A/N: Alright guys, here we go! The chapter that you all have been waiting for! It's been a lot of fluff and development and I know it's been kind of hard to deal with but this chapter is the turning point of the story. This is where the true story begins and I'm so excited to type this one out! Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated! Anyways, back to the story!

Chapter 6:

The night sky was littered with countless stars that shined like pearls that cast it's glow down on Metropolis. Shadow gazed up at the sky, his eyes lost in the endless amount of stars that hung in the darkened sky. His thoughts were running rampant as he continued to stare off, his mind on the impending time he was going to spend with no one else but Amy Rose. Geez, why am I so nervous? Me of all people nervous? Ha, what a silly notion, Shadow thought as his gaze drifted from the gentle night sky to the wondrous carnival behind him. He had been there a few minutes early because he thought that Amy might have already been there but it turns out that she wasn't, which left Shadow alone to deal with his thoughts until the pink hedgehog finally did show up. Shadow stood with his arms crossed as he looked at the blinding array of neon, bright colors that decorated the carnival. The area was filled with nothing but laughter and loud chatter, screams of delight rang out from the wooden roller coaster and the tilt-a-whirl, and the Tunnel of Love was certainly making everyone around it lovey-dovey. Shadow cringed at the thought of being stuck in there with Amy. Oh please God no, anything but that, I wouldn't wish that fate upon my worst enemy, not even Sonic, Shadow smirked at the thought of Sonic being trapped inside a ridiculously cliche love-themed ride with probably the biggest fangirl the world has ever seen. He could see it now, the pink hedgehog smothering him to death with massive hugs and covering his face in kisses as Sonic struggled to free himself from her grasp and make an escape. He laughed for a little bit at the scene being played out in his head, it was like it was something straight out of a cartoon or something. Shadow quickly finished his fit of laughter as he was already earning stares from the various carnival attendees and continued to watch the people inside having their fun. That's when a sudden question caught the forefront of Shadow's attention, why does she want revenge just as badly as I do? Shadow pondered it for a moment, however he kept reaching dead ends and he just couldn't draw to a conclusion why she would want revenge. Every idea Shadow had was quickly disregarded and thrown out the window because the notions were just so ridiculous that only conspiracy theorists from the internet would probably buy into it. Maybe, she had a history with him of sorts? No, that can't be it, I would've at least known about it because Sonic would've told me. Shadow continued to think and think, his mind was like the damn Energizer Bunny, it just kept going and going. Hmmmmm...oh! Maybe, she only knows him from what I've told her thus far and she's just cashing in on my personal vendetta to help me achieve revenge. This was the only idea of Shadow's that had made any real sort of sense but the more he thought about it the more questions that came up from just having this one idea. He thought back to when they had their sincere friendship moment a while back, he remembered her singing and beautiful and melodic her voice rang out as it melded with his. No one just knows how to sing like that and never utilizes it, Shadow's mind was going crazy the more and more he continued to think. Various thoughts were pinging around in his head like a game of Pong from Hell. Just as soon as he was beginning to dawn on probably the greatest mystery of his life, a voice shook him from his quest to put an end to his ambitious, yet stupid theories.

"Shadow! You in there?!" Shadow shook his head and quickly his eyes focused on the emerald ones that were right in front of him. "I called out to you a few times but you were just staring out into nothing, are you okay?" The concern in her voice was quite amusing to the ebony hedgehog, who had only moments before been lost in his own outrageous thoughts, he was fine but clearly his mind wasn't. He wasn't going to tell the pink hedgehog in front of him that, no, he would bide his time and ask her those questions later.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I was just deciding on which ride I wanted to go on first." Shadow replied, forcing a smile. Luckily for him, the pink hedgehog bought it and didn't even notice that Shadow seemed troubled by something.

"Well then, let's go!" Amy rushed over to where the ticket booth was, Shadow close behind. When they had finally secured their place in line they stood patiently, waiting to pay for their tickets. Amy looked Shadow up and down, admiring his attire.

"You know Shadow, you look really nice tonight." Amy complimented as Shadow immediately froze in place. Jesus, no! This isn't happening, Shadow thought as he turned away slightly to hide his face that had turned a faint tint of scarlet. The ebony hedgehog was never that much of a ladies man back when he was with Controlling Chaos, they would swarm him sure, but he was always the quiet and rather shy member of the group. To this day, that quality of his personality still remained and now here he was, reliving those days as the guy who didn't know the first thing about women. I mean it's not like he didn't try to look good tonight, he really did want to look nice for Amy, he just didn't want to send mixed signals. Shadow was wearing a leather jacket, that had crimson stripes lining the sides of the arms, and wore a red t-shirt with a hand holding a record on it, in addition to that he wore black jeans that had chains attached to the belt loops on his jeans. He didn't think he overdid it, but apparently now that Amy was flirting with him, he was reconsidering the fact that maybe he did go overboard.

"Thanks, you look nice too." Shadow mumbled his compliment, not really wanting Amy to overhear what he said to her. Amy just smiled as she watched Shadow seemingly squirm at her compliment, it was rather hilarious to watch him in this situation. After a couple minutes of Amy silently laughing at the blushing ebony hedgehog, they finally made it to the ticket booth.

"Hello! How many tickets?" The ticket clerk asked as he looked the hedgehog pair over.

"Two please!" Amy replied as she handed him the money to purchase the tickets. The ticket clerk ripped off a couple of purple tickets and extended them to Amy.

"Here you go! Two tickets for a lovely couple. Be sure to check out the Tunnel of Love ride that we have!" Oh my God! He didn't just say that, did he? Shadow's face went from a slight red to a very flushed crimson that matched the color of his stripes.

"For the love of Chaos and everything holy we are not a couple!" Shadow yelled out in anger as the ticket clerk slightly cowered in fear, but still held a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Whatever you say man! She looks like a keeper!" He gave Shadow a thumb's up as the ebony hedgehog just grumbled obscenities under his breath as Amy handed him his ticket. This night is just getting better and better, Shadow thought bitterly as he marched his way inside the carnival. Amy tried to stifle a laugh at the ebony hedgehog's behavior but at this rate it was impossible to. Within seconds, a hysterical giggle erupted from her mouth and filled the night air, Shadow turned to her, anger in his eyes.

"What's so damn funny Rose?" His rage laced his words and Amy didn't even care how angry Shadow was, he was cracking her up so much that she just had to let it out.

"Shadow, you're acting so silly right now! I think he knows we are just friends going out for a night of fun. He was probably just trying to push your buttons, and boy did he!" Amy's explanation did make sense, but at the same time Shadow didn't find it amusing.

"Oh yeah?! Well why in the world would he tell us about the Tunnel of Love ride? Do friends go on that together?" Shadow seethed with anger, he didn't know why he was so worked up about it, he just was. He felt bad about taking it out on Amy but he honestly didn't know else he would vent all of this out.

"Um, yes." Amy responded, much to the disapproval of Shadow.

"Oh really? I'm pretty sure it's the most cliche ride to go on in any relationship!" At this point, Shadow's face was burning up. With every word he felt like his face was melting and that at any moment his face would drip off like pieces of candle wax.

"Are you implying that we are in a relationship?" Amy flirtatiously asked, leaving Shadow stunned in place. He looked as though he saw lobsters crawling out of someone's ears, the awe that painted his face was enough to make Amy laugh all over again.
"No, I….uh….no…." Shadow's speaking skills had just diminished in the blink of an eye, he didn't know what to say. He was trapped, he had his back to the wall, there was no way out of this. Amy stepped closer to Shadow and her eyes met his, in that moment Shadow could've sworn he saw a mischievous twinkle in those eyes but it was her words that he was focused on.

"It's okay, maybe someday." Amy whispered into his ears, leaving the ebony hedgehog dumbfounded and speechless, how was he supposed to respond to that? Apparently he wasn't supposed to as the pink hedgehog grabbed him tightly by his wrist. "Enough of this! Let's go ride some rides!" Amy yelled with delight as she dragged Shadow at frightening speed across to the carnival to one of the attractions. Shadow watched as colors and and people flew by in a blur and in his heart he knew that he was in for the time of his life. It's going to be a long night, Shadow thought as the pink hedgehog still held onto him, pulling him in tow.

After a couple of hours, the atmosphere between the two hedgehogs had grown lighter, they had gone on the tilt-a-whirl, and the giant slide several times, and had played numerous carnival games, now the hedgehog pair were roaming aimlessly across the grounds, wondering what in the world to do next.

"We should ride the roller coaster next." Shadow offered with a grin as Amy shook her head, shuddering at the thought of the creaking noise the coaster makes when you are making your way towards the top.

"No thank you, I pass. I don't do roller coasters. Plus we haven't done the rides I want to do yet." Amy replied as they continued to wander around, the colored lights and stars casting a warm glow upon them.

"What rides do you want to ride?" Shadow asked, he never once heard her mention what she wanted to do all night, or maybe she did and he didn't pay attention. Who knows? It could've been either or.

"I want to ride the Ferris Wheel." Amy said, forming a pouting look on her face. With her quills parted and her face trying to give Shadow the puppy dog treatment, it was almost impossible for Shadow to resist and say no. However, Shadow shook his head, she wasn't going to win this game.

"How is it you won't ride a roller coaster which is only in the air for thirty seconds, but you will ride in a massive wheel that puts you a hundred feet in the air and slowly lowers you down?" Shadow questioned, genuinely confused by Amy's logic.

"It's peaceful though!" Amy responded, Shadow just shook his head, here goes the bickering again.

"You don't make sense." Shadow teased as Amy stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" Amy mocked Shadow as a thought occurred to him. He smiled devilishly, and Amy feared what was going through the mind of the ebony hedgehog before her.

"Um...what are you thinking about?" Amy asked, afraid of what possible idea Shadow just had.

"How about this, I'll ride the Ferris Wheel, if you ride the roller coaster, and you have to sit in the very front." Shadow offered, the pink hedgehog shook her head in fright.

"No! I told you I don't do roller coasters." Amy said as Shadow just continued to smirk.

"Well then unfortunately for you, I don't do Ferris Wheels then." A silence fell amongst the two of them. Shadow crossed his arms with a knowing smirk, he was going to win this, and he was going to win this with a clean sweep. It had come to this stalemate and Amy wasn't going to give in, but what choice did she have? She wanted Shadow to get on the Ferris Wheel with her but Shadow was too stubborn for his own good. This one time she would let him win, just this once. Amy let out a sigh of regret as she hung her head low in defeat.

"Okay, let's go the roller coaster." Shadow was beaming ear to ear on the inside, it was now his turn to grab her by the wrist and drag her to the roller coaster. As they were making their way over to the coaster however, Shadow's stomach let out a massive growl, similar to that of a grizzly bear stopping the two hedgehogs in their tracks.

"Well I'd say someone's hungry, no wonder you were so grumpy earlier." Amy jokingly said as Shadow held his hand over his stomach.

"You can say that again, you wanna grab something to eat?" Shadow asked, as Amy pulled out her wallet.

"You don't have to say that again." Amy said, and in a flash she was already bolting towards one of the food booths. Shadow decided that he would just let her go and get it, he could wait for her for a couple minutes. She ordered a couple of hot dogs and two things of cotton candy for her and Shadow. As she was handed her food by the food booth worker she heard something on his portable radio in the back. She took her food and made her way to the side of the booth where the door was open, she could hear a familiar tune playing. It was Thoughts of June by Controlling Chaos. She couldn't believe her ears, this is the song I sang with Shadow a while ago, Amy thought wondrously as she continued to hear the song play out, she mouthed the words as the song came to its finish and quickly went to commercial break. Amy decided that this was her cue to leave when all of a sudden voices came onto the radio, and her eyes widened at what those voices on the radio had to say.

"Hello everyone! Jeff Laker here from E123 Alt. Rock Nation, and I'm here today to greet and interview the mighty, Controlling Chaos!" The radio host extended his hand to shake the band members' hands as they made their way into the studio room. After they had all shaken the radio host's hand they sat down around him, ready to be interviewed. "So guys, how have you been? You guys are fresh off of touring and you have a new album in the works, I've heard how is that all coming along?" Jeff asked, Sonic was the one to answer first.

"It's been great actually, we have a lot of good chemistry working in the studio with one another and the songs flow naturally, thankfully we have been blessed with having a successful career that has given us so much and in return has allowed us to give back in return." Sonic turned to Knuckles who then answered Jeff's question next.

"It really has been an adventure with this new album, we just keep coming up with new ideas and we have just been really inspired, one thing that amazes me is this guys' lead guitar playing over here." Knuckles, patted Silver's back as he continued to talk, "This guy has been absolutely phenomenal to work with both in and out of the studio and let me tell you this guy can shred. I'm so glad we picked this guy up when we did, it made us realize that we didn't need Shadow to reach our full potential."

"Agreed!" Tails yelled out as Jeff looked at each of the members before asking another question.

"Speaking of Silver, what has it been like having a career like yours? It's been successful no doubt about it, having seven platinum albums and countless number one hits, lavish world tours, what is it like looking back?"

"See that's the funny thing, we don't really stop to look back," Sonic addressed, "instead we kind of just go our own way and we do what we like whenever we like. We have had a successful career but we did that, nobody else. We changed our sound and instead of being hair metal like when we started out." The rest of the guys snickered as the remembered those horrendous days back when they first started in the garage. "However, we forged ahead with a heavier and grungier sound that we carried into today and we owe much of our success to that and working with Silver who has been able to provide us with some of the best songs that we could have possibly ever come up with." Jeff nodded his head, taking all of this in, he was enjoying their answers he really was but he felt as though it was time to move away from the band and ask a more personal question.

"Tails, here's a question for you, what's it feel like to know that you will soon be a married man?" Tails' face blushed profusely as the guys of Controlling Chaos laughed at him. It was true, soon he was to be married to Cream, his love of almost twenty years. How she had stayed with him for that long without getting pissed at him for his rock n roll lifestyle and antics he never did know. However, he was just grateful that she did.

"It feels amazing, probably the most euphoric feeling on the planet." Tails admitted as the rest of the guys continued to poke fun at Tails for being so sincere with his answer.

"Too bad he can't get laid anymore from the groupies." Knuckles blurted out to much laughter from the guys.

"Well at least I can keep a girl in a bedroom for longer than five minutes." Tails countered as the echidna quickly began to fall into a rage.

"I told you that was one time!" Knuckles yelled as Tails continued to smirk.

"Sure it was." Tails replied as the red echidna began to stand up from his seat.

"I'll show you, ya little brat!" Knuckles screamed as he lurched towards Tails, however he was quickly caught by both Sonic and Silver who had to restrain him. Jeff didn't have the faintest clue as to how to defuse the situation so he just stayed put in his seat, thinking of yet another question to ask. An idea came to him, and with a smile he asked.

"So you guys announced yesterday that you are holding a contest? Care to shed some more light on that?" The question was enough to calm the four battling bandmates into a stalemate, they all sat back down in their seats and Sonic, chose to take the mantle as leader and answer the question.

"Yeah, so the contest is very simple. All you have to do is send in a demo tape of your band, or if you are a solo artist just send in a recording of yourself and our record company will review it. If we like it enough not only will you get a one album record deal, you will also have the opportunity to open for Controlling Chaos on our upcoming world tour this summer! Just send in your tapes to Killswitch records and the executives will choose the winner! Send them in by the end of August and we will announce the winner September first! Good luck!" Jeff thanked the guys for coming onto the show and shook their hands once again as they made their way out the room since that was all the time that they had.

"We will be right back after these messages." Jeff said as the station went to commercial break.

Amy continued to hold the food in her hands as she stood in awe at what she heard on the radio. A contest? This is a golden opportunity! Amy thought excitedly as she thought of her and Shadow winning and being able to record an album together. Shadow is going to need a band though, him and I can't just do this alone, he needs to branch out and get help from other musicians, and I think I know someone who can do just that. I just don't think I should tell him that the contest is being held by Controlling Chaos, that would make him not want to do it, I'll just not tell him, Amy thought worriedly at what would happen if Shadow did find out that Amy was withholding information like that from him. He'll find out eventually, but by then he will have already succeeded so it won't matter as much. The pink hedgehog had finally decided that she was going to take matters into her own hands. She had promised herself that she would help Shadow succeed and get his revenge at all costs, as well as her own revenge. Finally that blue hedgehog will get his coming to him, from both me and Shadow. He deserves it after everything he has done to the both of us. Amy's muzzle had now formed a confident smile as she walked back towards Shadow with the food, he had his back turned to her not even noticing her approaching him.

"You're going to get yours finally, Sonic the Hedgehog."

A/N: So what does this all mean? Stay tuned to find out! I've decided that I'll try to update every Thursday if I can if not expect it by the end of the weekend, but even then with college and work I can't make promises, but I can promise you is a good story! Till next time!