Omega's time outside was doing quite a number on his inner workings. His wiring was becoming stiff with the cold, and Shadow began to wonder whether it was such a good idea to let him stay with him much longer.
"Omega, are you sure you're doing okay? You're going to get rusty," he warned, concerned.
"I assure you . . . I'm fine," he said, his mechanical voice breaking.
Shadow shook his head.
"No, you're not. Let's stop at Amy's so you can warm your circuits there. Matter of fact, why don't I just drop you off there?"
"I made an agreement with the frilled lizard from the street. I thought the act of hand-shaking was meant to be a promise-sealing gesture. It should not be broken," he announced proudly, making Shadow wince.
"You, sir, are in more dire condition than I thought," he mumbled, leading Omega by the arm. Some fizz came from Omega's voice box.
"I do not know who you are referring to," he said after the fizz cleared. "Santa Claus is coming to town," he repeated from a speaker that hung outside of a store window. "You had better watch out."
Shadow nodded, pulling the robot's heavy arm as he turned around a corner.
"Okay, let's go," he insisted. The street they were on was Amy's street. Shadow mumbled to himself the numbers of each house, trying to remember Amy's. "Tweny-four . . . eighteen . . . twelve. Here we go . . ."
Shadow escorted a dazed Omega up the stairs of the front porch. After ringing the doorbell, the hedgehog noticed a beautiful smell seeping through the walls. Whatever it was that the girls were making inside, it smelled delicious.
A tiny figure opened the door—Cream.
"Oh, hi, Mister Shadow! And Mister Omega!" she greeted with a smile on her face. "Are you staying for dinner?"
"Well, I'm not, but this one is," Shadow said, indicating Omega with a jerk of his thumb, "he's been outside for too long."
Cream nodded in some sort of childish understanding.
"Oh, I see. Do you want us to watch him here while you go out?"
Shadow shuffled his feet on the wood porch.
"If it's not too much trouble," he mumbled.
"I'll go ask Miss Amy!" she said excitedly, "Just a minute!"
Scurrying away, Cream went back into the kitchen to tell Amy the situation. Shadow managed to put Omega in front of him so he could catch the heat that radiated from inside the house.
"How's that, big guy? Warm?"
"The fire is so delightful," Omega replied drily, quoting Christmas songs again.
"Whatever that means. I'm guessing 'yes'."
Cream returned with Amy, who seemed almost as delighted as Cream that Shadow stopped by.
"Hi, Shadow! Cream told me what's going on. We'll take care of Omega for you!"
"Well, just be careful with him," Shadow warned, "he's not all there at the moment."
"All I want for Christmas is you," Omega droned.
Amy gave Shadow a questioning look, to which Shadow responded with a 'cuckoo' gesture traced next to his temple.
"Gotcha," Amy nodded. "What's wrong with him? Too much Christmas spirit?" she asked, stifling a giggle.
"Most certainly not from me, I can tell you that much," grunted the hedgehog.
"Aw, live a little, Shadow! Christmas is tomorrow!" Amy prompted, "aren't you excited?"
"Sure, I am."
Amy, not convinced by Shadow's disheartening expression, sighed.
"Well, if you say so. Come on in, Omega!" Omega stepped in, spluttering something about garlic in his soul. "Shadow, do want some hot cocoa?" she offered politely.
The hedgehog glanced over his shoulder to see how dark it was getting. When he realized the streetlights were starting to turn on for the night, he looked back at Amy and shook his head.
"Sorry, I gotta go."
"Go? Where do you have to go on Christmas Eve?" she inquired.
"I already made plans for tonight; I'm sorry," Shadow apologized quickly, and then hurried down the stairs. "Good night. I'll be back for Omega . . . hopefully soon."
"All right, g'night, Shadow!" Amy waved and then slowly closed the door, but only just before Shadow could hear Omega's booming voice:
"Fa la la la la . . . la la la la."
Chuckling, the hedgehog jet-skated down the street and went off to search for the alley he was scheduled to be at.
In the meantime, Rouge was muttering to herself as she filled out the paperwork that sat in front of her. The massive pile had slowly been shrinking, bit by bit, but Rouge's head ached from the overwhelming amount of information.
"Why the hell didn't I attend those meetings?" she murmured to herself over and over. Every now and then, she'd take a long sip of coffee to try and stay awake.
Eventually, the bat glanced at the clock. 6:03 P.M. "Forget it; I'm taking a break," she declared to herself, rising from her chair and slamming the pen down on her desk. Rouge sighed and ran her finger along the remaining stack of paper. She shuffled her way over to the dresser and took a look at the little box that Knuckles had given her for Christmas. It still sat unopened on her dresser. The bat shrugged and felt the silvery wrapping paper between her fingers. Like a child, the bat felt a warm feeling rise in her chest as she tore off the paper from the box. The box, a thin white cardboard container, seemed completely full, yet strangely light. Rouge gently shook it to determine whether or not there was something in it. Upon hearing nothing clattering about, the bat used her index finger to pull off the piece of tape that sealed the box shut. Once the tape came off, Rouge undid the top and removed a ball of tissue paper.
"What the heck . . ." she mumbled, confused. Rouge ripped off the tape from the paper to reveal a small, velvety box. "Ohh . . ." she breathed as she opened the delicate box. Inside was a necklace with a silver chain. The necklace bore a gorgeously shiny emerald embedded in silver. Rouge carefully took the necklace out of the box and clipped it around her neck. The way it sparkled as she angled herself to face the light was beautiful.
Peering back into the box, Rouge noticed a little handwritten note. It read:
"This is a pure Angel Island Emerald. I found it after months of digging, and then had it fashioned into a necklace for you. No, it's not a chip from the Master Emerald; I know what you're thinking. Merry Christmas,
~Knux"
Rouge cracked a small grin. Another beautiful piece to add to her collection of shiny things, and this time, it was given to her. A gift. Something that came from the heart. Normally, Rouge wouldn't have fallen for the sappiness that came from this sort of situation, but this time . . . this time was different. There was real feeling and sentiment behind this gift. Hard work, lots of time, and perhaps some sort of affection were all embedded in that silver that hung around Rouge's neck. Sappy, but . . . nice.
A sudden knock at the door came. Rouge, brightening up even more, took less than two minutes to get herself dressed and to at least make herself look decent. She rushed to the front door after someone had been knocking continuously and wouldn't stop.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called hoarsely, realizing that it had almost been a full day since she'd talked to any other living being. Unlocking the door, Rouge opened it, half-expecting to see Knuckles. Or at least, someone she'd seen in the past year.
"Hello, sweetheart," said Bruce Sternitt. Rouge jumped back in surprise.
"Wh-Hello," she stammered, taken aback yet trying to be polite. "May I help you?"
"You most certainly can," the figure grinned and stroked his frill. He invited himself into the house, and, being significantly taller than Rouge, loomed over her. "I'm looking for Rouge the bat."
Rouge used one hand to push the lizard back and out of her personal space.
"Why, who are you? Some sort of a salesman?" she snapped, "Listen, I'm very busy. Make this quick, and keep it in the doorway."
"I'll do my best, babe," he said, attempting to be charming. "Let me introduce myself. Or, re-introduce myself."
Rouge crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I'm listening."
Bruce chuckled.
"The name's Bruce. Bruce Sternitt."
At first, Rouge furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and then a sinking feeling of both dread and recognition made her stomach churn.
"Bruce . . ." she started, trying to be pleasant, "how've you been, mac?"
"Heh, doin' swell, hon, pretty swell. How 'bout yourself?"
Rouge shrugged, trying to overcome the feeling of dread in her.
"Can't complain, I suppose," she mumbled.
Maybe he's not here for that . . . I sincerely hope not . . .
Shadow the hedgehog had been standing in the snow for almost a full hour, and Bruce hadn't shown up yet.
"Stupid lizard!" he said, cursing the lizard up and down as he paced frantically. "I can't believe I was this idiotic to agree with him!"
There was a muffled sound of slow footsteps crunching through the snow. Shadow stopped his pacing and turned to see if the sound was just his imagination.
"Bruce, is that you?" he called impatiently into the dimly lit street. There came a sharp laugh from his right side, where the alley was.
"No, I ain't no Bruce," one deep voice replied. "How 'bout you, Bones?"
"Not me," said the other voice, shriller and more cracked. "Guy's lookin' for the boss, right?"
"Yeah. You must be Shadow."
Shadow looked more closely into the foggy alley and coughed as the smell of cigarette smoke rapidly filled his nostrils. The two creatures stepped closer to the hedgehog until they came into the dim light, both wincing as their eyes adjusted to it. One was a gray rabbit with his ears slicked over one eye, and the other was a brown rat with his yellow teeth protruding from the upper lip.
"Might I ask who you are?" Shadow questioned, enunciating each word tartly. Both characters bowed simultaneously.
"I'm Smokey," the rabbit said.
"And I'm Bones," cackled the rat.
"We were told to meet you here tonight, Shadow the Hedgehog," Smokey told Shadow.
The hedgehog frowned.
"If Bruce isn't here, then forget it," he said, trying to dismiss the situation. "I don't have time for small talk."
As Shadow turned away, Bones flicked his tail in front of the hedgehog's shoes and watched as Shadow toppled to the ground.
"Oof!"
Smokey walked in front of Shadow and shook his head.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk . . . 's a shame you don't want to talk to us," he prompted, "Sternitt told us to meet ya here."
"That's right," Bones added, "who knows what could happen to your little bat friend if you don't stay?"
Shadow thought back to Bruce's offer. If he met him in this alley, then he wouldn't do anything to hurt Rouge. However, he wasn't here. The lizard had ripped him off; maybe he was already at Rouge's place, doing something awful to her.
"Sorry, kids, I'm not here for playtime," Shadow grunted, getting up. Bones and Smokey, without saying anything, scrambled in front of the reluctant hedgehog. Shadow snorted. "I wouldn't try that," he cautioned.
"Whaddya want for Christmas, kiddo?" Bones asked, failing in his attempt to buy time.
"I want to be left alone," Shadow said firmly, "pull crap like that on me one more time, and you'll be begging me for mercy."
Both thugs were unfazed by the threat.
"C'mon, pal, why don't you stay and chat?" Smokey took Shadow's arms and led him deep into the alleyway. "We'd love to have you over for dinner. I bet you're hungry."
Shadow struggled to break free of the rabbit's strong fists, but the best he could do was shoot chaos spears and arrows at the ground since his hands were pointing downward. He tried to muster up all the strength he could to free himself, but to no avail. Bones wrapped his tail around Shadow's mouth to shut out the curses that flew out of his mouth, and both juveniles led the hedgehog deeper into the alley.