"Whatever happens to them, I'm blaming it on you," growled Amy, watching the retreating figures of Shadow and Sonic, who were racing to see who could get to Station Square and finish the last-minute Christmas shopping the fastest. It had been Rouge's idea, and Sonic's competitive nature persuaded him to drag Shadow along and make a race out of it. Amy had tried to protest, thinking of the many innocent bystanders who could be trampled, and the safety of the hedgehogs themselves. But once the challenge was made, neither of them would turn it down.
The bat smirked, glancing at the cloud of snow the two had kicked up in their haste to get started. "I'll take the blame, girl. Who knows? If they shop too fast, we might get some nice things because they were going too fast to see what they were getting."
"Or they'll kill each other," she muttered.
Rouge shrugged. "That too."
The two hedgehogs raced side-by-side and neck-and-neck, each straining to reach Station Square before their rival. Sonic glanced over at Shadow and smirked. His taunt was quickly returned, albeit more of a sinister sneer than a smug grin. They both quickened their pace and shot forward, and they simultaneously outran the speed of sound. The echoes of the resulting sound wave reached the city not too long after Sonic and Shadow.
Of course, their arrival at Station Square required them to slow their running speeds considerably. Sonic took off in a westerly direction, while Shadow headed east. A cobalt blur was all that was seen as Sonic darted into various stores, grabbed what he thought was within his price range and would be well-accepted, then dashed to the front. The wait in the excessively long lines was the only thing that slowed him down.
Shadow, however, made quicker progress due to careful choice of which stores to enter. He chose the least crowded, but the ones that would still carry items on the others' wish lists. Lines hardly slowed him down at all, since most were miniscule, or even nonexistent. However, this had its downsides, as the merchandise he managed to acquire grew considerably in weight relatively quickly. With a reduced running speed, he set back towards home.
As he passed one of the more crowded stores, he made eye contact with Sonic, who was trying to bribe another shopper into letting him cut ahead in the line. He had just as many items as Shadow, but was held back by a line of at least twenty-five. Emerald eyes met ruby, and the unofficial victory was clear to Shadow. He caught Sonic's irritated snarl, but moved onward as if he had not seen it. He took off as fast as he could to Sonic and Tails' house, the start and end point of their race.
He was almost out of Station Square when an unfortunate pedestrian crossed directly in front of him at the precise moment he had begun to pick up speed. With no hope of avoiding a collision, Shadow smacked into the human, and both tumbled for at least fifty feet, thanks to the ebony hedgehog's momentum. As they untangled themselves and Shadow mumbled slurred apologies, a cobalt blur raced by in the same direction Shadow had been going. Snatching up his treasures and desperately trying to keep up, Shadow attempted to reach the house before Sonic. However, as it was Sonic's house and he knew every possible shortcut, a loss was inevitable.
Sonic was waiting out front with the parcels at his feet, leaning against the doorway and smirking. "I win."