His eyes shot open, bloodshot and with bags underneath them, as the morning sun peered through the window. If there was one thing he was a stranger to in the past several months, it was the ability to get a decent night's sleep. For as long as he could remember, every night that had gone by prevented him from sleeping. The main cause was from the dreams he kept having; although they weren't nightmares, they had nightmare qualities to them. As a result, on this morning, like every morning, he awoken with his heart racing and anger running through his veins.

Soon, he sat up and looked out the window that was to his left. The sun was bright and the day was full of life. Birds were chirping and the wild flowers that grew outside were vibrant and full of life. However, none of this mattered to him. The only thing that pulsed through his body was one small word: revenge.

He got up from his queen-sized bed and left his wide room to the hallway. From there, he made his way to the kitchen and smelled something that was rather good and refreshing. When he got in his extremely large kitchen, with an island in the center and all the necessary components around it, he saw what smelled so good.

A black coffee pot was brewing and the stove-top was in full swing. On the range were several strips of bacon being sizzled, filling the air with their rich scent. Mixed with the smell of the coffee being brewed, he couldn't help but smile and inhale, taking in all the good smells.

"Good morning," said a female voice by the island, "I hope you don't mind, but I've already started making breakfast."

Sitting on one of the stools around the island was a seventeen-year-old bat girl. Her blue-green eyes were wide and full of dazzle. She had large ears on both sides of her head and two big wings on her back. She wore a pink bathrobe, slightly opened in the front, showing a little bit of her chest from within. As he approached and sat next to her she batted her eyelashes at him and smiled.

"Hello Rouge," said the black hedgehog, his voice deep and raspy sounding, "No, I don't mind that you made breakfast. I've come to like your cooking, as a matter of fact."

She got up and attended to the food as he sat there and watched her.

After she was done, she turned to him and said, "Did you sleep well or were you up all night again?"

"I slept a little," he said, turning his back on her, "Maybe for a few hours, but…"

"But," she interrupted, "You were dreaming about Amy Rose again, isn't that right, Shadow?"

"What makes you say that?" he asked, turning to face her.

Without answering, she opened the drawer next to the refrigerator and pulled out a small mirror and handed it to him. He looked at it and inspected his physique. His black fur was all scrawny looking and all over the place. His black and red-striped quills were all scruffy looking and all over the place. There were dark circles under his eyes and veins all around his red irises. In short, he didn't look too good.

"Alright, so I don't look like a basket of roses," he said, handing her the mirror, "But what makes you think I was dreaming about Amy, again?"

"Because," she said, as she continued making breakfast, "Omega and I, both, heard you saying her name in your sleep again. It's pretty obvious you were dreaming about her, isn't that right, Omega?"

Shadow turned his head and looked behind him. In the opposite doorway of the kitchen stood a really large robot, with massive arms, red eyes and chicken-like legs. On one of his arms was the Greek "Omega" symbol in red and on his side were the numbers: E-123.

Shadow got up and opened the silver and black refrigerator. He fished around for a moment until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a large bottle with a green-colored fluid inside of it. Then, he pulled out a small glass from the closet and poured it into the glass. Finally, he opened the freezer and put a few ice-cubes in it.

"Hold up a second, Shadow," protested Rouge, "What are you drink-"

"It's Mountain Dew, Rouge," he said, as he shot her a dirty look, "Relax."

With that, he walked into the living room, sat on the couch and lounged back, sipping his drink and sighing heavily. Rouge and Omega exchanged worried glances at one another, even though Rouge couldn't tell if Omega's face was worried or not. They both knew what had happened to Shadow some months ago and both of them felt worried. No one knew what Shadow was thinking; all they knew was that he was bidding his time, waiting for something to happen.

Without hesitation, Rouge removed whatever food was cooking off the stove and accompanied Shadow on the leather couch in the extravagantly enormous living room, complete with a 60" flat-screen television, a leather couch and love seat and a coffee table in the dead center of everything. Large windows surrounded the room, creating a vast amount of light to come in.

"What's wrong, Shadow?" asked Rouge, as she put her hand on his shoulders, "You seem troubled about something. Is there something you'd like to talk about?"
Shadow huffed as he said, "Everything's fine, so quit asking."

Rouge shook her head. "Shadow, look at yourself. We live in a big villa with almost everything we could ever want and yet you seem so miserable all the time, especially in the past few months. Is this girl even worth any of this?"

Shadow furrowed his eyebrows. "She's worth everything to me."
"You need to let her go, Shadow," she said, crossing her arms, "If you really love her like you say you do, you'd let her be happy with Sonic and…"

"NEVER SAY THAT NAME IN THIS HOUSE!" shouted Shadow, cutting her off. His quick outburst caught Rouge off guard, startling her into silence for a moment.

After a few moments, she continued, "The point is that you need to put her behind you and move on. There are other fish in the sea, you know…some closer than others."

Shadow shook his head and said, "I can't let her go. Believe me, I've tried so hard to pretend like I don't know her, like the feelings I have never existed. However, the more I try to forget her, the more I realize that we need each other. She deserves better than that fake advertisement, that faker."

Then, an evil smile came across his face. "Luckily for me, I've been able to devise the perfect strategy to pull them away for each other, for her to see just how much she doesn't love him."

"Is that so?" asked Rouge, "And how, may I ask, do you plan on doing that?"

"All in due time," he said, the evil smile still on his face, "I've been watching them since they started dating each other. I know that he's willing to do anything to keep her out of danger. Little does he know that his own worry will be his ultimate undoing."

"Shadow?" she asked, worry in her voice, "What are you up to, now?"

"Patience is a virtue," he answered, leaning back some more, "All in due time. By later this afternoon, a special news broadcast will be aired. As soon as it's done and the two of them watch it, the real fun will begin."

Rouge still looked worried. "What kind of broadcast? What have you done?"

"I've only done what I must," answered Shadow, as he flipped on the television, "I swore to myself that Amy Rose would someday be mine. I've waited seven long and pain-staking months for this window of opportunity to arise. Now that it has, my perfect plan will come into full effect."