The next day, while they were getting breakfast at Molly's, Sonic and Tails were joined by another familiar face…

"Knux, glad ya could join us!" said Sonic.

"Glad to join you too!" said Knuckles. "Say, I was wondering…"

Before Knuckles could ask his question, a waitress – a purple fox – showed up.

"Hi, welcome to Molly's! My name is Sandra! Can I start you guys off with drinks?"

"I'll have a Coke, please," said Sonic.

"Orange juice for me, please," said Tails.

"You got any grape juice?" asked Knuckles.

Sandra nodded. "We do."

"I'll have that, then."

Sandra left to get their drinks.

"So, what were ya sayin' before, Knux?" asked Sonic.

"As I was wondering, you guys notice how weird Shadow's been lately?"

"Oh, ya mean like at the soccer game?"

"Yeah, like that."

Sonic shrugged. "Knowin' him, I bet he was thinkin' of new and creative ways to ice me."

"Or what if…" Tails hesitated.

"What, Tails?" asked Sonic.

Tails leaned in closer to Sonic.

"What if Shadow's attracted to you?"

Sonic had to work to suppress his giggling. "Oh, that's rich! My number-one rival bein' attracted to me!? Man, where do ya come up with this jive?"

"I'm not jiving you! I mean, I don't know for sure if he is, but it seems to be a likely possibility."

Unbeknownst to Team Sonic, Shadow overheard them discussing the possibility of him having a crush on Sonic. He sighed.

"Don't let them get you down, Shaddy!" said Rouge. "Even if what they're saying is true, you have the right to love whoever you want!"

"I know. It's just…I…well…"

"You don't have to say anything else!"

Rouge got up from her seat and gave Shadow another Extra-Special Hedgie Huggle. Granted, he still ached for affectionate physical contact from Sonic, but still, Rouge's touch did relax him.

Once again, an event was being held at Mobius Royal University, Emerald City. This time, it was judo. In today's match – which was part of the half-lightweight class – Espio the Chameleon was facing off against Luigi. Espio wore a white gi with the Mobian flag on the left breast, while Luigi wore a blue gi with the Mushroom Kingdom flag on the left breast. After bowing to each other, Espio and Luigi stepped onto the mat and got on with the fight. Luigi was trembling a bit and sweating nervously as he looked for a good opening against Espio. Sure, he'd been on his fair share of adventures with Mario, and he even rescued his older brother from a haunted mansion, but he'd never participated in a martial arts competition before. Because of Luigi's general nervousness, and because of Espio's ninja training, Espio easily advanced on him, grabbed him by the collar, put his left foot aside Luigi's right and put his own right foot in front of Luigi's. Luigi made a valiant attempt to resist, but Espio released some of the pressure from his right hand before shifting it to the middle of Luigi's left sleeve. Throughout the whole time, Luigi was unable to keep much – if any – weight on his left foot, so Espio easily completed the Sumi otoshi and threw Luigi onto his back, thereby earning the Purple Phantom an ippon, which meant he'd won the competition.

After his match, Luigi was exiting the university, thinking about his loss to Espio.

"Hello, Luigi!" said Mario.

"Oh…hello, Mario."

Mario put a hand on Luigi's shoulder. "You-a did good out there!"

Luigi shook his head. "Oh no, I-a lost."

"But it took-a courage to-a take-a part! I'm-a proud of you! Maybe you-a get them next time!"

Luigi nodded. Even if he didn't do so hot this time around, he now had enough determination to get some more practice in so he could do better next time.

Meanwhile, at the University of Emerald City's gymnasium, there were a number of women's artistic gymnastics competitions going on, including the balance beam competition, which Blaze was taking part in. Being a cat, she'd always fancied a good opportunity to show off her acrobatic skills. Granted, she was still pretty nervous about trying this, but she thought back to how much she'd changed since she'd met Sonic and her other new friends, which gave her an extra boost in confidence. Without using her hands, she jumped up and mounted the balance beam. For her next set of moves, she decided to kill two birds with one stone, so she did a switch leap – that is, she started a leap on her left foot and did a full split before landing on her right foot – and then did one and a half turns immediately upon landing on that foot. After this, she transitioned into a backwards salto, tucking with a full twist, followed by a backwards handstand. Throughout all of this, she showed the grace and poise that she had learned throughout her career as a princess. A few moves later, and just as the ten-second gong sounded, she hopped off the balance beam and did a backflip before landing on her feet, thereby earning her a high score and a hearty round of applause from the audience.

After the competition, Blaze was heading back to the Olympic Village when she was accosted by a familiar yet unexpected face…

"You did a wonderful job, Blaze," said Shadow. "Your performance brought honor to Mobius."

"I am grateful for your appreciation, Shadow, but why are you of all people giving me your congratulations?"

"Why not? You and I are playing for the same nation, aren't we?"

Blaze nodded. "That is most certainly true. Actually, now that you're here, I wished to inquire about something…"

"Go ahead."

"Are you in any way romantically attracted to Sonic?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "No, and not only do I find it silly that you think I am, but I'm wondering why you brought this up."

"Well, Silver and I were having breakfast at Molly's Diner, and I overheard Sonic, Tails and Knuckles discussing that possibility."

"Hmph, considering them, they're wrong. They're just misinterpreting my moment of hesitation at the soccer game against the Roseinian Empire as a sign of attraction."

"Then why did you hesitate?"

"I don't mean to be insulting, but I don't see why it matters to you, either."

"I merely wanted to get to the truth of the matter. Now if you shall excuse me, I must depart. Best of luck to you, Shadow."

Shadow nodded and uncrossed his arms. "Likewise, Blaze."

Blaze ran off to parts unknown, while Shadow shook his head.

(Ironic. I have no trouble talking to women like Rouge or Blaze, but whenever Sonic's around, I lose my nerve. I guess Rouge was right about what it's like to fall in love.)

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.