Yay it's Satur- oh wait. Yes, I know this chapter is late but I haven't been well lately and I just didn't have the mental energy to focus. Not a big deal, it's here now. Better late than never right?

I really don't have much to say this week. Nothing majorly exciting usually happens. I'm the kind of person that gets excited by the smaller things but I won't go on about them.

Anyway, here's the chapter and I'll see you again next week!

Arby xx

The next morning could not have come quick enough. I spent the night enduring the voices alone which severely impacted my mental state. I felt entirely numb of all emotion as the sun rose and didn't care that I was shivering violently. The strange part was that it wasn't cold… I was.

Vector was the first to come downstairs but I'm certain that Espio would have been the first to awaken, knowing how much he enjoys the early mornings. I didn't get up or say anything and the green croc tried his best to be quiet as he got some coffee and sat at his desk. I'm pretty sure he thought I was still asleep but I was far too busy staring at the back of the couch to think. Since my only sight was brown, worn cushions, I relied on my hearing to try and figure out what was going on. Pages were being turned nearby with the occasional gulp of coffee. Subtle, almost silent footsteps then came from the stairs. Obviously not Charmy, he practically charges down them as if mimicking a stampede. It was Espio who approached Vector and began to talk.

"Vector, good morning." He began.

"Mornin' Es." He greeted in return.

"Did you hear anything last night?" It was an odd question in its own right but then it came back to me; Nocturne with Shadow's motorbike the night before. My eyes widened but I didn't give any indication that I was awake.

"Not a thing, why?" Vector asked.

"I heard an engine, or to be more precise, a motorcycle engine."

"So?" The big boss didn't see the point but Espio was quick to explain.

"I think Shadow was here last night."

"What?!" Vector exclaimed. To my surprise, Espio shushed him. Was he being considerate? I doubt it, he probably just didn't want me finding out but he had no idea. There was silence for several seconds and I could feel both their eyes burning through my head hoping that I wouldn't 'wake up'.

"Why would Shadow come here?" The larger reptile's voice now nearly a whisper.

"That I am uncertain. Nothing has been taken and there are no signs of damage, except for some tyre marks from when he left."

"Nocturne, you fucking idiot." I thought.

"So why?" He repeated.

"Again, I don't know. My only idea is that he could have been scouting although I have no idea what for." Espio explained. Vector was obviously clueless, of course neither of them had any idea who was actually here.

"There isn't much we can do for now. He didn't do any damage and that's what matters. If Shadow is up to something then chances are we'll know about it." Espio said nothing else and returned to his room. I 'slept' for a bit longer until I decided that it had been long enough for it to look like I had just woken up on my own. After doing the usual 'pretend to stretch and yawn' routine, I got up and said my greetings.

"Hey Vec."

"Mornin' Arby." A genuine smile on his face as he spoke. "Can I ask ya somethin'?" I knew what he was going to say but played along nonetheless.

"Sure, what's up?"

"You didn't by any chance hear a motorbike or anythin' last night did ya?" I shook my head. I couldn't just throw Nocturne into the fire even if she did deserve it, especially with the amount of times that she's been there for me.

"Nope, why?"

"Oh, Espio said he heard an engine and he thinks Shadow might be up to somethin'."

"Why?" I questioned.

"That's what I asked. Espio thought he may have been scouting. With no leads though, there's nothing we can do." I nodded my head before heading into the kitchen.

"Any plans for today then?"

"Nothing so far but it is still early so you never know." How could he be so optimistic? I never understood how anyone could look on the brighter side of things. To me, it was just setting yourself up for a let-down. At least if you were pessimistic, you would be pleasantly surprised every time something good crossed your path. "You should at least make the most of the day though. I'm quite content just sitting by the phone."

"But… don't you need me here?" I said whilst poking my head back through the doorway.

"I'm not saying you have to go anywhere. You're perfectly welcome to relax on the couch but the weather's gonna be another scorcher and it would be more fun in the city. Don't worry about here; you've got my permission to take the day off." After thinking it over for a few moments, I decided what the heck and ventured around the maze of sky-reaching towers.

Being in large crowds was something that always bothered me and now was no exception. I was certain that if someone was watching the chaos from above, it would look like thousands of ants going in each and every direction. After nearly getting run over three times, I made it to the main shopping mall that I remembered seeing with Charmy and Nocturne. I didn't have any particular reason for being here, I didn't even know if I was going to get anything. The variety of smaller shops within this shopaholic paradise was mind-blowing. I had never seen anything like it since I had lived in just a small town for the majority of my life.

There were three floors, each with escalators leading to them. There were stores for clothing, games, general groceries, jewellery, musical instruments, fast food; even on the bottom floor there was a dealership for cars and motorbikes! Just being in this place with its constant busy atmosphere kept the excitement firmly flowing in my veins.

I kept browsing around, only getting a coke with ice once the warmth got a bit too much and I'm the kind of person who would wear multiple jackets during the summer so I knew my fur was doing its job.

I got some quick lunch at a café nearby before taking a look at the motorbikes on the bottom floor. They were all far out of my reach since only having a few hundred rings. One in particular caught my eye; it was dark purple with a dark red lightning bolt on either side. It was the same kind of bike as Shadow's except smaller, also why I took a liking to it since I'm not exactly the tallest person to exist.

"One day…" I thought as if there was some kind of chance of me getting nearly the 10,000 rings required for the thing.

Suddenly, I was tackled from behind and sent to the floor with a painful slam to the head.

"SONIIIICCC!" The name screeched horribly in my ear and that alone was enough to tell me who it was. I was stunned for a few moments after the impact and I could hear someone else calling out.

"Amy, that's not Sonic!" The pink hedgehog got off of me and spoke.

"Oh my! I'm so so so sorry Shadow!" She said unnaturally quickly as she helped me to my feet. I held the part of my head that took the beating and groaned in pain. "Wait a sec… you aren't Shadow."

"No kidding." I said coldly.

"Who are you?"

"Amy!" The other voice called out. She was closer this time and now I could tell who it was. Cream came running up to us and quickly explained to Amy who I was. "This is Arby, one of the Chaotix who I told you about, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" She suddenly went all embarrassed which I couldn't help but smirk at. "You uh… do look a lot like Shadow though."

"You aren't the first to notice." I told her, remembering Charmy's comments when I first got here. I did wonder how on Mobius she mistook me for Sonic. I then remembered that I'm not the first. She also mistook Shadow and Silver for the blue blur as well. Thinking deeper, I wondered if her obsession with him was causing her to hallucinate that every hedgehog she saw was her supposed 'one and only'. I inwardly freaked out at the thought realising that it was a logical explanation and even began to feel a little sympathetic towards her.

"Are you ok?" Cream spoke up.

"Oh, uh… yeah. My head hurts though." I said.

"We were about to head to Tails' workshop before I noticed you. Do you want to come? We can put something on your head. Consider it an apology for jumping on you like that." Amy explained. I smiled and nodded. The three of us then left the mall with me following close behind.

Meanwhile…

"Shouldn't you be at home? You don't live here you know." The grumpy hedgehog spat at Nocturne who was relaxing on the couch. He was still pissed after finding out that she took his bike, and even more pissed when he found that she crashed it.

"Who says I can't? Besides, I technically work for you now so I should be able to drop by and stick around whenever I please." Her voice sounded so casual that it wound Shadow up further.

"Not here you can't. You should be getting info for us, now go and do it before something unfortunate happens." His voice had a growl to it but as usual, the reptile wasn't phased.

"Already throwing empty threats at me? Sheesh, when you get off your man period, let me know." Shadow's fists had clenched by this point but he still remained behind the couch as she got up. "I gotta admit though, this communicator is cool. It completely blends in with my arm." Rouge walked up to them both and spoke.

"Remember to use that thing once you're certain that no one else is around and be sure to inform us of anything and everything. I know you won't let us down even if Shadow isn't so sure." The bat teased.

"You're the one who brought a random chameleon to our hideout and you still expect me to trust her instantly?" Shadow said with a glare.

"I'm guessing my word isn't enough for you?" Nocturne asked.

"No." Shadow stated bluntly causing Nocturne to roll her eyes.

"Whatever grouchy. I'll be sure to stir things up, don't you worry." She smirked and winked at the both of them before heading for the door. Once gone, Rouge turned to Shadow who looked like he was about to Chaos Blast the entire apartment block to oblivion.

"We can always get you a new one." She told him, referring to his destroyed motorcycle.

"Crazy bitch." He returned with his arms folded.

Meanwhile…

When they said Tails' workshop, I thought of just a garage that had workbenches and parts lying around. While that image was somewhat accurate, what caught me by surprise was the house attached to it and the runway with the Tornado parked in a hangar behind it.

"Is Tails rich? Look at this place! It's amazing!" I asked whilst looking in awe at the structure before me.

"Everything you see here he built himself from scratch." Cream told me.

"What? Seriously? I thought he only specialised in machinery?"

"He favours machinery yes, but he can build anything if he puts his mind to it." Amy added as we walked up and knocked on the garage door. I looked around and gasped at the huge satellite dish on the roof.

"How does the roof not collapse?" I thought before the door sliding upwards brought me back.

"Hey everyone!" Tails greeted with a wrench in his hand. Each of us said our hello's until it got to me. "I haven't seen you before." The fox walked up to me and held out his hand. "I'm Tails, what's your name?"

"Arby." I replied as I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. I must say that you look a lot like someone I know."

"If you mean Shadow then again, you aren't the first to notice." I looked at Amy who deliberately pretended that I wasn't there.

"Oh did she mistake you for Sonic?" Tails asked once he noticed who I was focused on.

"Tails!" She exclaimed.

"Heh, sorry. She does that a lot. Are you ok?" He stared at me trying his best to ignore Amy's fiery expression.

"Just a knock to the head." I told him.

"I've got ice packs in the house. Follow me." We all did just that and went through the side door in the garage and into his very spacious living room/kitchen. There were gadgets and tech everywhere which I also assumed he had made himself. He approached the giant fridge/freezer and the door opened on its own. He got out an ice pack and handed it to me which I placed on my head. "Feel free to make yourselves at home." He said warmly as he gestured to the sofas which were overshadowed by the biggest wall-mounted TV I had ever seen. The most amazing part was that it came out of the wall whenever someone was nearby. I sat down to notice several buttons on the arm. At the risk of being one of the few to be murdered by a couch, I pushed one and was relieved when it reclined back.

"This is awesome." I announced to the others.

"This place really is incredible. Yet he still adds and improves bits and pieces every day. I don't think a moment goes by where he isn't tinkering with something." Cream explained. Tails sat down opposite the three of us and spoke proudly about his current project.

"Before you got here, I was working on some thermal cameras which I'm planning on putting on the Tornado. I don't usually fly in bad weather for obvious reasons but if there was an emergency and we needed to fly during a storm, then we would need some way of knowing what was in front of us."

"That's a good idea." Cream complimented getting an embarrassed 'thanks' from the fox himself.

"So, I take it Sonic isn't here?" Amy suddenly asked. I rolled my eyes; I knew she would inquire about the blue mammal at some point.

"No, he went for a run a while ago but he should be back soon." It then occurred to me that I hadn't met the blue hedgehog before. I suddenly became nervous; my thoughts of the guy were similar to Shadow's. I personally thought that he was immature, cocky and arrogant. Out of the entire Sonic cast, it was the main mammal himself that I disliked the most. As if hearing his name from a mile away, the blue boy himself came to a sudden halt in the living room.

"Hey guys-"

"SONIC!" Amy squealed as she leapt on him as if he was a magnet. I cringed slightly, now knowing how much those death hugs really could hurt.

"Uh… hey… Amy." He struggled within her grasp. Sonic somehow managed to get her off of him before greeting the rest of us. I got an odd look when his emerald eyes fell upon me. "Shadow? What are you doing here?"

"Are you kidding me?" I said calmly in response. Once he heard my voice, he then realised his error.

"Woops… my bad. You just-"

"Look a lot like him, I'm aware." I finished for him. "I'm Arby, not Shadow." We both chuckled.

"I'm Sonic. I'm guessing that head injury is from 'you know who'." He nudged his head in Amy's direction. How she didn't notice is beyond me. I nodded and we both chuckled again before his strange look from earlier returned. "Still, you do look familiar. I know I've seen you somewhere." Everyone suddenly focused on me as if I had murdered someone. I glanced around nervously before Tails jumped up in realisation.

"She was on the news!" We all collectively looked at him as he went on. "She stopped Eggman in the park remember? She was with Charmy and a chameleon!"

"Oh yeah!" Everyone else soon remembered and my face went redder than Knuckles' hair. Cream already knew but I think she just chose to stay quiet, I couldn't blame her.

"That was cool what you guys did." Sonic praised. "Out of curiosity, who was that chameleon? It was definitely not Espio."

"That was my sister, Nocturne." My voice seemed to sadden as I spoke her name. She was still out there and I had no idea where with Shadow's bike, assuming she still had it.

"You alright?" The blue hedgehog asked.

"I haven't seen her much these past few days. I was wondering if any of you might have seen her?" I made it sound as if I was asking out of worry but in truth, I was asking to make sure no one saw her with Shadow's bike. One by one, they all shook their heads… except for Tails.

"I saw something late last night!"

"What did you see?" I asked him.

"I was testing out the new cameras on the Tornado. The ones I was telling you about before I decided to make them thermal. Anyway, I was flying around the city when the cameras picked up a motorbike charging through the streets. Thank Chaos they were empty. I kept watching it until it went out of control and smashed into the side of one of the buildings." My face went very pale. "I landed to investigate but there was no one around, just the burning bike. So I can only assume whoever was riding it made it out ok." I calmed a little knowing that she was alive but she could have been injured which could lead to worse things.

"I hope that wasn't her." I said as if I had no idea.

"Don't worry!" Sonic said as he jumped back into the conversation. "I'm sure Nocturne is ok!" He gave his usual grin and thumbs up as if it was some kind of package deal. I used to question if he just said that or if he really knew that it would be ok; now I knew that he just said it. I nodded just to keep him happy before checking the time on my music player. I was surprised to see that it was half four. Had time really flown that quickly?

"I'd better get back to the Chaotix. It's getting late." I announced to everyone.

"Do you know your way back from here?" Amy pointed out. I slowly shook my head, realising that I didn't.

"We can show you, we're going that way anyway." Cream offered and I was grateful. We all said our goodbyes before heading out.

We were all quiet at first and it honestly felt a little awkward but as usual, Amy was the one to start up a conversation.

"So what's it like living with the Chaotix? I bet it's dull since nothing happens there." She spoke as if she had any idea what it was like. I gave a cold look even though she was looking forward at the time.

"Actually, it's one of the most welcoming places I've ever been in."

"Wow, really?" She sounded surprised, but why? I decided not to dwell on the subject and we all continued to walk. "What's Charmy like? Does he bug you to? Pardon the pun." Again, another harsh glare resumed its position. Where was she getting these stereotypes from? They were really starting to get on my nerves.

"What do you mean 'bug me to'? He doesn't 'bug' me at all. In fact, the little guy and I get on really well."

"Wow, you must have some impressive tolerance then." At that moment, I wanted to tell her to shut her mouth but I thought better of it. To me, she sounded like a bully. I wouldn't be surprised if she picked on Charmy if he was ever around. A silent rage bubbled in my gut.

"If she ever did that in front of me…" I thought but then stopped once we were outside the Chaotix door.

"Thanks for walking me back you guys." I said trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Not a problem. We're actually having tea and cakes at Tails' place tomorrow. You can come if you want?" Amy suggested.

"It would be great to get to know you better!" Cream chirped happily at me. Oddly, I only just noticed that Cheese wasn't around and suddenly felt the urge to ask about the little Chao.

"I know this is off topic, but where's Cheese?"

"Oh, Cheese is at home. He wasn't feeling well." The young rabbit informed me.

"Aww, tell him that I hope he gets better soon." I said with a warm smile, which she gladly returned.

"Of course, thank you Arby."

"As for tomorrow, can I bring the others?" I said whilst pointing to the Chaotix building behind me.

"Sure! We don't get to see them enough." Cream said with excitement. I was quick to notice the irritated looked on Amy's face, even if she did try to hide it. Instead of getting mad, I took this opportunity to rub salt in the wound.

"Awesome! I'll be sure to bring them along." A wide grin was on my face.

"Come on Cream, I should get you home." Amy said sternly. She obviously noticed what I was doing.

"Ok, bye Arby!" I waved them off before going inside.

"Tomorrow is going to be fun."