UPDATE: when I originally uploaded this, I did it on a work computer which totally annihilated all of the formatting that I did, so this is the new and improved chapter. Enjoy! :3

CHAPTER 25: Emerald Craze

Shadow rubbed his temples as he stared at the flower to his right. He'd never seen a flower quite like it. The petals were about two inches wide and three inches long, and were colored in the softest of pink and yellow tones. The plant seemed almost like it was breathing, and he decided it would be in his best interest if he steered clear of it.

He looked at his watch and realized it had almost been 20 minutes since he'd separated from the other two, and he was beginning to think he was walking in circles. They'd decided as a group that splitting up would give them a better chance to explore the area, and Tails had given him an ear piece. If necessary, he had a way to contact them immediately.

In all honesty, Shadow was completely fine with this arrangement. He could be alone and hopefully finish this mission - without anyone's help - before five, to keep his promise to Amy. The two stooges just dragged him down. Looking down at his watch again, he noted that it was already 1:17pm.

He wanted to keep moving forward, but he could feel his stomach knotting with hunger. The feeling reminded him of the brown paper bag Tails had given him along with the earpiece. The fox had stopped them, and handed both Sonic and Shadow a bag with a hint of a dark smile on his face. Shadow assumed the two-tailed kitsune, had prepared a snack for them, and taken the bag without much thought.

Shadow hadn't looked at it, or even cared, but now his stomach was doing little somersaults. His mind kept thinking about the morning's delicious feast, and he decided it wouldn't hurt to take a look. He sat on a large, fairly flat, boulder and set the bag in his lap. He only noticed the slanted handwriting and hearts on the front when he went to open the top.

Written in black was his name, with hearts drawn in a deliberate pattern around it. The handwriting was one he recognized right away; he'd seen it in the margin of textbooks, and on the whiteboard in the kitchen. Amy had made his lunch. He felt his cheeks grow warm as he realized that Tails had seen it when handing it over to him. No wonder the fox had that smirk on his face.

Gulping, he slowly separated the flaps of the sack, cringing at the crinkles of the paper, as though he were afraid he'd wake a sleeping beast. Peering inside, he saw a plastic box, and a small card on top of the lid. Reaching into the bag, he lifted the card up. There was a drawing on its cream colored surface; the picture was a silhouette of a hedgehog girl, handing a pink heart-balloon to a silhouette of a hedgehog boy. It was obvious that Amy had drawn it herself, since there were little ink imperfections, that wouldn't be on a store bought card.

Shadow felt his cheeks grow hot again, and he briefly pondered the idea of simply ignoring the card, which was sure to contain something embarrassing. However, just as he was about to set the card aside, the drawing caught his eye again. Amy had obviously put a lot of effort into this lunch, and if she knew he'd ignored her card, she'd most likely be hurt. Not to mention a bit hammer crazy, he thought before cautiously opening the thin folded paper. Inside was more of her writing, this time in hot pink ink, that almost burned his eyes to look at.

Hey Shadow!

I made you this lunch. Hope it's to your taste; I'm still trying to figure out what you like and hate. Anyway, I thought you would get hungry, and didn't want you scavenging in the jungle, when I have plenty of time to pack you some food. I hope those two lovable idiots haven't completely driven you insane by now. They can be quite the handful. Try to find your happy place when they annoy you. Also finish the mission quickly; I want to see you soon!

Amy Rose

He read it. Then read it again. He was feeling something new, something he'd never felt before. His chest was warm, and he had to gulp several times. He read it a third time, liking the way her 'y's, 'g's and 'q's all had looping tails, and found it adorable that her 's's were in cursive. Her letters were all connected, the only spaces were between her words, but it wasn't the traditional cursive they taught in school. It was as though she had created her very own style, and it matched her perfectly.

He finally realized what he was feeling; thankful. He couldn't remember a time he had felt truly grateful for anything. But here he was... sincerely thanking Chaos. Thanking the god that he had Amy - someone to wait for him, someone to care and worry for him. Why was it, that a simple card and meal affected him in such a way? He didn't understand. Logically, he shouldn't be feeling this way, but at the same time, he felt as though he'd been given a precious gift.

Folding the card shut again, he placed it carefully into his jacket pocket, and turned once again to the lunch in front of him. He pulled out the box, and saw that it was red and double layered. The lid was a clear plastic, and through it, he could see a sandwich.

Lifting the top compartment, he saw that the lower level had three separators. The space was split between two small squares and a rectangle. One of the squares had fruit, and the other a stack of cookies. The larger rectangle had his favorite chips; sea salt and vinegar. Everything looked delicious, and so carefully packed, that he almost didn't want to ruin it. Almost.

He sat for a moment after finishing the meal, and looked up through the trees. Since the temple was made with an open ceiling, he could see the blue sky above. He thought about three months ago. He had been wandering a forest in a different country, when he had felt hungry. He'd had to hunt for some animals, and search for some berries, or whatever else was laying around. He chuckled a bit, glad that he now had a girlfriend who made him lunches, even if the bag that carried it was covered in embarrassing hearts. It was better than eating raw fish, or random plants.

Grunting, he stood up, and stretched his arms. It was time to get moving, and now that he had a full stomach, his mood had lifted considerably. Stepping back onto the animal path, he moved in a faster pace than before. The sooner he finished this, the better. Pushing through an overgrown bush, he felt his foot catch on an exposed root. He tripped, but caught himself before he hit the ground. Stumbling slightly, and growling in anger, he didn't notice right away that he'd practically fallen onto an odd discovery.

When he had finished brushing himself off, he turned, and his eyes widened with surprise at the scene before him. He'd stumbled into a clearing that was large enough to house a small city. Which it did. Buildings made of sand colored stone surrounded and went up a hill in the center of the clearing. On the top of the hill stood a smaller replica of the temple that they were currently walking around in.

The city looked ancient, and had some similarities to Skye Arc tribe architecture. Shadow almost couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he was seeing a hallucination. Shadow the Hedgehog did not hallucinate. However, he did think this was unusual, and so he called the other two to come join him. It took longer than he would've liked for them to find him, and when they finally came through the trees, he gave each of them a glare.

"Took you long enough." He gruffly stated. Tails rolled his eyes, and Sonic ignored him completely.

"So, what do you think it is?" The blue hero asked, as he gazed out at the city. Tails was putting the empty lunches back into his bag, while looking at the buildings with interest. Shadow sighed, and folded his arms to his chest.

"It looks similar to the capital city of the Skye Arc tribe," He replied shortly, and Tails pushed forward to the front of the group. In the fox's hand he held his CCP and on its screen a page of a textbook - one that Shadow recognized and had read before - was displayed.

"I was thinking the same thing, look." Sonic leaned closer, and Shadow stayed where he was at, he'd already seen the picture, and didn't feel like getting up and entering personal space with the two heroes.

"Wow! Looks like Shadow was right! How'd you know?" Sonic exclaimed excitedly, taking the pad into his hands.

"Amy and I study the tribe whenever there's down time. I recognized it from one of the books she gave me. Haven't you even looked it up online? Everyone should have done a little research after the meeting." Shadow's voice was laced with pride and he felt a sense of superiority from being the educated one. If studying could help make Sonic look like a dumbass, then he would take the opportunity whenever possible.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, the insult not going over his head, and he huffed before handing the device back to Tails. "I didn't have a whole lot of time. Besides, I don't normally do things like that anyway."

"Let's end this discussion here," Tails interjected, not caring for another fight, "We all agree that the city looks as though it were transported through time and space to land here. Now let's get it together and go investigate."

Without waiting for a response, Tails began to make his way across the plain that lead to the outskirts of the city. Sonic and Shadow glared at each other, before following behind the swishing twintails. Upon reaching the first building on the outskirts, they glanced around to see if there was any life wandering about. However, they were met by an eerie silence, and thickness in the air, as though a great weight lay on the city.

Sonic walked over to the door of the building and pulled it open. Inside they could see a well furnished home, there were wooden chairs and tables. They could even see a small fire dying in the hearth towards the back, but there was no one to be seen. Upon further inspection of the surrounding houses, it didn't take long for them to realize they were in a ghost town.

"Well this is creepy," Sonic stated, as he came out of another empty dwelling. "There's furniture and food on the tables, like there should be people here. Everything's clean too, not a speck of dust. It's like the people just vanished in the middle of their day."

Tails shuddered at the thought, and turned a corner, running headlong into a stall. He rubbed his head furiously and shouted in surprise. The two hedgehogs made their way over, and the three of them looked down the street to see an outdoor market lining the road. All the stalls were filled with merchandise, and each one had a unique theme to it. There were jewelry stands, food stalls, and weapon kiosks, all shining with foreign products.

"What in the world?" Tails muttered, his hand slowing it's vigorous rub, until he stopped completely. The three of them looked at each other, and started down the path, looking to the right and left. Everything was in pristine condition, as though they'd been made the day before. Weapons shone and were sharpened so well, they seemed to slice the air around them. Clothes billowed out in the soft breeze, not a moth hole in sight, and jewelry stalls glittered and glistened under the hot sun.

"This all looks brand new, yet at the same time... so old." Sonic stated, his tone awed as his head swung back and forth.

"It's seriously like someone pulled all of this out of time, and placed it here." Tails breathed, and he moved to stall that was displaying some ancient technology. Sonic took the action as permission to snoop, and he dashed over to a stall with weapons. The blue hedgehog's eyes were bright, and he couldn't keep his hands off anything. He sprinted from stall to stall, looking at everything, and touching merchandise, like he was a child in a candy store.

Shadow rolled his eyes, and continued walking down the road. Something didn't feel right about this city, it felt like a paradox. He was getting a familiar feeling to that of when he stopped time with a Chaos Emerald. He'd never used an Emerald to travel in time, since it was unpredictable, but he knew it was possible. He'd heard about the time a silver colored hedgehog had come from the future to kill Sonic, and how Sonic had traveled in time with him to the future. Chaos Emeralds… and time travel… just what is going on here?

He passed a jewelry stand, and a glint on the table caught his eye. He paused, before walking closer to the stall. In the middle of a black velvet sea, sat a tiny red rose. It was carved from a brilliant bright ruby, the color of a ripe raspberry. The flower was embedded in a silver coin, which had small etchings of tribal designs in it's surface. The little pendant was about the size of a droplet of water, and hung on a silver chain. Shadow looked at it for a minute, before lifting it from its resting spot.

The rose sparkled in the sunlight, and he was suddenly hit with the urge to see it around the neck of a certain pink female. The pendant would suit her perfectly, and he could just imagine the joy in her eyes when he gave it to her, maybe it would even score him a kiss. He felt a little wrong to take something from a store without purchasing it, but there was obviously no owner. So Shadow stuffed the piece of jewelry into his pocket, letting it curl up next to the card.

Quickly turning he started to move away, pretending nothing had happened, when he stopped dead in his tracks. On display, at the far end of the table, were multiple necklaces each a different color, and mounting a unique stone. However, what had made him pause were the symbols on the back… symbols he recognized. He grabbed one, and flipped it over. On the back was a swirling character, it was the same as the necklace Amy had found. However this one was newer, and had no blemishes of time.

"Tails! Get over here!" He shouted, keeping his attention on the pendant. He heard the telltale swish of the fox landing beside him, and he shoved the necklace at Tails. The young Mobian grunted in annoyance, but when he saw what was in his hands, he gasped, and held it up to the light.

"This… this looks exactly like the one Amy has…" Tails muttered, turning the thing over and looking at the stone embedded in the front, "Except hers didn't have this jewel on the front."

"That's what I thought," Shadow replied, as he pulled another necklace from the display, this one had a different symbol, "We know this was some sort of energy artifact, but I didn't think there would be this many."

Sonic dashed over, once he realized his companions had found something of interest. He stood between them, but they were standing closely together and it was hard to get a good look at what they held.

"These look new… do you think they work?" The hero asked, picking up a necklace of his own, and looking at it closely.

Tails glanced up, and shrugged. There was a possibility that the necklaces were props, since it would be strange for such an item to be sold in an open market. Although, nothing about this situation or city could be considered 'normal.'

"I'm not quite sure… there's a fifty-fifty chance that it's fake," He placed the necklace in his bag,

"This is a jewelry store, and if we think about it, aren't some things in stores, imitations of the real thing? I'll just take this one home, and ask Amy to compare the two. She'll probably have a better idea about it than I would."

The fox unzipped his backpack and stuffed the pendant deep inside. He glanced up, and saw that they were now closer to the temple in the middle of the city. The large monument stood like a black hole against the blue sky. A long, dark shadow lay across the city, plunging everything it touched into a bleak existence. It was oppressing and ever present, no spot in the city would hide you from its gaze.

Tails felt a shiver up his spine, as though he were being watched and judged by its darkened walls. Although the idea of being under observation by something unknown was unsettling, it did inspire another thought within the genus. The temple was a perfect place to look for answers regarding their questions of the ghost city.

Ready to move onward, he looked over to his right, and was shocked to see Shadow and Sonic goofing off. Sonic was putting multiple necklaces and rings on, and walking around like a lady, his hips swinging and his right hand raised elegantly in the air. Meanwhile Shadow stood with his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face. Only his ruby eyes moved as they followed Sonic's dainty strut.

"Wow, Sonic, that style really suits you." Shadow snickered. Sonic stopped moving and batted his eyes at the ebony hedgehog, bringing clasped hands up to his cheek. Then in a shrill voice, and with a feminine pat on Shadow's shoulder, Sonic replied,

"Hohoho, thank you kind sir. You're quite the lady killer! Hohoho!"

The two hedgehogs looked at each other for a second, before cracking up. As Sonic laughed, rings and necklaces fell from him and he shook violently. While, Shadow snickered, pointing at Sonic like he was some sort of exhibit.

"Eh-hem!" Tails coughed, causing both hedgehogs to stop dead in their tracks. They stared at the fox like two children caught with their hands in a cookie jar, before a blue blur covered Sonic, as the hero quickly removed the jewelry and placed them back on display. Shadow coughed, and looked anywhere but Tails' irritated blue eyes.

"I appreciate that you guys are… bonding, instead of fighting, but -"

"We aren't bonding!" Sonic protested. Shadow grunted with an eye roll,

"That's my line, Faker."

"Ugh, well you're -"

"Shut up! Chaos, you two are so childish!" The fox yelled, and the hedgehogs looked at him, both wearing matching frowns. Chaos! Tails thought, they're like twins! If they just let go of that stupid pride, they'd probably be best friends. Although Tails understood this, he could still feel the thin thread of patience he still had start to stretch.

"Look, we aren't here on vacation. We have a mission to complete, or did you forget that there was high Chaos Emerald signatures, coming from this temple?" He paused a moment to point to the smaller temple in the middle of the city.

"Now, any logical person, would go and investigate the mysterious shrine. So I, a logical person, will be heading in that direction. And if either of you are interested in returning home without empty hands, then I suggest you get your asses moving towards the center of this Chaos forsaken town!" Ignoring their blank faces, Tails marched past them and towards the looming hill the temple sat upon.

Sonic and Shadow looked at each other a moment, before heading after Tails. Shadow slowed his pace, so that he would trail a couple feet behind Sonic, as the hero caught up to his friend. He watched as Sonic teased and joked with the fox, slowly calming Tails and bringing him back to a state of happiness. The blue blur was definitely charismatic, Shadow would give him that. However, what was even more amazing to the Ultimate Lifeform, was Sonic's ability to bring a smile to anyone's face. Surprising he'd even succeed in doing so with him today.

The ebony hedgehog was surprised that he'd joined with Sonic in pointless antics, and even more surprised that he'd enjoyed it. In fact he found a small part of him wanting to joke around with the hero again. He never joked around, sure he would tease Amy, or she would tease him, but they hadn't ever fooled around like two idiots. He disliked that something so uncharacteristic of him had happened with Sonic. What had possessed him to break character? Must be getting stupid from being around him for longer than normal.

The hill was steep and long, and it took them about 20 minutes to walk up it. Tails had told them not to run, race, or compete to the top. They would be noticed right away if they caused a scene, and since they were walking in the temple's large shadow, the cloaking device wouldn't be as effective as before. As the trio approached the temple steps - steps that seemed almost as steep and long as the ones they'd raced on earlier - Sonic moaned, and cracked his back.

"Why couldn't we run again? There's no one here. So there's no fear of 'catching attention.'" He used his fingers to iterate the quotations.

Tails sighed, and rubbed his temples, looking up he replied with an exasperated voice, "Have you completely forgotten that Paul is wandering around in here somewhere? Not to mention whoever opened the temple doors for him."

"Ooh!" Sonic exclaimed, "Right… guess I did forget." He laughed a bit. Shadow narrowed his eyes, all earlier feelings of possible comradery with the azure hero, was replaced by frustration. Was Sonic really that stupid? Or did he choose not to think constructively? He was just about to add his two cents about how useless and idiotic Sonic was, when they all heard a loud scraping noise, of stone on stone. All their attention snapped up towards the top of the temple, where the doors were slowly opening outwards.

The three panicked, and ran into each other in an attempt hide themselves. After much scrambling and pushing, they hid in the closest house to the foot of the shrine. They were pressed up against the front door, panting and holding onto each other like a horror comedy. It only took them a moment to realize that they were practically hugging, and the trio separated quickly, refusing to make eye contact. Tails motioned them to turn on their cloaking, and even though they were still in shadow, it was better than nothing. You could just make out their faded features, and someone would have to be looking directly at them to notice.

Tails and Sonic crouched to the floor underneath the window on the left, while Shadow took the right. Finally in position, the three of them sat still waiting for whoever was coming out of the temple to get nearer. It didn't take too long, before they could hear footsteps, slithering, and muffled voices. A few more seconds passed, before they could make out the conversation.

"... plan is ruined. We didn't expect that outcome at all." Shadow recognized the voice as that disgusting, trash of a wolf, Paul. He had to fight an urge to jump through the window and attack the bastard. He hadn't been this close to the sicko since that horrible night in the alley of Orheim, and all his repressed rage threatened to explode.

"Well, letsss just forget that plan for now. Thingsss are still moving along sssmoothly enough. Besidesss everything is prepared for the festival of Khrasss, there's only a month till the right time." The horrible slimy voice could only belong to the one, and last, Ancient Lyric. At this point the evil duo were close enough for the heroes to see. Paul was wearing a leather jacket, which was dyed a hideous lime green, and black shorts, while Lyric was still half snake and ancient mech.

"That may be true, but can we really expect the sacrifice to remain perfect by that time? A lot can happen in a month." Paul was walking while eating something on a stick, and he took a bite. He yanked hard to rip a piece, from what looked like a chunk of meat, and it made a sickening snapping sound. Shadow flinched in disgust as he watched the monster chew loudly. The wolf gulped it down and continued with a small cough,

"And now there's even more danger than before, of it getting defiled."

"Well, we wouldn't have to worry about that, if you had jussst done your job." The cyborg snake hissed, his face also twisted in disgust as he watched his minion tear into the meat again. Paul took a moment, his jaw smacking in a watery rhythm, before swallowing the food with a loud gulp.

"Ha!" He scoffed once his mouth was free, "The kettle calling the pot black! You were the one that failed first. Don't pretend like I'm the only failure. Even your star pupil failed royally! The both of you are comical."

The snake glared at the purple wolf, his olive, reptilian eyes mere slits. The wolf ignored the murderous look, and continued speaking.

"If you want I could always try getting it again, the last time really got my heart pumping. Besides, it would give me a chance to see - or rather taste - my flower again."

Shadow almost growled. He had no idea what the two bastards were talking about, none of it made any sense. But he knew exactly who Paul's 'flower,' was. He looked over to where Sonic and Tails were, thinking that they might be just as angry as him. However, neither seemed that agitated, they were calmly watching the scene in front of them, as though nothing were wrong.

The black hedgehog almost turned his anger toward them, when he remembered that they hadn't been there that night. Nor did they know the whole truth. As far as they knew, Paul had only roughed Amy up a bit, and they merely thought it was because he was Lyric's henchman.

Calm down Shadow, he told himself, this is no time to lose your shit. The way to protect Amy is to find out what these fuckers are up to and stop them… then afterwards, I can empty a few clips into that mutt. His hand reached into his jacket, and curled comfortably around the cold metal weapon that lay there. The feel of the gun, and the reassuring thoughts, helped to calm him down enough to tune back in.

Lyric had stopped to stare at the wolf, his eyes annoyed and his robotic arms crossed in front of him. "Really, Paul? What the hell isss wrong with you?!"

The wolf laughed darkly, and sucked on the skewer in his hand, slurping the remains of the food into his mouth. After he was finished, he flicked it onto the ground, and looked up at his master with a crazy smile.

"Ooh, sooo many things. Isn't that why you hired me, boss?" Paul sneered, pieces of mystery meat peeking out from between his fangs. Lyric cringed, and started down the road again.

"You disgussst me." The statement made the wolf laugh loudly, and it was a cruel and cold sound. He jogged after the Ancient at a leisurely pace, his long matted tail swinging from side to side. He called out with dark humor lacing his voice,

"You're not the first person to say that."

They were almost out of sight, and the last sentence that floated over to the heroes, was one filled with pure hatred and annoyance.

"Just ssstay put. Let thingss run their courssse. I have a feeling everything will go as planned."

Silence entered the hut, and the three males continued to crouch until they were sure it was safe. Sonic could only last three minutes, before he stood and stretched, "Well, now we know for sure that pervert is working for Lyric."

Shadow said nothing, multiple emotions were swirling within him at the moment. As a result, he didn't know how he would act, if he responded to the blue imbecile's 'captain obvious' statement. For one thing, he was extremely pissed off. He wanted to punch something, or more accurately, someone. Another thing, was the annoying fact that he was confused, more so than ever, about Lyric's goal. Just what did that belly-crawler have up his sleeve? And thirdly, he was sick to his stomach. Just seeing that purple fur and those sickly yellow eyes, had bombarded his mind with memories of that horrible night… forcing him to live through it again.

Amy's frightened face - swollen and bleeding - as she desperately fought in the wolf's clutches. Her tears and screams filling his subconscious. The way she'd trembled in his arms, and her rejecting his touch. But worst of all was her lifeless stare... looking at something he could not see. Her bright smiles, which served as masks to her despair, flattering in the corners. Smiles that said she was fine, but never reached her wet, empty eyes.

"Shadow? You okay, man?"

Shadow's head snapped up, to see Sonic looking at him with an expression he'd never directed towards the anti-hero before: concern. The ebony hedgehog glanced down, and saw that he was now gripping his gun tightly in shaking hands. His feet were pointed to the door, as though he was going to run out, and he was clenching his jaw. He took a deep breath, and slowly loosened his hold on the weapon, letting the weight of it sink into his palm. After he'd stopped trembling, he carefully placed the gun back into the folds of his jacket. He stood, ignoring the two worried males and pushed his way through towards the door.

"I'm fine. Let's get going." His voice cold and irritated. They flinched a bit, both realizing that somehow Shadow had become absolutely livid.

He was angry that he'd allowed them to see him in that weakened state. He used that anger to force his focus to the task at hand. Pulling the hut's door open, he stepped outside and started towards the top of the hill. Tails and Sonic looked at each other confused and concerned, but then hurried after him.

"Should we really be going in there?" Tails asked nervously. He was scared of Shadow's sudden dark attitude, and worried that it would get them into danger. Sonic shot a warning look at Tails, wisely keeping quiet. There seemed to be a gloomy cloud around the Ultimate Lifeform, which made the azure hero feel uncomfortable. Sonic could practically feel the anger coming off Shadow in waves, and he had no desire to be the target of it.

"Humph." Shadow scoffed, continuing in a faster pace up the stairs, "You're welcome to go after those two bastards. They were headed towards the exit. I won't stop you, but I, for one, want to have a look in that temple while we know no one is there."

Sonic looked up at Tails, who had taken flight when reaching the bottom of the stairs, and a smirk formed on his face, "Can't argue with that, can ya Tails?"

"No…" Tails sighed, "I guess not."

Four minutes passed until they reached the top, and Shadow wasted no time in opening the golden doors. Inside was a short, dark hallway, at the end of which was a square of bright light. The three of them squinted the entire trip down the hall, their eyes trying to adjust to the stark contrast of darkness and light. Shadow was the first to step through the opening. He blinked several times at the bright sunlight that hit him, but once his eyes adjusted, he was met with a sight even more miraculous than the prehistoric jungle outside.

He was standing a courtyard, before him lay a sloped staircase of the purest white marble. The stairs cut into three levels of square slabs, that were made of the same stone, and the top of each level was fuzzed with the greenest grass he'd ever seen. The steps were about six feet wide, and two feet tall. Water boarded the grass, and spilled over the sides of the slabs in a glistening, and serene stream. All around him, small bugs floated lazily about, their small bodies reflecting the sunlight in golden sparks, giving the impression of fairies.

However, the most beautiful thing before him, stood in the middle of the top level. It was a pure white statue of a female hedgehog. She was donned in flowing robes that moved down her body like a waterfall. Gold leaf, etched patterns into the ends of her sleeves, skirt, and hood - which was drawn up over her head. She stood, her head bowed, as she gazed with a loving smile into her cupped hands. Sparkling liquid poured from between her marble fingers, which flowed into the stream bordering the edge of the grass. She was so beautiful, and celestial that it took him a second to see the three gems displayed around her.

"Jackpot! Chaos Emeralds!" Tails exclaimed, to his left. The fox was right, there were three pillars - standing about two feet from the ground - two on either side of the statue, and one, three feet in front. Floating above the pillars, and spinning ever so slowly, were the turquoise, pink, and white Chaos Emeralds.

All three of them stood and stared at the scene before them in silence. No one dared to speak, or even move. The whole situation seemed surreal, as though they were in the garden of a god, and none of them wanted to break the fragile peace that hung in the air. He didn't know how much time had passed like that, but finally Shadow snapped back to reality, and with a purposeful stride, headed towards the top of the altar.

"Shadow! What are you doing?" Tails hissed after him, not moving from his spot. Shadow grunted.

"Do I even need to honor that question with a response? Isn't it obvious?" He reached the last level of stairs, and his legs itched with the urge to run towards the gem. Finally, he had found an Emerald. After so many lonely months, after so long of searching, there was not one but three close to him. He could feel it calling to him; he craved that familiar and comfortable power. If he just grabbed at least one, than his mission would be over, and he could go home to Amy.

"Shadow! Stop! We don't know what's going to happen if we touch those. For all we know Lyric's put some sort of trap here."

"I don't care, I can fight anything he throws at me. Besides, once I have an Emerald, we can just Chaos control out of here, no problem." Shadow replied, he was now standing before the statue and the white Emerald.

"I really think you should listen to Tails, Shadow." Sonic's voice called out behind him, he could hear them begin to run towards him.

However, Shadow didn't listen. He was still angry from earlier, and all that he could think about was the power he'd attain with a Chaos Emerald in hand. The power to defeat Paul, once and for all. The purple freak might be able to absorb bullets, but Shadow wanted to see him try the same trick against Chaos attacks. Nothing in the universe, was more power than the Ultimate Lifeform holding a Chaos Emerald.

His hand reached out, inhibitor bracelet gleaming in the sun. He felt a grip on his wrist, and he saw a blue arm. That bastard Sonic was trying to stop him! Straining against the hero's hold, Shadow pulled closer and closer to the prize. Just a little more! His forefinger connected with the smooth surface of the gem.

Finally.

Suddenly, as though it were made of water, the Emerald slipped from his touch and was swallowed by the pillar in the ground. Shadow jumped back in surprise, and looked up in time to see the other two Emeralds sink into their pillars as well. Then, like the worst alarm clock in the entire universe, a screeching siren rang out, causing the trio to throw their hands to their ears. Shadow turned around to see a very pissed fox, and annoyed hedgehog.

"Great going Shad, you tripped the Chaos-damned alarm!" Sonic yelled, and Shadow only understood what he was saying by reading his lips. He was going to scream a retort back, when suddenly the ground beneath him shifted. He looked down to see the step he had backed onto, fold into the ground, and suddenly the three of them were sliding down a ramp, and into the hall of the temple. Once they had all slid through, a thick stone slab slammed down between them and the courtyard, tossing them into pitch blackness.

The only good thing, was that the alarm became muffled to the point that they could hear each other's voices. Which also seemed to be the worst kind of luck.

"Fuck! Shadow! You fucking idiot!"

"Don't you speak to me like that, you blue asshole!"

"He wouldn't have to, if you listened to me in the first place!"

"This is all Fakers fault! Don't get in this fox!"

"My fault?! How in hell is this my fault?!"

"If you hadn't rushed into things, we wouldn't be in this mess! You fucker!"

"Bastard! The hell you talking about?!"

"I had it in my hand! If you hadn't held me back, I could have grabbed it, and then we could just fucking Chaos control out of here!"

"Oh, that's rich! You didn't have it! You barely touched it and it was sucked into that pillar faster than I could run!"

"Then you're a slow ass motherfucker!"

"That's it! I'm gonna -"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The scream pierced through the air, and deafening silence followed. Sonic had never heard Tails scream like that before, and Shadow was shocked that the fox could make such a noise. The fox panted angrily, and then the hall was filled with blue light. Tails had turned on the face of his watch, and he glared at the outlines of Sonic and Shadow.

"I'm not going to blame anyone, at least not right now. Look around you, idiots! We're stuck in a Chaos-damned demon temple, and I for one have no plans of dying here. So either you two shut up and let me come up with a plan to get us out of here, or shut the fuck up while I leave. Either way, shut. The. Fuck. Up. Do you understand?!"

Two hedgehog heads nodded, slowly. Tails moaned, and rubbed his head. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic and his head was pounding. He walked up to the door that separated them from the courtyard, and saw that it was reinforced with some kind of thick metal. Not worth it. We need to focus on getting out of here.

Turning, he headed past the fuming hedgehogs, and towards where they'd entered. Thankfully he noted that the doors seemed to be only made of stone, with no latches or mechanisms anywhere. They could just simply open it and walk out.

"Shadow! Sonic! Get over here, and work together to get this thing open." He heard the hedgehogs stumble over each other, and whisper curses and insults along the way to the doors.

Once they reached it, Shadow and Sonic placed their hands on the slabs of stones and pushed, grunting the only sound to be heard. Neither one acknowledged the other, mostly because they didn't want to anger Tails any more than he already was. Finally after a couple minutes, the door scraped and opened. Shadow stumbled out, and when he looked up, he felt cold sweat began to form on his back. Before them lay a sea of robots, all waiting for them to walk forward.

Sonic and Tails both gulped, and Shadow grinded his teeth in anger. This was going to be a hard battle, and a long one. Looking down at his watch, he saw it was almost four. Yep… definitely going get home later than five… Amy's gonna kill me… that is if I make it out of here in one piece.

Shadow the Hedgehog had never had a good birthday. All of them had been depressing and lonely. He'd never cared or even thought about it much, and he was sure that there would be many more in the future, just as depressing and lonely as the ones in the past. They were all bad. However, he could now safely say that this particular birthday was the worst one of his life.

"There! All finished!" Amy exclaimed happily, as she placed the final raspberry onto a cake, covering the last little square of creamy white. She stepped back, and admired her handy work. She'd decided to go with a cheese cake after discussing it with Rouge. The bat had remembered that a few years back Shadow tried some, and hadn't said he disliked it. At the time, that was closest you could ever get Shadow to saying he liked something. If he didn't like something, he had no issue telling you.

"It's gorgeous Amy!" Rouge exclaimed, her large ears twitching, and her mouth began watering. The cake was a no-bake, classic cheesecake with berries on the top. Strawberries cut in half from stem to tip, were laid out as a flower in the center of the circle, with black berries and blue berries fanning out, until they reached the raspberry border. Graham cracker crust ran up the curved sides, and sitting on top of the strawberry flower, was a chocolate bar that had Happy Birthday, Shadow! Written in curling white chocolate.

Rouge couldn't help but lick her lips, and her hand reached out to dip in the cake. Amy's hand shot out like lightning, smacking the bat's hand away from the dessert. She picked up the dish, ignoring Rouge's pouting, and walked over to her refrigerator. She carefully placed the cake on the middle shelf, which she had cleared just for this purpose. Then smiling she picked up a small sauce dish that sat next to the cake.

"Here you go," She said, with a smile as she placed the dish in front of Rouge, "I made you a personal cheese cake, cause I knew you would want some."

The bat looked down at the little two inch diameter cake with hungry eyes, and picked up the fork that Amy placed next to her.

"You know me too well."

The next couple minutes involved Rouge scarfing down the dessert, and Amy watching while sipping tea. Once the thief was finished, she sat back in her seat and sighed contentedly. Amy smiled, and finished her tea before taking the empty dishes to the sink.

"What time do you have to pick Knuckles up from the competition?" Amy asked, as she started cleaning up. She heard Rouge hum in thought before answering.

"Around four… what time is it right now?"

"Almost three." Amy answered after leaning over to look at her her ovens digital display. She heard Rouge moan behind her, and a smirk developed on Amy's face.

"Ugh… I don't wanna drive." Rouge whined, and she flopped onto the table her wings flapping irately. Amy laughed and joined her at the table having finished washing the dishes.

"I thought you loved driving your cute - sorry, edgy - sports car." Amy teased, as she poured some more tea for both her and Rouge. The bat sat up a bit, and gave Amy a bit of a stink eye as she pulled her mug closer.

"Of course I do! My car is fast, low to the ground, sexy, and most importantly, runs on solar energy. It's a dream to drive and own! My problem is that I hate being a chófer." Rouge pouted a bit, and Amy chuckled.

They sat in silence a bit, both lost in thought. Steam rose up from their brightly colored mugs, and the only sound to be heard was the gentle swishing of water rhythmically crashing against the stilts of the hut. It was an early summer's day that you could get lost in, and the warmth flowing in from the window made the two of them feel lazy and content.

"You know…" Rouge started, as I idea formed in her mind, "You should get a car too. It'll be easier to bring supplies and tools to your dig sites."

Amy scoffed and stirred her tea, enjoying the scent that wafted up with the steam.

"That would be a good idea if I knew how to drive."

"You don't know?" Rouge asked, truly shocked, "You know how to fly a plane but you don't know how to drive a car?!"

Amy blushed, and stared deeply into her mug, refusing to look the bat in the eye.

"Well… I had to learn how to fly a plane when we were traveling in space, but I've never had the need to use a car before, so no one taught me."

Rouge couldn't help but chuckle a bit. She found it amusing that someone would know how to pilot a plane, and didn't have a simple skill like driving.

"Well… you should learn." Rouge said, a devious plan beginning to form in her mind.

"Oh really?" Amy chuckled a bit, "Who would teach me? You? We'd both end up crashing because of your horrible driving."

Rouge narrowed her eyes at the comment, but her lips split in a smirk, "No. Not me... Shadow."

Amy looked at her friend with disbelief. Shadow, teach her to drive? Well… I'll admit, it'd be interesting… she shook her head, dismissing the thought.

"There's no way he'd agree to do that… even if I wanted to." She objected, her pointed ears flicking in doubt.

Rouge's smirk widened, and she gulped down the last of her tea before replying, "Of course he would. As long as it's his Rose asking, that little Gloom Ball would do anything."

Amy felt her face grow warm, "I-I don't think that's t-true…"

Rouge rolled her eyes and got up to place her mug in the sink. She turned and picked her jacket up from the back of her chair. The jack was was biker and made of red leather, making it her favorite.

"Look, hun, there's no point in acting modest between us. I've already seen Shadow do things I never imagined possible since he started living with you. I'm completely convinced that he'll do anything for you. You just have to ask."

Amy stayed silent. She couldn't find the words to argue, and instead she walked with Rouge to the front door to see her friend out. It was drawing close to the time that was socially acceptable and considered 'fashionably late,' to pick up Knuckles.

"That may be true… but I don't have a car."

Rouge scoffed, "Don't you give me that. You and I both know you have bank. Don't you have a bunch of inheritance?"

Amy felt herself flinch at the word, and she started to fiddle with her skirt subconsciously, "Yeah… but I don't like using it for stuff I don't absolutely need. Only for things like college… it's money I got from my parents dying, after all."

Rouge felt a little pang of sadness, but covered it with a sigh. She placed her hand on Amy's shoulder and waited until the girl looked at her before talking.

"I get it. Look, I wasn't trying to make you feel bad…" She paused, and then gasped loudly causing Amy to jump.

"I know! You can have my old car!"

Amy blinked at her, "What? You kept it?"

Rouge smirked, and placed her hand on her hip, "Of course! Mirage is a classic!"

Amy laughed, "You named your car Mirage?"

Rouge smirked, not offended in the slightest.

"Duh! If it's a beauty, it deserves a name. His name," she said gesturing to her parked purple sports car, "is Blitz."

Amy continued to giggle, holding her sides, and wiping imaginary tears from her eyes. The bat ignored her, and continued, a bit of pride in her eyes.

"Mirage can't get to the speeds Blitz can, so I haven't driven her in a long time. She's been in storage for a year now. And..." She waited for Amy to quiet down,

"And it saddens me to know she isn't being used. She's a good car. So I'll give her to you."

Rouge's face was sincere, and Amy begrudgingly found she couldn't refuse. The thief obviously really loved her cars (maybe too much, but Amy decided not to dwell on that), and she could see it would mean a lot to her, if Amy received… Mirage. The pink hedgehog sighed,

"Okay, okay… I'll take the car."

Rouge smiled brightly, and started to hug Amy, but she held the bat at arm's length. Her face was serious.

"On one condition… I'll ask Shadow tonight, and if he says yes, then I'll take it. However if he says no, then you keep… Mirage."

The bat's smile returned with vengeance and she squeezed Amy in an excited hug.

"Yay! This'll be so fun to watch!"

"What?"

Rouge froze and pulled away from Amy. Oops… didn't mean to say that out loud. Rouge smiled as convincingly as she could, (which ended up looking like more of a grimace). She patted Amy on the shoulder.

"Nothing… don't worry about it." She started to walk away, and Amy narrowed her eyes. Rouge was up to something, but the hedgehog couldn't put her finger on it.

"When you say it like that, I can't help but worry."

Her friend merely laughed, not stopping her trip to her car.

"Seriously, don't think so hard. I gotta go, hun, before Knuckles gets mad." The bat blew a kiss with a wink before getting in her car and speeding away. Amy watched her leave with narrowed eyes.

Ding!

The pleasant bell dragged her from her thoughts of Rouge conspiracies, and she flopped her watch open. She had a message from Tails. That's odd… he hardly ever texts me. She noticed that it was already four o'clock, and a sickening feeling took root in her stomach. She opened the message.

We're gonna be late.

Hello Dear Readers!

It's been a while, hasn't it? I apologize for the late update, this chapter was very hard for me to write for some reason. I had major writer's block for a while.

As always, thanks to my amazing beta readers: Depressing Shadow and WolfsLegend. You guys always support me, and I wouldn't be able to to do it without you!

In other news: My friend WolfsLegend, and I, are writing a collaborative story. It's a SonAmy, a very dark SonAmy. I will be uploading the first chapter to my account for a month or two, and then it will be transferred to WolfsLegend's account. Here is a summary:

He never realized how much he hated the color red or how much that one word—monster—could tear his world apart. That other side of him, the beast, was not him. That wasn't Sonic… Sonic didn't enjoy ending the life of the innocent, he didn't enjoy their screams, and he most definitely did not enjoy the evil desires that tainted his heart. Most if all, he would never bathe in the blood of his beloved, and laugh in ecstasy. He's no hero, not anymore.

Did that catch your attention ;) I don't know the exact time for you guys to expect it's upload, but it'll happen within several months.

So, LGH has maybe 5 to 10 chapters left, crazy! I never expected to get this far, and I sure didn't expect to have such an amazing following! You readers have made this a pure joy to write! There are so many of you, and honestly you guys are what made me suck it up, and finish this chapter. The next ones should be easier to produce and as such it will be faster updates. I read every single review, please let me know in PM if I accidently missed replying to one of your comments.

Guest Review Responses:

xoLoliGothox: First off: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! Thank you for your support XD it means a lot. I'm really glad you enjoy the way I write the characters, honestly I do not believe in changing the fundamentals of the original character to meet my needs. Sure, I will have character development, but the base personality is the same. So to hear that I am successfully achieving this, is always an encouragement! Also, thank you for reviewing, and loving the story, and for appreciating the care (long story development) that I put into it :3 You're the best, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story to its end!

Guest #1: thank you for your review, and thinking my story is beautiful! I know you said longer updates are good, so I hope this wasn't too long of a wait ;) hope you liked the chapter!

MysterySecret and Yavo: Here I am! LOL I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :3

Erin: Wow! I was really touched to hear you looked up the Celtic song and liked it. And, gosh, I'm blushing… thanks for thinking I'm a genius /(●^_^●)/ And I was smiling the entire time that I wrote chapter 15 lol. It's a good one XD Hope you like this chapter too!

Guest #2: Thanks for thinking I'm a good writer and enjoying my story! Hope you liked this one too!

So there's my loooong message, after a loooong update.

Let me know if you guys got the chapter title, and can figure out why I named it Emerald Craze :3

Happy Reading!