Me: Here it is! The result of the cliffhanger.

Sonic: Finally! I thought you would NEVER get to writing this!

Shadow: Get going!

Me: Calm down, a bit, will ya? I need peace to write.

*Shadow and Sonic scream at me*

Me: That's not peace.

*silence*

Me: Better.


The boys looked down at what had been spelled out. 'Grand Gem' had been transformed into 'Dr. Eggman.'

"Son of a bitch…" Sonic whispered. He shook his head. "I should have known." Shadow stared blankly at the name that had been spelled out.

"No wonder he's never out of money," Silver said. The group stared at the tiles and slowly sat back. "How do we go up against him?" Silver wondered aloud.

"Easy!" Sonic shouted. He folded his hands behind his head and relaxed against the bed. "I've done it countless times already. It's always a piece of cake."

"Yeah, but this time, this is his home base. His security will be much more difficult to bypass than ever," Tails pointed out. Sonic opened his mouth. "We're going to have to be secretive this time." Sonic closed his mouth and nodded.

"So, when can we start?" Shadow asked.

"What?" Silver asked, confused.

"Start scoping it out. Check out the security, get an idea of what Eggman's been doing," Shadow stated.

"It's not that easy," Tails said. "He's in the middle of the forest. He didn't choose that for the scenery. He chose it because it's easier to keep an eye on who comes and goes. We don't know what he has planted around the perimeter. It could be bombs, trip wires, pitfalls, we just don't know." Sonic inspected his shoes. "He could also have dozens of his robots patrolling the area too. We could be walking directly into his grasp."

"We could at least get within a mile. See what we can see," Shadow suggested.

"Not a bad idea, but we don't have that time during the week. Let's wait until the weekend," Tails replied.

"Only problem with that is, I'm stuck in a genius' body," Shadow said. "I can't do all of that AP crap."

"Did you get any papers?" Sonic asked.

"No," Shadow replied. "They didn't give me any or call me up." Sonic narrowed his eyes in frustration.

"You're supposed to go up and ask to see what you missed. It's standard practice in my classes," Sonic said loudly. Shadow jumped to his feet.

"Well, I'm not in your smarty-ass classes!" Shadow sneered. Sonic jumped up, facing Shadow.

"No one asked you to be in them!" Sonic half-shouted.

"Well, I never wanted to be in them in the first place!" Shadow retorted. Tails and Silver's gaze flickered between the arguing teens.

"Well good! No one would want to deal with you anyways!" Sonic yelled.

"No one wants to bother with you either, fag!" Shadow screamed. That cut Sonic right to the core. He withered and quietly lay down on his bed. Shadow instantly regretted what he said. Silver and Tails exchanged glances and silently agreed to stay silent. This wasn't their problem.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Shadow said. He gently put his hand on Sonic's side. Sonic swatted it away.

"Don't fucking touch me!" he shouted. Shadow felt awful. He struggled to find the words to say.

"Sonic…" Sonic didn't flinch. "I'm really sorry. I really shouldn't be cruel to you. You've been nothing but kind to me, and I just ruined that. I'm sorry." On an impulse, Shadow went and hugged his friend's shivering form. The contact shocked Sonic slightly. He didn't expect Shadow to show any other emotion other than anger. He twisted a little and returned the hug. After a few moments, they broke apart, inches separating their faces. Shadow looked into his own ruby red eyes. He looked up and down, inspecting his face.

"God, I look ugly," Shadow said. Sonic laughed.

"Not as ugly as I look," Sonic replied. They both laughed. They turned to face their friends. Both Tails and Silver looked beyond confused.

"What?" asked Shadow.

"Is… there something going on between you two?" Silver asked. Sonic and Shadow instantly split apart like the other was poison.

"No! Of course not!" Sonic said quickly.

"I'm straight!" Shadow said loudly. "I'm also in a relationship…"

"Two. Relationships," Sonic pointed out. "And I'm in one too."

Silver raised his hands in surrender. "I was just asking. Jeez."

Shadow stole a glance at Sonic. He looked confused. What could be going on in his mind? Shadow couldn't figure out what he was feeling. There was something strange about Sonic. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He shrugged it off. Or at least tried to. That something was tugging at his mind. He rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of that strange feeling.

"Hey Shadow? Are you all right?" Sonic asked in a worried tone. Shadow snapped back to reality.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine," Shadow said quietly. Sonic raised one eyebrow. "I'm fine," Shadow said strongly. Sonic shrugged and turned back to Silver and Tails.

"Okay, so Saturday morning, around… let's say 8:00, we all come here and head off to investigate Eggman's base. Sound good?" Sonic said. The boys nodded in agreement. "Great!" Sonic clapped his hands together.

"But what am I supposed to do while we wait?" Shadow complained. "I can't do your schedule, Sonic."

"Yes, yes. I heard you the first time," Sonic said impatiently. He ran a hand down his face in frustration. "Just fake it. Say… that you lost too much time so you don't understand and are busy after school so you can't stay after for extra help. Just get what I missed so I can read it over. Is that okay?" Shadow shrugged.

"It should be okay. I'll try to take notes," Shadow said.

"Try?" Sonic said incredulously. Shadow held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay," Shadow said. "I will take good notes," Shadow promised.

"Good." Sonic said. There was a brief, awkward silence. None of the boys knew what to say. Suddenly, Shadow shot up.

"Shit! I almost forgot about Amy!" he shouted. Tails looked at Shadow questioningly.

"I made a date with Amy a few weeks ago." He swung around to glare at Sonic. "You better be there. She would kill me if I missed our date." Sonic shrugged.

"I wouldn't even know where to start. She was my stalker for the longest time. If she realizes…"

"But she won't," Shadow said firmly. "She does all of the talking. Just nod occasionally and act sympathetic. Works like a charm."

"If you say so. But I don't want to have sex with her. No way." Sonic crossed his arms.

"Fine. If she insists, tell her that… you're not in the mood."

"Okay. I'll go through with it. What time are we supposed to meet and where?" Sonic asked.

"Uhh… shit. I can't remember." Shadow put his arm out. "Give me my phone." Sonic dug in his pocket and brought out a cell phone. Shadow grabbed it and sent a text to Amy, asking about their date. Shadow looked over at Tails and Silver and noticed that Tails was blushing and giggling at something Silver had said. He raised an eyebrow, but Tails didn't notice. He was focused on Silver. Shadow leaned over to Sonic.

"Is… are they… I mean…" Shadow whispered.

"Not sure about Silver, but I know Tails likes him," Sonic whispered back. "He confided in me a few weeks ago." Sonic's gaze whipped to the pair on the floor and noticed Silver had a huge grin on his face. "Hmm. I'll keep an eye on them for now." Shadow's phone buzzed. Shadow whipped it open.

Shadow, you are hopeless. We're meeting at Friendly's at 5 and the movie theater later for the show at 7. We're seeing Think Like a Man. And then my place. Sound familiar? Sonic read the text over Shadow's shoulder.

"Wow. That's such a cliché date. You could at least think of something other than dinner and a movie. Be creative! Go to an arcade, walk around in the park! Something different!" Sonic commented.

"It was her idea. If I had my way, we would do those things. But, she loves her chick flicks. I can't get around that," Shadow replied. A grin flashed across Sonic's mouth and an eyebrow rose.

"So who's wearing the pants in your relationship?" Sonic teased. Shadow's face darkened in anger. He sputtered for a minute, trying to find words. Sonic laughed. Shadow tried to find something to say to yell at him, but something about the way Sonic's face crinkled when he laughed softened Shadow's anger.

His anger slowly faded, replaced by laughter. After he calmed down, his gaze drifted to Sonic. Some feeling welled up inside of him. It was something powerful. Something he had never felt before. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. But his thoughts drifted to Sonic. What was it? He snapped back to reality when Sonic waved his hand in front of Shadow's face.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked.

"I'm fine. Just… distracted is all." Sonic shrugged and turned to Tails and Silver, who were now both blushing.

"What about you two?" Shadow asked. Tails and Silver instantly turned their attention to Shadow. They slowly inched closer. "Is there something going on?" Tails and Silver looked at each other.

"I… I'm not sure," Tails said after a while.

"I'm sure," Silver said strongly. He sprang on top of Tails and kissed him. Tails was shocked at first, but kissed back passionately very quickly. Shadow surprised himself. Instead of being repulsed, he thought it was cute.

Tails and Silver broke apart. "Wow," Tails breathed. Silver just nodded and went back for more. Sonic loudly cleared his throat.

"Not to put a damper on this adorable relationship, but I don't want anything happening right now. My mom is home, and we're still in the room. Wait until later." The couple reluctantly separated. Tails gave a quick peck to Silver's cheek. Silver turned his head to face Tails and smiled. A small smile spread across Tails' face. They reached for each other and clasped their hands together.

They look adorable. Shadow thought. And they're both guys! How come I'm not shocked or disgusted? He wondered. He shook his head. Suddenly, he remembered his date with Amy. "Shit," he whispered.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"The date with Amy. I… I mean you need to get ready," Shadow said. Sonic exhaled into his hand and sniffed it. He lifted his arms to look for any sweat stains. He looked up at Shadow.

"I'm good," Sonic said with a grin. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"You need to do more than that!" Shadow exclaimed. He grabbed Sonic's hand. Suddenly, he felt his stomach flip. "We're going to my place. I'll be able to fix you up right." He faced Tails and Silver. "Sorry, but we have to go." He dashed out of the room and bounded down the stairs. "Bye, mom!" He called, trying to keep up the charade. The pair dashed out of the house and raced down the sidewalk.


Me: There's the end!

Sonic: What about the date?

Shadow: And getting ready?

Me: That's going in the next chapter.

Sonic: But I wanted to see what was going to happen!

Me: I know. But this was starting to get long.

Sonic: It's not that long!

Me: But it's more fun to watch you squirm and wait.

Shadow: Hmmph. Start writing!

Me: Be patient.

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