Robotnik that he had crawled headfirst into a desk. He stood, a little dazed and slumped down beside Eggman on the couch.
"Nice to see you again Knuckles." Robotnik mused.
"So Doctor, will you be staying with us long?" Shadow asked.
The scientist looked out of the window and after a few moments looked back at Shadow, then finally at Tails who shrugged his shoulders and headed into the kitchen to boil the kettle again. An awkward silence followed with numerous coughs and fidgets as nobody had anything appropriate to say, that was until Sonic piped up and shouted to Tails if he could use his computer to surf the web.
Setting it up wasn't too difficult, only needing to plug it in and switch it on but Knuckles was adamant that he wanted to have a go as living in the ruins meant he wasn't able to buy himself a computer. Sonic was hesitant at first as he recalled the catastrophe that was Knuckles flying skills, or lack of, during the shuttle flight in space. Giving in Sonic allowed Knuckles to have his way and handed him the plug. The plug was inserted correctly and without much force leaving only the on switch to be pushed.
"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed seeing his friend pound on the button with his fist. "Uncurl your hand don't hit it that way."
Knuckles did as he was told scornfully, the little light blinked and the hard-drive came whirring to life until the log on screen was displayed under the title 'Miles.' Thankfully there was no password lock and a single click on the image allowed them free reign of their friends PC.
"So what do you guys wanna look up?" Sonic enquired.
"I have an idea." Came the surprising voice of Shadow who waded through the crowd to reach for the mouse.
He was a fast at typing and successfully managed to open up the browser window and find Google's search engine. A look of curiosity fell over them all as they watched the black hedgehog type in five simple words: Shadow The Hedehog Fan Art.
"Dude, you are vain." Sonic chuckled, placing a hand on his adversary's shoulder.
Shrugging him off, Shadow clicked the first link and began scrolling through numerous incarnations of himself often smirking either mockingly or admiringly as he scoured the images.
"Click another link, I don't see any images of me here." Eggman demanded.
His finger stopped rolling at one particular picture and his face contorted into an expression of pure shock at what he saw.
Leaning in closer, the others faces soon turned to the same expression as they realized what they were staring at. On screen was a piece of fan art titled Hedgehog Love consisting of Shadow and Sonic in an erotic embrace. Taking over from his catatonic friend, Sonic began scrolling further down the page. Image after image of SLASH couplings hit their eyes as they found themselves unable to look away.
"Did..Did I just see me and Eggman together?" Knuckles shuddered.
"Hey look at this one." Sonic said, stopping at an unusual picture.
"What's that?" Knuckles questioned.
"I think it's my leg." Shadow added. "No wait...oh!"
Back in the kitchen Tails had just finished making everybody another mug of tea and was now sliding the door open with his leg to prevent himself from dropping the tray on the floor. Stepping into the main room he stopped as he saw his four guests conglomerating around the PC.
"What are you guys doing?"
"Don't look Tails!" Sonic answered whizzing round. "Save your innocent eyes."
"What are you talking about?"
Placing the tray down onto the coffee table, the fox wandered over to the computer, commotion in the air as Sonic and the others fought to cover the screen. Too late.
"For goodness sake, how old are you looking up silly things like this?" Was all the fox said before closing the web page and shutting down the computer. "You're never allowed to use this again without supervision understand?"
Later that night the storm had perked up again so Tails figured it was best to allow the group to stay the night, considering his courteous manner and hospitality. Unwilling to leave the hopeless bunch alone, he agreed to sleep in the same rom as them to keep order. Sleeping bags at the ready, they all nuzzled down next to one another. Shadow made sure to keep his distance from the others, still a little traumatized from the violation of his character. As he laid out his sleeping bag, Knuckles accidentally placed his hand over Sonic's and after spotting his action quickly pulled it away.
"I didn't mean that!"
A wry smile spread across the hedgehog's face, "Sorry Knux, I don't play that way and besides you're not my type."
Knuckles' fists clenched and he bared his teeth,"Shut your mouth!"
Tails observed his surroundings and couldn't help but feel proud of his actions. Though his day had been ruined by the overbearing bunch he knew his home had somehow brought them all together, friends and enemies alike. Watching them all snuggle down together produced a warm feeling deep down and he allowed himself to smile.
It did not take long for this peace and quiet to be ruined as there was yet another knocking at the door.
Not again.
He thought to himself as he collapsed onto his pillow, unwilling to move. Sonic, noticing his friends reluctance, slipped out of his sleeping bag to peek out of the misty window but immediately drew back against the wall as he saw the visitor. The others gave him a questioning look.
"It's her." He trembled as his teeth chattered.
They did not need to be told who 'her' was as only one girl could induce such fear into the blue streak's heart. Knuckles was about to get up and answer the door but much to his surprise Shadow had already beat him to it and was pulling the door open.
"Shadow, what are you doing here?" Came Amy's high pitched inquisitive voice.
"I could be asking the same question." Said a silky smooth voice belonging to none other than Rouge.
***
A/N: Stay tuned guys the next chapter is the final one ^_^