AN: Guess who's back~!

I apologize for the late update, which is half-caused by my poor time&energy-management skills and half by the fact I've recently started university! So, yeah...unfortunately, I don't know how often I'll have a chance to update in a near future as I have absolutely no idea how much time (and especially energy) I'll have for writing now with school back in the picture. It's just been six weeks since I started and I already feel overwhelmed...

Thanks to all of you who have showed your support! It makes me happy to hear people are still enjoying my story! (Let's all hope the next update is not going to take as long as this one...)

Now on with the story!


Chapter 11: Hide-and-Seek

Have I just lost him again? Raising an incredulous brow, Sonic took another thorough look around the finish area, but yet again didn't spot a single black spine of his teammate—whom he was one-hundred percent sure had been standing there half a minute ago right before he had been distracted by a group of fans that had wanted to take a photo with him.

Heavens, what was up with Shadow and disappearing the moment he wasn't looking?

A frown marred Sonic's face as he began to jog along the plaza in a search of Shadow, hoping to spot the agent somewhere in the crowd or at one of the numerous food-stands. However, when he came full circle without seeing Shadow once, he concluded the agent truly was no longer in the area.

Glancing over the area aimlessly one more time, Sonic rubbed his neck. Should he be worried about where Shadow might have wandered off to? Should he ask around if somebody hadn't seen him?

Hi, sorry to bother you but I'm looking for someone. He's a black hedgehog about the same height as me. He's over fifty years old but looks twenty. He's very quiet and kinda out of his mind at the moment. Oh, and he likes guns. Did you happen to see anybody fitting this description by any chance?

He shook his head. That definitely wasn't a good way how to approach the situation. Letting out a heavy sigh, he let his arm droop back to his side. He knew there really wasn't a reason to worry as even in his current state Shadow was still capable of looking after himself for the most part—but Sonic just couldn't suppress the uneasiness the lack of information about Shadow's whereabouts brought.

No matter the fact it was for the second time today he had been put into a such position.

When Shadow had disappeared the first time—while he himself had chatted with the Babylon Rogues on the previous break—Sonic had believed Shadow might have just wandered off to find a restroom or get a snack. However, now he was starting to get the impression that there might be something else at play here.

Maybe was Shadow just trying to avoid the big crowd? Shadow had never been a people person so that could be it.

Though...Shadow didn't seem to have this problem with crowds until now. Maybe he was trying to avoid something else? Or someone else? Was he trying to avoid...him?

Sonic blinked at the sudden thought.

After all, wasn't that what Shadow had been trying to inconspicuously do at lunch? Avoid contact with him? Except now instead of it being only physical contact, it was all contact in general?

But why? He furrowed his brows in thought. Sure, during lunch, Shadow had seemed a bit uncomfortable, but later, when they were preparing themselves for the second round (and weren't in such a close proximity of one another) Shadow had seemed to be pretty comfortable again—the whole teasing him in a sign-language and all.

So what changed?

Sonic scratched his head, trying to figure out what could have triggered this sudden change of behavior. The Witchcarters encounter maybe? It was the only major event that came to his mind and it had been right after that that Shadow started to distance himself again...

Peach lips pulled into a frown. I'd expect him to be more reluctant to leave me alone after that, not the other way around... After all, wouldn't it make sense for Shadow to start being more protective of him after such incident? Amy would always become 'protective' of him for couple of hours anytime she witnessed some girl paying him excessive attention, (though Amy's definition of 'excessive' was considerably different from that of other's people,) so he'd expect Shadow to behave in a similar way.

Who says he isn't? Maybe he's currently tracking Falke down and planning how to get rid of him without anyone noticing... a voice in his mind added unhelpfully, the remark only deepening Sonic's scowl instead of erasing it as the idea wasn't completely absurd; Shadow had showed himself to be a vengeful person and with the serum amplifying his emotions...

Sonic shook his head to get rid of the thought. No, even in his current state, Shadow surely wouldn't do something so drastic because of some groping...

We're talking about a guy who almost obliterated planet with a space cannon, his inner voice intervened once again. Sensible reactions is not something you should expect from him, especially not in his current state.

I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt for now, Sonic shot back to silence the voice, wanting to believe that Shadow truly wasn't somewhere out there plotting murder. After all, everyone should be presumed innocent until proven guilty, right?

And as far as he knew, the Witchcarters hadn't even finished this round yet. That of course left him some time to still find Shadow and what he was up to—and maybe get a snack if he had the time...

O-o-O-o-O

Note to self: Never play hide-and-seek with Shadow, he's apparently an expert at it, Sonic commented internally, sighing in frustration; the break was almost over and he hadn't seen even a glimpse of Shadow even though he'd criss-cross searched the whole tournament area three times already.

Why are you so determined to not be found, Shad? Sonic sighed as he looked around once more—in vain, unsurprisingly.

Concluding he was not speaking to Shadow until the agent came out of hiding on his own like last time, Sonic sighed once more and set off in the direction of the starting line, hoping Shadow would return at least for the final round; opposite would mean their disqualification and him having to negotiate for the Emerald with whoever would win—which hopefully would be some of the Babylon Rogues as they were usually willing to trade Chaos Emeralds as long as money or something of considerable value was offered in return.

He's not here yet, Sonic mused internally once he reached the starting area, the vast space looking somehow empty now when only fifty people remained in the competition—though the lack of people definitely helped with searching the crowd for Shadow.

Sonic's lips pressed into a thin line as he noticed that even though Shadow wasn't there, there were other people he knew—unfortunately—and they seemed to be in a fairly good shape—as much as once can be after a day full of racing on Extreme Gear.

Well, I guess Shadow has just been proven innocent, the hero remarked internally as he started to make his way over to another familiar face—Sticks was standing at the very edge of the crowd, which meant that the Babylon Rogues had to be somewhere nearby too; the final round was about to start after all.

The female had her back to him when he reached her and not wanting to scare her, Sonic first cleared his throat before greeting her. "Hi, Sticks."

Letting out a sound similar to that of angry cat, Sticks immediately whipped around to face him with bared teeth, her arm curling behind her back to reach for her trusty boomerang. However, when she noticed it was just him, she immediately stopped snarling and even let go of her weapon. "Ah, that's just you."

"...Yeah, just me," Sonic confirmed, trying not to feel too weirded out by the reaction to a mere greeting; Jet had warned him that Sticks didn't really have all her marbles. "Hey, haven't you seen Shadow by any chance? I kinda cannot find him."

"No, I haven't." She vehemently shook her head. "And I'm glad I didn't." She scooted closer, leaning in and continuing in a low hushed tone almost as if she didn't want other people to hear them, "He really wants to hunt me, you know."

Sonic blinked. "...he wants to what? "

"Hunt me!" She repeated, reaching for her trusty weapon once again, her gaze now firmly locked on the crowd nearby, her eyes vigilant and watchful. "But he doesn't have a chance. I'm ready."

"Um..." Sonic raised a questioning brow, honestly having no idea what was the girl on about; as far as he knew the only time the two had interacted was the glaring contest back at lunch—and that wasn't what Shadow looked like when he was out for blood. "Why exactly do you think Shadow wants to...hunt you?"

And why was he having a feeling that 'hunt' actually wasn't the word he should be using here?

"I've trained my nose for these things. It's necessary when you live in the wild like me."

Sonic himself had spent the majority of his life 'out in the wild' and had over the time developed a nose for a trouble, but if you asked him, he hadn't sensed any malicious intent from Shadow back at the lunch so he guessed that Sticks was just being paranoid again—it wouldn't be surprising considering what he'd seen her do so far.

Thus he said just, "Huh, cool," ceasing all conversation with the remark until the Babylon Rogues arrived.

O-o-O-o-O

Good news? Shadow had appeared. Bad news? He had lost him again. Even worse news? A particular someone had apparently bounced back from their experience with angry Shadow.

"Hee hee! Hey, Sonic!"

The cobalt hero sighed exasperatedly as he shifted on his Extreme Gear to face the person, already knowing whom to expect and knowing that ignoring the guy wouldn't help him. He'd tried already. Five times. "What's it this time?" he asked, letting his annoyance known in his tone.

"We should, hee hee, get a dinner together, hoo hoo, after this."

Sonic scowled and turned his gaze back on the track, watching out for the power-ups that they were supposed to use in this round—which was basically a battle royale at neck-breaking speeds. Oh, boy. "I already told you I'm not interested."

"Aw, man, hee hee, it's really hard, hee hee, make you DTF, isn't it?" the Witchcarter asked him, wiggling his brows even though the other wasn't watching.

"DTF?" Sonic asked, perplexed by the unknown term. The hero raised a questioning eye-ridge as he turned his gaze back to his fellow contestant, expecting an explanation.

The wolf gave him a wolfish (ha!) grin as he brought up his hands, wiggling his fingers before making an 'OK' gesture with one hand while making a gun gesture with the other.

And then he pushed the finger gun through the loop of the 'O' and sharply back thrice while at the same time throwing him the lewdest look Sonic had ever gotten in his whole life.

It took Sonic's brain a single second to translate the crude display into a mental image and at the very moment it did, Sonic felt nausea hit him, his stomach threating to return its contents they same way they had arrived.

Gulping to calm his gag-reflex and to make his lunch stay where it was, Sonic snapped his gaze back to the road ahead, at the same time trying to force the disturbing image out of his head. The idea of doing that with the insolent wolf felt just downright disgusting.

Once sure the pizza was staying where it was, Sonic dared to take a look at the smirking wolf, forcing his own expression to be as impassive as possible when he shrugged his shoulder dismissively. "Nah, not much. Manners and not being an ass usually does the job," he said, the remark making the self-assured smirk slowly fall from Falke's face. "Though I clearly cannot expect either from you."

For some reason, the wolf looked at severe loss of words—and giggles—suddenly.

Sonic grinned as he zipped forward, hitting the dash panel to propel himself forward and over another water section, Falke right at his tail.

"But you can, hoo hoo, expect a night you'll never forget."

"Why? Are you planning to set your bed on fire or something?"

"I—What?"

"I mean that never happened to me, so that definitely would be an unique unforgettable experience—wait, now when I think about Blaze has actually once set my bed on fire that one time she got drunk," Sonic mused aloud, recalling the vague memories of that particular party; he still sometimes wondered what on Mobius could have Rouge had said that had led to the drinking competition between her and Blaze.

Figuring he better pay attention to the race rather than go down the memory lane—this whole round was about catching others off guard after all—Sonic forced himself to focus back on the present. He turned back to the wolf, shrugging his shoulders as he remarked nonchalantly, "So, sorry, it seems you'll have to come up with some other idea."

"Hee hee. What about a nice romantic bath?" Falke grinned, something dangerous flashing in his eyes and making unease twist in Sonic's gut. "Right about...now?"

Out of nowhere, Sonic felt something collide into him, making him shout out in surprise and throwing him off balance, his moment of inattentiveness to his surroundings causing his downfall.

Literally.

"Sorry about that~!" The culprit, Carrotia, merely waved at him and blew him a kiss before continuing forward with a laughing Falke at her side. However, Sonic didn't really pay any attention to either of them.

Because right now he was falling right into one of the big water pools.

And even though the color of his fur might suggest otherwise, he doesn't do well with water.

No, no, no, no— "NO—!"

Sonic could feel the moment his feet broke through the water surface—it was the very same moment he saw a flash of movement from the corner of his eye on his side and the moment felt one of his hand beings grasped in an iron grip.

His hand immediately wrapped around the one holding him, too many near-death experiences making him instinctively grab onto anything he could get his hands on when falling—even though it yanked at his shoulder with enough force that if felt as if it were about to be dislocated but not doing so; he guessed it were the years of pulling stunts like this he had to thank for.

And even though his shoulder was in pain, Sonic couldn't resist letting out an excited "Woohoo!" when Shadow made a twist in the air to cancel his falling momentum and generate some centrifugal force to help him to get on the board behind him—with a bit of struggle and a bit of balancing as those things simply weren't made for two people.

But, hey, as long as it was alright with the whole 'the team with the last functioning EG wins' rule, it was fine; no one ever said it couldn't be a single board.

"You know, you're kinda hard to get a hold of," Sonic joked just as he wrapped an arm around the other's waist—even though his feet were on the board, his current stance wasn't exactly good for maintaining balance and like this Shadow could work with both of their weight without him accidentally jeopardizing anything or falling off the board when Shadow made a sharper turn. "Oh, by the way, I want to talk to you at the end of the round."

Shadow made some vague throaty sound that Sonic presumed was supposed to be some kind of acknowledgment of his remark. Then, without any previous warning, Shadow suddenly boosted forward, Sonic barely managing to hold on Shadow and not fall off as he had not expected Shadow to pull such move right at this section.

Though it at least significantly shortened the distance the Witchcarters had gained on them. However, if they wanted to win, they needed to get ahead of them before Witchcarters got a power-up and possible put their gear out of commission with it—

An idea popped up in Sonic's mind.

"Hey, Shadow, how good are you at dodgeball?"

For a moment, there was no reply, but then ever so slowly, Shadow glanced at him over his shoulder, his furrowed brows an obvious sign the agent had no idea where the hero was heading with this topic.

Seeing he needed to elaborate a bit, Sonic gestured to himself and made a move as if he were about to roll into a ball. Then he thrust his hand in Falke's direction, the agent's brows raising in understanding what did he mean this time.

A smirk spread across Shadow's face.

Up ahead, a certain wolf suddenly felt his inner alarm going off. However, before he could have even wondered why his sixth sense was telling him he was in danger, he could already hear his teammate's panicked voice shouting, "Falkie, duck!" and feel the impact of a seventy-seven-pound hedgehog projectile against his back.

Falke's mouth opened in a strangled shout as he fell forward, the combination of Sonic's momentum and the unforgiving gravity pulling his feet over the edge of his Extreme Gear. The wolf flailed his arms, desperately trying to grab onto something—and thus accidentally ended up dragging even Carrotia down with him, both of them send free-falling before they could even attempt to find their bearings again.

On the other hand, Sonic who was used to being thrown around—which usually happened 9 times out of 10 not out of his volition, unfortunately—had no problem with finding his own bearings; he just effortlessly rebound from the glass wall of track, timing his moment of uncurling so his feet would land perfectly on the activation sensors of one of the rider-less Extreme Gears, the machine immediately flaring back to life.

"I'm gonna borrow this if you don't mind!" Sonic mock-saluted the currently drenched rabbit and wolf, not able to resist grinning just a bit at the wet-like-dog image of Falke. "Enjoy your romantic bath in the meantime, you two!" And with these last words, Sonic departed, catching up to Shadow in matter of seconds.

And as they raced towards the finish, Sonic had to admit one thing about Shadow.

He had one hell of a throwing arm.


[Last edited: 2018-07-09]


AN: As I have already said at the start, I unfortunately cannot say when I'll update next. University is being...demanding. Don't worry, I don't plan to abandon this story or go on a hiatus; the updates are just gonna take longer. (Let's all hope that it's not gonna take 2 and half months like this one...)

Thank you all for being so patient and amazing! You rock!