A/N Hey 11th chapter now. Fun stuff this is. Amy is coming with Shadow to steal stuff, and Sonic basically got called the biggest asshole in the world.
I have to admit that's my personal opinion of Sonic. It annoys the shit out of me that he can't just tell Amy straight up it's not happening. He either just runs away or makes excuses. One of those situations where words speak louder then actions. Get my meaning? I hope that doesn't make people hate me. I'm not saying Sonic is a bad guy, far from it. It's just a character trait or two annoys me and makes me not like him.
Oh I should clarify ages Shadow is 21, Sonic,Amy, knuckles, and Blaze are 20, Silver is 19, Cream and Tails are 15. Rouge is 23…and anyone I'm missing that will also need clarifying oh! Vanilla is like 36-37ish, Vector is 34. Charmy is like 10 or 11. Espio is 29 I guess. Oh and Manic is 19 and Sonia 21. Sound good?... good.
Like every morning Shadow awoke from his couch hearing someone else was awake before him.
Looking up he hoped he could get a glance of who it was without having to get up. It was Cream the rabbit. Looked like she was making an early breakfast.
He groaned catching her attention "Oh I'm Sorry Mr. Shadow I didn't mean to wake you"
Shadow just groaned again trying to ignore her but the clanking plates made it hard "What'cha making?" he asked finally. He was quiet but her large ears easily picked it up.
"Eggs" she replied also softly.
"Oh he could got for some eggs right now "Make enough for two?"
"Yes, did you want anything else?" she asked politely.
His mouth watered, he vaguely remembered ham steaks being in the groceries and said "Get one of those ham steaks for me too"
He almost got comfortable but felt a bit rude to make Cream make his breakfast and eventually got off the couch. He didn't bother to get dressed quite yet so walked into the kitchen with just his pajama bottoms and shoes.
"Here I'll do my own, you worry about yourself" he was gradually getting more and more kind to the woman in the house. If it kept up like this he'd eventually be their slaves.
Cream smiled at his offer and proceeded to only make food for herself knowing he wouldn't take no for an answer. While she did that Shadow put the frozen ham steak into hot water in the sink.
He waited for her to finish her eggs reading the paper he got outside. Once she was finished he started making his own breakfast placing the ham steak on a frying pan and started to cook it.
The sizzling made it hard for him to hear anyone else coming downstairs. Which Amy did as he cooked.
For a few seconds Amy was staring at him from behind. She leaned against the wall admiring the view of the shirtless Shadow.
Although the moment was ruined when Cream said "Morning Amy"
Shadow turned and smiled "Morning Rose, you want something?" he offered.
He saw her visually shake her head, not as a no but as away to clear her head. To what he couldn't tell but she said "Uhhh, ya. What ya making?"
"Eggs and ham" he replied.
"Hope they aren't green" Amy chuckled.
"Uhhh… no… why?" the dark hedgehog asked confused. He had honestly never heard of Green eggs and ham once in his life so the joke was foreign to him.
Both girl looked at him oddly "Ummm… the book?"
"There's a book about green eggs and ham?" he asked confirming his cluelessness to the girls.
He looked between them "…what?"
"Forget about it" Amy waved him off.
Shadow was utterly confused but let it go like she asked.
Amy waited as Shadow cooked the two girls talking.
"Mostly about what Cream did with Tails yesterday. The little information she was able to get only raised suspicion.
Luckily for the rabbit Shadow was the to the rescue and served food to Amy and sat down with his own plate too.
Amy asked Shadow "So what are you gonna do today?"
The male trying to be secretive said "I need to do a few things for something coming up" he knew she knew what he meant so she nodded. No need getting poor Cream in on this. Even just knowing their plans she could be arrested for not reporting them in.
He found it kinda exciting to hide it from the girl, Vanilla and anyone else not apart of the their trio.
Amy nodded to his answer guessing he was getting atleast a suit ready for the night.
"And you?" Shadow asked his future date.
"Might go and find Sonic and see if he's free to do stuff" just wanting to someone to hang out with.
Shadow went wide eyed for half a second. He wanted really badly to tell her not to do that. For all he knew Sonic could be unstable or run away from her again. He inwardly groaned at how this might end up.
"You sure? I spoke to him yesterday and he seemed distant" he lied hoping that would be enough reason for her to leave him alone.
Unfortunately it wasn't "It's a new day I'm sure he'll be fine now" her unending enthusiasm not stopping her.
The dark hedgehog just sighed looking away "Just don't be surprised if he is distant or avoids you"
"O-k?" she awkwardly said continuing to eat.
Shadow hoped whatever happened wasn't too bad and upset Amy.
The morning routine was the same. Cream went to school Vanilla talked to both Amy and Shadow before taking her leave to have fun. Amy left to go find Sonic and Shadow started walking to a store he could rent out a tux.
He realized he should go call Rouge and ask just how nice the tux had to be.
He called her and listened as the ring tones came. After the fifth ring she finally answered "What do you want Shadow I'm busy"
He rolled his eyes "What could you be busy with in the morning?"
"Don't worry about it. What do you want?" She seemed angry and debating asking her what was up. For now he was gonna ask his question and hope she'd calm a bit by the time he was done.
"I'm about to choose a tuxedo to rent out, I need to know exactly how good it needs to look.
She simply answered "The fancier the better. Make sure your girlfriends wearing something good too"
"Ya I I'll ask her about it later tonight…. You ok?" trying not to sound concerned.
'Yes I'm fine. I'm glad somebody cares enough to ask" her voice angry, not at him. Someone else.
"Why, did you get hurt?"
"Not hurt just ran into somebody but he apologized, and that's it…" she mumbled something else about 'the jerk and all the others'
"Oh well…. Sorry… I guess" he didn't know what to say.
He heard her angrily sigh "It's alright… maybe I'll go bug knuckles, atleast he doesn't stare at my chest"
"Ya but he doesn't like you" Shadow added half a mile from the store.
He heard Rouge chuckle "You actually believe that?" but before he could answer back she hung up on him.
Shadow sighed putting his phone away and after another minute or two entered the store and started looking around.
Most of the suits were nice he was looking for something better and eventually found one of the priciest tuxes. It was the standard black and white. Black tie and decent pants to match. Unlike the others it was just kept a little better then others meaning he might look half decent compared to everyone. Finally it came with some lame rose like some kind of James Bond thing. He'd either give it to Amy or leave it if she didn't need it.
So using almost all of the remaining money he had he rented this tux thinking to himself "This had better work out" cause if it failed he was gonna be flat broke.
"He'd come back the morning of the heist and get it so he took his leave knowing he had nothing to do now.
He started jogging in place getting heart going and took a few breaths and blasted forward. Half a second afterwards he teleported to a rooftop and his momentum sent him to the next.
Perhaps while running he'd find something to do, if anything he just running and passing the time a bit.
Half an hour later he had ran across the city several times, going through different routes and panted having not stopped the entire time. He worked his stamina pushing himself to the limit.
He had been going so hard he had to lean over and take gasping breaths. His hands were on his knees to support him but he couldn't stand. His muscles were so close to just giving out so he sat on the edge of the building he was currently on. It wasn't tall only three stories. He watched as citizens passed in their everyday lives.
He remembered back to when the Black Arms invaded earth. It was this exact street. The exact street he met up with Sonic and they carved a path through the city. He didn't care about wanting to fight the aliens.
He had an apparent promise to keep with a reward at the end so he took it. He left Sonic behind and found the first two chaos emeralds. He didn't know what Sonic had thought about his actions, at the time he didn't care. Black Doom got angry at him and tortured him for his 'disobedience'.
"What and asshole, he told me to get the emeralds, that's what I was fucking doing and he thinks he can torture me for that?" he growled to himself. He may not have any physical scars from that but the pain had been intense hurt him to his very core.
He took a deep breath to calm down and looked around. He'd gone through so many places finding the other five chaos emeralds. Every single time he avoided choosing a side. All he ever cared about was learning of his past. It made him feel like Silver thinking about it now. Single minded in his goal not thinking about anything.
As it turned out he found them all, whether it was stealing one from Tails after he crashed or forgetting about Knuckles and taking the chaos emerald there too. He looked down, thinking about it now he felt terrible. What made him feel even worse was when he met Amy, she pleaded him to help her find Cream and Cheese, without even thinking he left her behind. Now he knew how he felt for her he felt like a massive asshole. Just left her there in that warzone by herself… and to make it worse left a little girl out there too...
It surprised him all the time that any of them even forgave him. The only reprieve he could think of was that he never necessarily helped the Black Arm.
Then he had been stopped just in time by Sonic and his friends from giving them over to Black Doom. Sure he distrusted the humans but he never wished for them to be enslaved or destroyed. One government wasn't going to make him hate the world. He may be the ultimate life form but even he didn't have the right or responsibility to decide a races fate.
After that everyone knew that story. It had become legend since then. He was a hero. It was the stuff before that nobody knew, that he honestly didn't care about the humans plight and was fighting for himself. He sometime wanted people to know that part. It felt wrong to be a hero yet have no heroic intentions. Even after he learned Black Doom tricked him did it out of revenge and because he was made to defeat him.
Once again his thoughts went to how he was living without purpose. All his life he had a purpose he had been living up to, even with his memory gone he knew he had a purpose and hunted for the truth but now, now he was running without a destination.
He growled at himself, he didn't want to think about this. He was about to get up when he heard footsteps behind him.
His head jerked around to see one of the people he had been thinking about.
"Sonic?" he asked eyebrow raised.
The blue hedgehog didn't have his usual smile or attitude, his shoulders slouched. He vaguely smelt alcohol.
The hedgehog looked pathetic, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans which his hands were in their pockets. His quills were a mess and he had bags under his eyes.
He had nothing else to ask besides "What the hell happened to you?"
Sonic didn't answer and asked "Can I sit?"
The dark hedgehog just gestured for him to come and the blue hedgehog approached his feet almost dragging.
He sat next to his rival looking down and said "What you said yesterday… I never realized…"
Shadow looked at the absolutely destroyed hedgehog and knew he had been up all night drowning in sorrow.
"… I I don't know what to do. I want to apologize to her for everything I've done but I can't see her forgiving me!" he hands held the sides of his head.
Shadow still didn't speak but knew he was completely and utterly apologetic. Perhaps he needed to hear what he said yesterday.
Sonic was about to continue when Shadow said "She was looking for you today you know. When we all separated in the morning she said she wanted to hang out with you"
"Why?" his tone asking the rest of his question, why would she want to find him if he was such a dick.
Shadow rolled his eyes "Because she's your friend. She forgives you"
"She shouldn't" he moaned tears escaping his eyes. How was he so lucky to have such a forgiving friend?
"Just shut up. She may have spent years following you around the world trying to capture your heart but she was always your friend remember? She wants to be your friend because… and I hate to admit it, you are a good guy. You look out for your friends and do your best to be nice to them" Shadow explained his tone soft towards Sonic, usually he was harsh towards him but Sonic could snap at him for being aggressive.
Sonic looked away, the stench he gave off was filled with alcohol, it actually made the other hedgehog cringe.
"Listen Faker, you made the right choice finally shutting down her fantasies of being with you. Sometimes sheading some tears is the best way to go. Many truths reveal themselves during the worst of times" he explained hoping Sonic would understand.
"Like… how you… told me yesterday?"
"Kinda, But I think you do need to apologize to her. Even if she dismisses it and acts like it's nothing you apologized and she knows it. No matter what do not lose her as a friend. She's amazing and despite your differences you work together well." His words were stronger then he wanted to, his only cover was that Sonic believed they were already dating.
Sonic smiled for the first time in over ten hours "Thank you… Shadow no matter what… you're are my friend. You don't have to think the same or agree but after this I know you got a heart"
Shadow rolled his eyes although he strangely felt kinda the same "Just don't..
"Mention it, I know" he completed his sentence.
He nodded then said "If you are gonna apologize clean yourself up first please"
He looked himself over and nodded "Right… ya… I'll do that"
Sonic didn't get up and asked "So… how are you and Amy anyway?"
"Fine"
"Why aren't you with her right now?"
Shadow shrugged guessing he could tell him a bit "Well first, she wanted to hang out with you today. Second I needed to make some preparations from something?"
"What you planning for, bet it's got something to do with Amy" he mischievously smirked.
Shadow rolled his eyes, he wasn't exactly wrong though "You know how Rouge and I make money?"
He nodded "It's for that. All I can tell you without possibly getting you in trouble"
"Oh… ok then" Sonic said curious but knew this was something he'd never learn.
"Can I ask you something?" Sonic asked after a short silence.
"What?"
"Could you come with me… when I apologize to Amy?" he really wanted some moral support. And considering Shadow was close to Amy he hoped his presence would help a bit.
The dark hedgehog sighed annoyed but admittedly had noting else better to do "Fine, but get yourself cleaned up remember?"
Sonic hopped up nodding "Ok, I'll meet you back here" right after that he was gone with a blue blur and Shadow just waited.
Half an hour later he felt a rush of wind behind him. Sonic sat next to him again. He looked much better now, his quills were back to their normal style. The bags under his eyes were mostly gone. His alcohol stench was gone and he was no wearing a clean black shirt and lighter blue jeans.
"Ok, I'm ready"
Shadow nodded and text Amy.
Hey where are you, I found Sonic- Shadow
Within a minute she replied
You did? I'm over at the mall. I'll be waiting at the front entrance-Amy
Shadow explained what he learned and both ran to the mall.
Like she said she was just walking outside to the front door to wait for them.
Shadow and Sonic stopped at the outer edge of the parking lot. The dark hedgehog could tell his rival was nervous "You'll be fine"
"But what if I'm not?" he asked back.
"Then run" Shadow joked but it wasn't appreciated.
"Seriously jerk"
"She'll forgive you idiot. Now go!" he said pushing him.
The blue hedgehog grunted but walked forward soon catching the eye of Amy. She waved relieved to see them cause she wouldn't be as bored now and said "Hi guys, it's about time I found you" her enthusiasm able to fill a swimming pool.
"Uhhh… hey Ames" he said nervously.
Before she could ask why he was acting strange Shadow slapped his back "Sonic here has something he's been wanting to say" he realized that could have sounded like he was about to admit his love for her but whatever.
Amy looked to Sonic patiently waiting. She wanted to think he about to admit his undying love for her but it wouldn't make sense. Perhaps her not bugging him anymore changed his mind? She noticed the bags under his eyes, he had worked to hide them when he cleaned himself up they were apparent enough for her to notice.
"Amy… I'm sorry… for all the horrible things I've done to you in the past" he refused to look at Amy and scratched his quills.
"Pardon?" she was caught of guard. Shadow just crossed his arms trying to not look like he was forcing Sonic to say all this.
"I realized yesterday that I've been a horrible friend. I took you for granted and treated you like dirt. Shadow told me of one day I stood you up in the rain. It doesn't matter that I didn't know you stood out there for hours, I should have never lied and left you out there" a tear escaping his eye.
She went wide eyed, he'd never been so genuinely sorry in his entire, or at least what she had seen. His mention of that night years ago made her look to Shadow. He was the one who said not to tell anyone and he told Sonic. What was happening?
Sonic sighed "I don't think you should forgive me for leading you on for so many years causing you to cry, all by yourself. I should have told you what I said weeks ago years ago. I'm so sorry Amy. You are one of my oldest friends, even longer then Tails. I neglected you like a jerk, I'm so sorry" he pleaded having almost got on his knees to beg. His hands clenched together in a begging gesture.
Amy stared at him for the longest time just blinking, hardly even breathing. She looked to Shadow who calmly watched seemingly having no opinion though hoped Amy would forgive.
Finally Amy took his hands and gently pulled held them and said "Look at me"
He did as instructed though expected a look of hate and anger.
To his surprise she was smiling, probably the most genuine and friendly smile he'd ever seen from her. It had no hint of love, or fangirl craziness "Sonic, I forgive you. I mean it is partially my fault anyway for not getting the message"
Sonic was happy she forgave him but she looked like she wanted to say more.
"What you did were mostly harmless, but yes there were times I was left alone and cried. That night was the worst and thank god Shadow was around to help" Shadow did a small bow with his head.
Sonic smiled ever so slightly "For that I am eternally sorry"
"You said you love me like a sister. Well now that's I've been able to live awhile not blinded by my fangirl love, as you called it once or twice, I realize what I was doing wasn't romantic love. But I do feel that I too care for you like a brother. Is that ok?" Amy offered.
Sonic smiled and said "That'd be amazing Amy, that's all I ever wanted" as he said that both hedgehogs embraced eachother in a warm sibling like hug. Both seemed happier then ever. Like this was the way it should have been all the time.
Shadow watched the two having their moment and turned to leave. After all Amy wanted to hang out with Sonic, might as well let them have their space.
"Where do you think you're going?" he heard Amy ask.
Shadow half turned "To leave you two alone?"
"No way you're here now and you two obviously are friends now after that. You must have helped him do all that" she easily thought of that which made Shadow sigh.
"I guess we… sort of did" rolling his eyes dramatically.
"Well come on, it's around lunch. Let's get some food and talk a bit at least" Amy offered. Sonic agreeing with a nod.
Shadow paused "Ya… I don't got any money now, I used it all on my purchase today" both of them knew what he meant, Amy knowing exactly what it was though.
Sonic walked forward "I'll pay for you, it's the least I can do for helping me"
Shadow just shrugged "Fine, I guess I could. He was a bit hungry anyway"
Both hedgehogs smiled and led him into the mall towards the food court.
Sonic looked much happier, the swagger in his step again. Obviously things had turned out better then he had dreamed.
All three stayed quiet on their way to the food court and decided to go to A&W. All three ordered Sonic paying for Shadows meal. The dark hedgehog purposely got something cheaper; he wasn't that much an asshole.
Once they sat down Sonic smirked and asked "So just how far has your relationship gone anyway?"
Shadow groaned while Amy blushed. Both needed to quickly make something up and not ruin their lie. Both quickly thought, they made out at the party so must be expecting something past that now.
Amy boldly started "Just some light over the covers action" purposely giving a vague-ish answer. Shadow took the answer with a nod going along with it.
"You guys seriously haven't done more, come on!" he asked having expected more. This was Shadow though so he made things complicated.
"Honest, that's all we've done. He… wants to take it slow" she tried to think of the next of her story on the fly.
Sonic looked disappointed but said "Well I guess as long as you two are happy and he's treating you right. It's your choice" he shrugged. He wanted to be respectful and alteast show his support.
Shadow then turned to Amy "But we do have a date coming up" he might as well set up their heist as an alibi.
Amy blushed at the idea it was a date and said "Yes, it's big too. Fancy stuff"
"How does a hedgehog with no money manage to have a fancy date night?" Sonic asked crossing his arms feeling cheated.
Shadow rolled his eyes "I have the money saved up right now and if I were to spend anything now I won't have enough for the date. He was lying since he used it all earlier today.
Sonic just nodded understanding now, although he continued to ask question "Where's it gonna be?"
Shadow debated whether lying or telling the truth would be good. He decided keep his name away from the location would be smarter considering he and Amy were gonna be different people that night "We're going to a fancy restaurant, and I'm not telling you cause odds are you'd come out of nowhere and ruin it"
He crossed his arms again like his plans had been foiled. They ate for a bit silently until Amy asked something.
"Sonic, I don't mean to pry but, how come you of all of our friends you have no girlfriend. I mean Even Tails manned up and asked Cream out"
The blue blur looked away "Well… I'm just not ready for one… I mean having a girlfriend requires commitment. Not to mention the feeling is being restrained and tied down… it makes me nervous and stuff. You know because I like to be free and run as much as I can and stuff" he tried to explain which other both other hedgehogs understood.
Amy smiled "Well, nobody is trying to rush you anymore so take all the time you need" Shadow agreeing with a silent nod.
Sonic smiled back glad his friends were so understanding of him.
With they finished and walked through the mall a bit more.
Right as Shadow was about to suggest they leave Sonic said "Wait, I want to go buy a new game for Tails and I!" running to EB games.
Amy followed which forced Shadow to follow as well.
Inside Sonic was excitedly looking around trying to decide between several choices.
Shadow just watched the childlike hedgehog. He sighed at him "Dude just choose something?"
"Man it's not easy. Tails and I like different things!" Sonic whined.
Shadow just chuckled "You sound like an old couple"
The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes but asked "Can I ask you something?"
"Free country" Shadow shrugged.
"So Tails hangs out with Cream a lot now… you heard anything. I just want to know like… how serious is he about this?" Sonic asked awkwardly.
Shadow paused then said "Very serious. He's been coming to me for some advice"
"Oh so that's why he suddenly stopped asking me for help" he wasn't offended, just a little surprised it was Shadow he went to "What'd he ask you?"
Shadow thought back "Advice on how to actually ask out Cream. Then he wanted do something nice for her and asked me what would be a good gift"
"Oh ya, what'd you suggest?" Sonic asked intrigued.
"I didn't specifically tell him anything. When he asked me how to ask her I suggested he find something that was pretty nerdy and romantic for him to ask. Then I suggested he find a gift he could make amazing with his skills but be something Cream would enjoy" he said telling the truth.
Sonic eyed him for a second and said "So did he choose something?"
"Yup" Shadow smirked staying quiet. It wasn't his business.
Sonic ears fell flat in frustration but said nothing and got back to his search.
Shadow continued to smirk and looked around for Amy. She was looking over her own games "You are a gamer?"
"Not as much as Sonic and Tails but ya I occasionally play" Amy answered.
"I never really cared for playing games" Shadow said looking at her as she was looking through one of the bottom shelves. He tried not to look her over.
"So what about that singing incident?" making Shadow close his eyes and sighed angrily.
"I was drunk" stating the obvious.
Amy laughed "That you were… OOOO tonight we should have a game night!" she smiled looking up at him momentarily. Even the quick sight of her face was like a flash of light and he felt blinded.
"Ya but as I said I don't play games. I'd kinda be useless… I can't even sing properly remember?"
Amy rolled her eyes "So is that what you do when people ask you to do new things. Just avoid it?"
Shadow groaned knowing what she was doing "Not all the time" hoping in vain that would be enough.
"Don't lie to me. You are gonna join me for a game night and like it" smirk plastered on her face.
Shadow inwardly cursed and Sonic zipped behind him "Hey why don't Tails and I join?"
Amy smiled "That'd be great, Cream will like having him around too"
"I'm sure they both will" Sonic winked wanting to give his friends gentle 'nudges'.
Both of them aw the look in his eyes and knew he was planning something. Although they knew there was no way to stop him. Amy and Sonic went back to their search while Shadow walked outside to get out of the small store.
While looking out he noticed two familiar figures walking through the mall. One was Vanilla who had her arms crossed with the large frame of Vector.
Now that Shadow looked back Vanilla rarely spoke of what they did. He watched as they walked along talking. Vector talking loudly of something making her laugh.
He was pulled from his thoughts feeling an arm wrap around the back of his neck "Hey bud what'cha watching?" Sonic asked a bag in his other hand.
Shadow nodded towards the crocodile and rabbit making Sonic chuckled.
"Oh what do you think they are doing?" the blue blur said getting excited.
"Walking a talking?" it felt kinda obvious.
"No but where are they going?" Sonic whispered.
"I don't know" Shadow shrugged.
"Wanna find out?" Sonic asked excitedly.
Before he could answer Amy walked behind them "What'cha talking about?"
The blue blur smirked "We're gonna spy on Vector and Vanilla"
Both Amy and Shadow thought that was a dumb idea, although Shadow spoke first "I don't think it is, she and Vector deserve their privacy"
He waved them off "Too late I'm already squinting my eyes" then zipped off hiding behind a way from the couple only a few meters away.
Both ebony and pink hedgehogs sighed and snuck up along with him. Shadow having an easier time since he had speed too. Amy caught up in another few seconds and they listened.
"Oh did I tell you the story where we painted Espio the same purple he normally is so when he tried to go invisible it seemingly wouldn't work? Man he thought he was broken all day" Vector laughed.
They heard Vanilla chuckle at his story and Shadow whispered. "See they're just talking, he's making her laugh. Good enough for you?"
"not even close" Sonic smirked.
Shadow turned to Amy "We don't haven't follow him, if he gets caught and we aren't here then we don't get in trouble"
She almost agreed but said "But abandoning him isn't very nice"
Shadow whisper-yelled "nice we're spying on two people who want privacy, that's not nice!"
"Aww come on look at him, he needs us" making Shadow turn.
He sighed rolling his eyes hearing Amy giggle too. Sonic was giving the worst puppy dog eyes he'd ever seen and just lightly slapped his cheek to make him stop.
Sonic hissed "Hey!"
"Shut up stupid, remember Vanilla has amazing ears" Shadow growled.
Amy gasped "I think she heard us" putting hands on both their mouths.
Like she said Vanilla stopped ear perking up in their direction "What is it?" Vector asked noticing her stop.
"I could swear I heard Sonic and Shadow" she looked around.
"Wonder why those two would be hanging out anyway" Vector commented waiting for the rabbit to make a move.
"Well I don't see them, guess I must have heard some similar sounding people" she shrugged walking in the direction they had been going again along with Vector.
All three hedgehogs sighed in relief and Shadow just smacked Sonic again "See?" still whispering.
"Ow" he rubbed his cheek.
He was about to suggest leaving when Amy pointed "hey look it's Rouge and Knuckles"
Sonic instantly forgot his cheek and said "Where? Like with each other or her following and bugging him?"
"A little of both from what I can tell" Amy said confused.
Both males looked and indeed there was Rouge and Knuckles walking together. Although apparently the bat was saying something to aggravate the echidna, his face showing his frustration.
Shadow thought back to his call with Rouge and what she said; maybe they were actually trying to hang out a bit?
He didn't speak of it and watched. Knuckles slowly calmed and spoke with Rouge. He wasn't trying to out walk her like normal and she didn't seem to be teasing… as much. It did actually look lie they were talking a bit.
"Wonder what they are doing?" Sonic asked but Shadow grabbed his scruff this time incase he just bolted ahead like a second ago.
"You realize I can just run still and drag you against your will" Sonic threatened, the feeling of someone holding his scruff slightly irritating.
"Try it and lose your quills and skin" his grip tightening as emphasis.
The blue blur made a soft grunt but tried nothing looking miserable because of it.
Amy giggled at him now and said turning back to the duo "Hmm, usually they only bicker, but they look more relaxed. What do you think Shadow?"
"I think we should leave them alone, you wouldn't someone spying on you, right?"
You got a point there but… Rouge spies on us all the time right? So technically it's more of returning a favor"
Sonic agreed "Ya, just paying her back is all" hands rubbing against eachother evilly.
Shadow knew there was no way of convincing them otherwise. So with a heavy sigh he let go of Sonic who instantly shot away hiding in another spot.
"Just remember Rouge is a bat and good has hearing remember?" Shadow said to Amy right before she left.
"Ya I know, now come on" she whispered and ran for cover too.
Shadow stuck next to Amy, mostly because he liked her more and stayed quiet.
"It must be lonely up on Angel Island eh?" the bat asked.
Knuckles stopped luckily allowing the hedgehogs to listen without having to move "Occasionally but sometimes I just get lost in the emerald and my thoughts. Or I just nap" she shrugged.
"Well why don't you come down here more often then?"
Knuckles eyed her, it was obvious "Because if I leave for even a moment then someone like you or Eggman could steal it"
Here was a short pause "I find it offensive that you'd believe I'd try to steal the emerald…. Again"
"Sorry if I don't believe in your promise to leave my stuff alone" he said crossing his arms.
Rouge then thought "Well why not ask Tails set up a defense grid around the island that only lets certain people even near the island?"
Knuckles thought it over for a moment "That would be a kinda big project though, even for him" trying to avoid that. He liked his job and wouldn't really know what do with all the extra free time.
"Oh come on, he's practically made spaceships. How hard can a defense grid be?" The bat argued her airy voice quite convincing.
"Then what's point of me being the Guardian of the master emerald if machines do my job" he asked feeling like a lot of the reason he even got up in the morning would be gone.
"Obviously there'd be times you'd be needed. I mean Eggman after failing to pass through it enough times would make some crazy plan. The grid would stall him long enough for you to get back then punch his mustache off" Rouge once again making a convincing point, clearly having thought of these before hand.
Knuckles laughed at her comment "Can you imagine" he slow motion punched making slow motion noises too "Oh now my beautiful mustache" he imitated Eggman.
He got a small but genuinely amused chuckle from his companion "Yes that would be funny… So?" wondering if he'd consider it.
"I'll think about it. You going to all this trouble to make me get off the island makes me think two things. You want me off the island to steal the emerald or you want me off the island to see me more" smirking at the second choice.
Rouge wasn't caught off guard at all "Coming from the guy who saved me after all the trouble you went through to get the pieces of that thing back"
"Hey you weren't the bad guy. Not mention it ended up being the smart choice" Knuckles said feeling she was just a little ungrateful.
She smirked "So I'm 'not that bad' better then what you said last time"
The echidna growled blushing at his loose tongue. Which only made Rouge laugh harder.
"Oh knucklehead, you crack me up" she smiled.
"And you drive me up the wall" the red echidna said stubbornly facing away arms crossed.
"Hmm, if you want you can 'drive me up a wall' as repayment" smirk heavy on her face.
It took Knuckles half a second to realize what she meant and blushed madly "Listen bat!" his blush still heavily apparent making his statement less intimidating "You wish I wanted to do that!" finger pointing at her angrily. Because he was so nervous and taken back by her statement his comeback kinda sucked too.
He tuned to walk away. With him walking away and feeling no one else saw or heard she frowned with a sigh "Perhaps I do…" she quickly got her composure back and followed heels clicking on the ground to catch up.
Crouching behind a small wall Sonic looked to his two friends a few feet away with a surprised expression and mouthed "Did you hear that?"
Both nodded thinking about it.
Shadow thought about yesterday. While he waited for Rouge at the park he thought about how she seemingly liked him for awhile then stopped. Maybe she switched targets. That would explain the sudden end of the intense flirting. He rubbed his chin in thought as the duo left still bickering.
"Well… what do we make of this?" Amy asked both males as Sonic approached.
Both shrugged but Sonic said "I'd like to say we should nude Knuckles to her but somehow I feel like he's too stubborn for that" he too now thinking and tapping his foot.
"Why don't we suggest Rouges idea to Tails. Like still have him ask Knuckles and act like he thought of it himself. Maybe two people saying the same thing and seemingly not working together will sway him" Amy asked.
Shadow nodded "That is a good idea. If he thought Tails asked it because of Rouge he'd never say yes. But coming from a good friend only he might actually agree" re iterating Amy's idea.
Sonic nodded "Ok, I'll go tell him when I get home" his smirk on his face again.
"What if he refuses though?" Sonic asked after a pause.
"Then we leave it. It's not our job to force anything. If he wants to be on that island by himself that's his choice" Shadow said. He always kinda liked Knuckles too. Solitary and worked for a purpose without question. Reminded him of himself. He was charged with protecting the humans for the rest of his life. He wouldn't succeed though, they'd eventually kill eachother and he'd never be able to stop it.
Amy nodded in agreement, "As much as I think Knuckles needs something else in his life, he's too stubborn to push"
Sonic nodded understanding them "Well I better head home, let Tails know of our plan and our plans tonight. We'll show up around… 7, that sound ok?"
Amy nodded "Ya sure. That's after dinner for us. Vanilla likes to eat at 6"
Sonic nodded and ran off leaving Amy alone with Shadow.
"So we better head home right?" Shadow asked not noticing Amy had her own bag from EB games.
"Sure. We'll walk back, I left the car to Vanilla today"
With the two walked out of the mall and Shadow finally noticed the bag since the sun shined off it into his eye.
"What'd you get?"
"You'll find out tonight" she smirked booping his nose.
His head jerked annoyed from her poke and said "Fine be that way" He knew it would be bad but he just didn't care right now. He was walking with Amy and wanted to talk.
"What did ya do before I text you?"
Amy shrugged since it wasn't very exciting "I was went to various places looking for Sonic, his house, places he liked to go, on the streets in general. Then I went to the mall and five minutes later you text me"
"Ah I see" finding the question to be a waste of time.
"Hey you said Sonic might not be in a good mood this morning? Shadow gulped "You also said you spoke to him yesterday? He knew about that afternoon in the rain you told me not to tell anyone. Then he looks tired and instantly tries to apologize for being a jerk all these years. What happened?" heavy suspicion in her voice.
Shadow couldn't lie. She knew all the fact except exactly how their talk went down and sighed "Ok… he bugged me yesterday and one thing led to another and I told him how much of a jerk he was to you all these years. I told him that story… by the end he looked totally destroyed and ran off. He met me earlier before I text you… he smelt like alcohol looked much more tired then you saw and was a mess… I think he went to a bar… or four last night and frank his sorrows away. That's how bad he felt for what I told him" Shadow felt like Amy would beat the crap out of him for putting her former crush under such distress.
"He… was that hurt by knowing that?" she asked weakly. Her simply forgiveness when he apologized felt kinda small now compared to what Sonic went through last night. Her ears drooped feeling bad for him.
"Wow…. I thought he was just kinda asking forgiveness, not to that extent. I feel like just forgiving him like that wasn't good enough"
Shadow shook his heads "No, no, no! You have no idea how much just simple forgiveness meant to him. He was one hundred percent sure you'd reject him so you did more then he ever expected"
Amy was surprised he was going through so much to help Sonic…. Even though he kinda caused Sonic to go through all of it. It was still admirable , he obviously lied when he said they weren't friends all the time. She kept her trap shut though.
"Well… in that case I guess it's good enough… why'd you end up telling him?" she asked.
"Remember how angry I was at him in the forest? I meant. He needed to know Rose. But he genuinely hates himself for it" His emotions for her rising making him spout it out with passion.
"You are too good to be rejected so many times without even a chance and made to cry so many times. In my opinion he missed out" he very quickly subsided his emotional tone on the last sentence so he sounded indifferent. This was not how he was gonna reveal his feelings for her.
Amy still smiled and hugged him "That's so sweet of you two say Shadow. I don't know what to say" so she just gave him a thankful kiss on the cheek making him blush badly.
She giggled and let him go as their walk home continued again. They talked the whole way there of random stuff. Shadow even letting off a joke or two to make Amy laugh. All in all despite all of Sonics stupidity, he had a good day.
Arriving at home they were alone. Cream was due from school any minute now unless she decided to go to Sonic and Tails house.
"So what we gonna do until 7?" Amy asked.
Shadow just shrugged getting a drink from the fridge.
"She tapped her chin thinking in an over exaggerated way "Hmmm.. OH I could read you with my tarot cards!"
His ears perked "You actually believe those things?"
"Of course!" she said slight offended.
Shadow just coughed loudly "Sonic totally not your husband!... oh sorry there that was a bad cough" he smirked.
Amy looked angry at him making his cower a bit "That was one wrong reading!"
"Oh and I bet if you read me the answer would always bee the same time after time right?" he asked sarcastically.
"That's not how it works!"
"Oh so then why should I live my life at all? I could play the tarot cards like fifty times and learn everything that would happen in my life. What's the point of living then without surprises?" he shrugged trying to just state his opinion. Honestly he didn't care if they worked or not. It just felt boring to be told your future. Cause either it's real and you end up there and have no surprise that you ended up there. Or the idea of it makes you motivated to get there.
Amy crossed her arms at him tapping her foot "Well if you don't want to learn something then don't" turning away arms crossed.
"Ok, fine I won't" her obvious reverse psychology failing hard.
"Aww come on, let me do it just once!" she turned now somewhat begging him.
He growled annoyed but her face forced him to say "Ok, fine… once"
"YES!" he pumped her fist in victory.
She led him to the living room and he sat on the couch. She sat on the other side of the coffee table on her knees and started shuffling the cards.
"Ok ask me something" she demanded.
Shadow thought and after awhile asked something he thought wouldn't raise too much suspicion "Will I ever have a long lasting girlfriend?"
Amy took a deep breath and played out the six cards.
Reading them over she said "I see that at first your love life was filled with nothingness, but then a glimmer of hope appeared and raised your spirits. It will be a hard road mostly because you hold yourself back, but-" she was just about to get to what he wanted to hear, so far the prediction was surprisingly accurate, but the door opened. Revealing Cream. The door opening let in a gust of wind blowing the cards off the table and out of order.
He wanted to curse to badly but realized that maybe it was best this way. If he knew what happened then there'd be no surprise. He almost didn't want to know how things would go. He doubted the cards were really fortune tellers but she had been really accurate up to that point.
"Oops" Amy said "Man I was getting to the good part" also somewhat mad she lost the cards. Sadly she focused on one card at a time and didn't know the order or even which cards were part of it. Since the gust of wind blew a few cards off the top of the deck too.
The rabbit hopped in oblivious to what she accidentally did "Hey guys! How long you been here?"
Shadow leaned back in his seat "Only a few minutes" taking a sip of his drink hiding his disappointment well.
The rabbit nodded heading upstairs.
"Sorry about that Shadow" Amy apologized for Cream.
"It's alright, so what now?" he asked deciding that he didn't want to hear the prediction even if she could emulate her choices again.
"Ummm…. Well… could train you a bit on the games we play?" she shrugged it being the best idea she could think of.
"Sure why not, I don't want to be totally humiliated tonight" feeling that would probably be a good idea.
Amy had just put her cards back together and grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of his seat. She practically dragged him downstairs making him almost spill his drink and said "First I'm gonna tell you, Sonic plays fast and by instinct alone. Tails try's to think in his head and make a plan. So usually Sonic is fast and reckless while Tails is slower but more calculated" Made sense considering their personalities.
"Ok, so how does that help me in a video game?" he asked. His understanding of just how immersive games could get now a days was limited.
"You'll see"
He shrugged not expecting much but sat in the computer chat as she turned on the xbox.
"Sonic and Tails will probably pair us up together so I kinda do whatever feel right in the moment" she explained throwing in Halo Reach.
He'd vaguely heard of the halo series. Apparently was one of the big names in gaming. Course that was a matter of opinion if it was good or not. All he really knew of the series was it was about space marines vs aliens and some dude called Master chief.
Amy tossed him a controller and said "We need to make a profile for you too"
"A what?" he asked "Why can't I just turn on the game and play it?"
"A profile is so the games know who's playing. If you signed in as Sonic you'd technically be Sonic in the games eyes. Everything he's done would there and any game you played you'd be using his saved games. A profile would make it your saves. So say in a game like this where you have a custom character…"
"Wow custom character?" he asked "What happened to just playing as a that master chief guy?" he interrupted.
"Shut up don't interrupt me" she snapped making him cower "Anyway, this game does feature Master chief… except and easter egg"
Shadow didn't even want to ask why a master chief would be painted on an easter egg in the game.
"You play as a character that is your own, he or she hardly talks but is a badass. And you can make them look you how you want as long as you've earned enough in game cash and leveled up to use that piece of armor"
He looked at her oddly.
She sighed "Here look at my girl" she smiled.
She brought up the character screen and standing there was a punk armored character. Wearing lighter armor, she even had the mechanical arm.
"Oh… I think I get it now" he said seeing the custom character.
"Ok so let's make a profile for ya" Amy smiled.
Several minutes later he had a profile hich just was called 'Shadow' profile picture chosen which was of himself. Sonic had bought a pack of profile picks that were all of his friends and himself. His avatar looked as much like him as the game could make him and they went into the game again.
"Ok take a minute to make your guy" She said texting somebody.
Starting with the free 5k credits he made something he liked with the limited options, then painted his armor black with red detail like himself. Finally he chose a insignia which was the crossed swords. Although Amy had to tell them they were sword since they were so compared to sword he knew.
"Alright, cool"
We've been on here for twenty minutes and played nothing, why are games so fun again?" he asked sarcastically.
"Shut up, like real life games take a bit of preparation. But we're going to campaign now" she said taking control and started up a new game on normal difficulty.
He sighed and waited "So what do I do?"
"Shoot aliens, don't shoot the teammates we have and other humans, duh" she rolled her eyes.
"I meant controls" he groaned.
She quickly explained everything, in the default and recon control schemes. Shadow felt the controls made more sense on the recon setting so stayed with that and walked around following his pink teammate. Getting to know the HUD, controls, general feel of the game.
As the team in the game spoke of finding Marines who were Missing Amy explained some background of the game so he wouldn't be confused by everything. It was much appreciated.
But after a little bit they finally met the first enemies and Amy being the more experienced took lead and Shadow awkwardly followed. The aiming was a bit difficult, he would jerk a bit too much and not hit the head like Amy told him too. But he didn't die and that was more important.
They continued to play for a while eventually beating the level. By the time they got there Shadow was more comfortable with the controls and was more consistently hitting targets. He actually was having some fun. Especially when Elites appeared and offered an actual challenge.
Suddenly the achievement symbol popped up with it's usual chime "What the hell is that?"
"And achievement silly. You killed enough people with the pistol which is a minor achievement. Every game had them. Some are simple and some are hard. Like that one is easy and other are hard like the vidmaster challenge. Most achievements give gamerscore, basically a number of how much achievements you've earned.
Shadow rolled his eyes "Oh great, shows you how much of a gamer geek you are" rolling his eyes at the idea.
"It's not that important. I've got over five thousand points, I hardly play and I don't achievement hunt" she explained putting it into perspective.
They played some more until Amy spoke again.
"We probably won't play this anyway, this is just a fun game I liked. When the boys get here, we'll either play whatever Sonic got or what I got smirk on her face.
That only scared him seeing her smirk and knew he'd hate whatever she had planned.
"Oh ya that probably means you'll have to make a profile on the xbox one then" she said making him groan.
"I'll do that since I know what you want now" she offered making him atleast accept that.
"So what did Sonic get? You were in the store when he bought it"
She shrugged "No idea, the bag was a bit bigger then normal so it must have been something like a special edition or something"
He didn't really think about it and heard someone talking around upstairs. Actually two people.
Both hedgehogs went upstairs to go find out who it was. Like they expected the first was Vanilla but the second Vector.
"Hey you two" Amy greeted Shadow just behind.
Both croc and rabbit waved and the mother spoke "Hello, how are you?"
"Pretty good" Amy answered for them both "Hey Vector" she quickly greeted to him.
"Hey Amy"
Vanilla smiled and said "Vector is gonna stay for dinner"
Amy smiled "Oh cool, guess that means Shadow doesn't get the head of the table for once" looking to the hedgehog who indifferently shrugged.
Amy then turned and quickly said "Oh and Sonic and Tails are stopping by after dinner to hang out that ok?"
"As long as you are quiet" she said smiling.
"We'll try" the pink hedgehog agreed.
With the Amy and Shadow politely walked downstairs and gave the two privacy.
Once downstairs Amy said "Wow she's feeding him now. Getting serious" joking around.
The dark hedgehog smiled amused "Yes very serious, it's not like Vanilla tries to feed anyone she can in the house"
Both laughed a moment and Amy felt her phone vibrate.
Talked to Tails, he's coming over, also mentioned our plans. He'll ask Knucks when he finds a moment-Sonic
Amy repeated the message to Shadow who nodded "Ok so I guess it's up to Tails to convince that stubborn echidna" when he said it like that it sounded like a huge job for the young fox.
"He'll get it done… hopefully"
With that they waited another hour having set up Shadows profile for the xbox one as well and another for PS4. Although Shadow didn't take part and Amy did it all. He found it tedious to have to do it all. She argued it was necessary and was like your personal memory card. Plus you only had to make it once and it was there forever.
He wasn't gonna argue and wasted time by playing more Halo.
Soon dinner rolled around and they were called up. Amy ran up stairs feeling hungry and Shadow followed at a walking pace. When he got upstairs he found Cream, Vector and Vanilla putting the last of the food on the table.
The dark hedgehog sat at the opposite side of the table then normal with Vector taking his spot at the head of the table, like before he didn't care. Vanilla sat to the crocs right and Cream to his left. Amy sat closer to the shadow on his right beside Cream.
Like always they performed grace and ate.
Amy was curious and asked "So Vec, what'd you and Vanilla do today? She's always quiet and doesn't talk about what you guys do. She's embarrassed"
The croc nervously scratched his head "If she isn't talking I'd rather not either"
"For a detective you like to keep secrets a lot" Shadow remarked with a smirk.
"There are many secrets detective must keep, like client names and addresses" he said chuckling at his attempts to get him to talk.
Shadow rolled his eyes but was already trying to find a way to get him to talk. For such a loud crocodile he was tight lipped when he wanted to be.
Cream then asked "So when's the wedding?" surprisingly her comment made both blush in embarrassment. There was no wedding just the question was so sudden.
"Cream, stop!" her mother whined to her.
"No I want to know are you serious Vector?" anyone with half a brain could tell she was messing with him but he was stuttering.
"O-of course, I didn't wait years to finally get the courage to ask her out to just play her" his answer surprisingly revealing about how much he cared about the rabbit making him blush harder when he realized he said that.
Cream and Amy giggled and Vanilla cooed "Oh Vector, that's so sweet of you"
Shadow watched silently amused. Vector was obviously a nice guy, even though he liked say he was motivated by money he had a good heart and helped people in need. That transitioned over to this too. He wasn't a guy looking for a quick hook up, he really wanted this to work out. Besides Vanilla needed it, she had raised Cream almost by herself under stressful kidnappings and stuff too. She deserved a loving partner for the second half of her life.
He continued to silently watch through out the dinner. Nobody pestered the croc like they had after that. Maybe the odd joke but nothing prying. He spoke when he had to but in general stuck to himself just listening to the four.
But soon the dinner was over and Shadow was about to help with dishes until Vector said "No don't worry I got this. You do it all the time from what Vanilla says"
Shadow shrugged letting him be nice and walked downstairs. He was stopped hearing the doorbell "I got it"
He walked to the door and opened it revealing who expected, Sonic and Tails. The Hedgehog had that bag he had when he left and like Amy said it boxier then just a normal game.
"Hey Shadow, can we come in?" Sonic asked. He received a nod and the dark hedgehog stepped aside letting both walk in.
Sonic made a b-line for the basement but still made sure to greet Vanilla and Vector who surprised him although he didn't ask.
Tails did and they explained he was just here for the afternoon. Although right after that Cream hugged him from behind "Hi Tails!"
"He Cream" he chuckled nervously blushing.
Shadow was walking downstairs while Amy said "Don't take too long you two, we got games to play" then followed Shadow downstairs.
Downstairs Sonic was opening a box, on it was Borderlands the handsome jack collection.
"You bought that?" Amy asked surprised "You already have both games?"
"Ya but it's next gen, sixty fps, and four player same console co-op" he said excitedly.
"Oh I see, you got it so all four of us could play?"
He nodded "Just got to choose who we'll play as. I'm calling Krieg right off the bat" he smirked.
"I'm sure Tails will take Gaige, guess I'll be Maya"
Shadow was clueless the entire time "Who were these people and what was the difference?
Amy and Sonic both noticed and explained all the characters. Shadow decided to go with Zero because he seemed to be cool and was silent-ish like himself.
When Tails came downstairs they got started booting up the game and starting a new game. Like Amy predicted Tails went with Gaige and everyone else got what they called.
The different art style was a bit weird to Shadow but got used to it. He also like the goriness of the game. Admittedly he laughed at the game too, Jack was amazing as a villain.
"He's a smarter villain then Eggman" Shadow managed to joke.
"I know right. He calls upon all these bad guys and they don't betray him either" Tails added.
Shadow had to admit this was fun. The four worked well together, Sonic being Krieg worked out well since his playstyle was reckless, Amy worked well as the medic of the team. Tails offered a lot of elemental strength thanks to Gaiges powers and finally Shadow sniped adding raw power head shots.
They played for several hours, Cream even came down and cuddled up to Tails as they played.
Shadow hadn't noticed until late in the night Amy was sitting close to him as well although not like Cream was with Tails. It was still close enough that he blushed a bit.
By around ten Sonic said "Well I'd love to stay and kick more ass but Tails and I need to head home. He's got some project he wants to work on before he heads to sleep"
Amy nodded "Ya and I got work in the morning so that's probably a good idea"
Within a few minutes the fox and blue hedgehog left. Cream went to sleep along with Amy.
Shadow quickly brushed his teeth before sleeping and thought back to the day he had. It hadn't gone down quite like he expected when he woke up but he was pleasantly surprised that it was a good day. He slipped into sleep on the couch and dreamed of good things.
Oh man that was a bit of an ordeal. I kinda suck at these lulls where nothing goes on. But I say it all the time. A story can't be all plot, sometimes you just need some time to slow down and talk and work on other stuff. So I tried to slip in a few things I wanted to do. Hope you enjoyed what I did this chapter I promise I'll get to the plot again… whatever plot that is.
I own none of the franchises, game characters nor consoles etc, mentioned in this chapter. Although I must say Love both Halo and the borderlands franchises.
As for Tarot cards, I don't think they actually work. Atleast not in the way people perceive it to. I quickly passed by the idea that they subliminally make you want to accomplish what they 'predict' and essentially they tell the future by motivating you to reach that future. That's the best I can say about them. Is it mystical and really psychic no, atleast not to me. But I think they motivate… sometimes. Imagine if the cards were all negative? I don't want to offend anyone with my views on that. I just hope some people appreciate that I believe the cards work in different ways.
So anyway thanks for reading and let me know what you think
Until next time!
Admiralkirk