A bush shook, lifted up on two long black legs, and tiptoed quickly down the pebble path. Omochao floated behind, looking annoyed. The bush dropped down suddenly when a pair of kids ran by, then lifted up again and went tiptoeing away.
"Shadow, is that really necessary? You look dumb." Omochao remarked. The bush dropped down and Shadow reached up to grab him. "Ow! Hey! Stop it! That hurt!" Omochao wailed.
"Quiet! You'll give me away! If Sonic finds me, he's not gonna leave me alone! He'll chain himself to my leg and I'll never be free, the way Maria wanted me to be." Shadow griped and sighed, "And where am I gonna find another Chao?" A warden ran by with a net.
"That creepy little thing's kissing the lions! Get it out of there before it causes anymore havoc!" the speakers blared out. Shadow poked his head out of the bush and smiled.
"Well, that answers my question!" he said cheerfully.
"There you are!" Cammy's voice called out. Shadow winced and looked over his shoulder. The green hedgehog stood against the wall, giving him a sly, sneaky look. "Thought you could get away from me, huh? I don't give up the chase so quickly, Shadow."
"Not you again! Outta here!" Shadow yelped and dug out the yellow Chaos Emerald, "Chaos Control!" He and Omochao vanished into the air in a bright flash of light. Cammy watched it and smiled again.
"So, you're the ultimate life form that got away from the military. Now I definitely have to get with you." she murmured and picked up her purse. Skipping away to the lion cages, Cammy whistled cheerfully, twirling her rod at her side.
Shadow reappeared in front of the lion cages. There was that Dark Chao, kissing the lions and doodling all over the walls. The wardens were chasing it around, swinging their nets to try to catch it. Omochao zipped ahead with a chew toy. The Dark Chao spotted it and began to run after him, biting the air and jumping to grab it.
"Great! Lead him over here, Omochao!" Shadow called out. Omochao flew his way and the Demon Chao gave a flying leap up to grab the chew toy. At that moment a warden swiped at the air and caught both the Demon Chao and Omochao in the net.
"Ha! Gotcha, ya little runts!" the man said with a laugh and rushed off with them.
"Help, Shadow! Help!" Omochao wailed as the Demon Chao sat in the net, startled. Shadow yelped and chased after the warden.
"Hey! Wait! Stop! Give those Chao back to me!" he cried but the warden had vanished into the crowd of people. Shadow stood in the crowd, looking around frantically for the man. "Oh no. Oh no! What am I gonna do? How am I gonna explain this to Professor Chao and Ms. Chao?!" he exclaimed, "I can't believe I lost the Dark Chao! And now Omochao is lost, too!"
Sonic and his friends searched the zoo, still searching for Shadow. They found Cammy taking it easy by the lion cages, sipping a soda and now wearing a pretty green dress with a white flower tied to one shoulder and sandals instead of hiking boots and the safari suit. She winked at Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, and nibbled on a cracker.
"Hi. Nice to see you all again. Having fun at the zoo?" she asked sweetly.
"Did you lose Shadow already?" Amy asked her, "I thought I told you to watch out for the Chaos Control." Cammy smiled and shook her head.
"I can handle Chaos Control capable hedgehogs. I'm just giving Shadow a break before I catch him." she replied and raised her eyebrow a few times to give them a hint, "I don't want him to run out of energy so early, if you catch my drift."
"Eew." Sonic muttered and looked around, "Hey, speaking of Shadow, where is he?" Cammy slurped at her soda and dropped the empty cup into the trash can, standing up and hefting the elongated rod onto her shoulder. She gave him a sneaky grin.
"I know exactly where he is. I've been tracking him ever since he used that Chaos Control for the first time." she said and walked away, dress flowing about her gracefully as she did so. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails stared after her. Amy frowned at them and tapped her foot impatiently. Cammy looked back over her shoulder at them, still giving them that sly grin. "Coming?" she asked.
"Uh... oh yeah." Sonic muttered and shook his head quickly to clear his mind, "Lead the way, Cammy." He stepped behind to follow her and the other boys fell into line. Amy followed behind, steaming.
"That's disgusting, talking about things like that in public. And about poor Shadow too!" she grumbled.
Shadow peeked into the window of the warden's office and spotted the Demon Chao and Omochao sitting on a bench inside. The Demon Chao was chewing happily on the rubber bone, well-behaved so far. Omochao looked lonely.
"How do I get in there without the warden freaking out?" he muttered and looked around. Nearby was a clothesline on which hung several uniforms. Shadow blinked at them and smiled. "Problem solved!" he declared and ran over to grab some clothes. He dressed quickly in the disguise and headed back to the office, knocking on the door. It opened and Shadow walked in, trying to look as if he belonged. The wardens were either watching television or playing card games. Shadow headed to the bench and opened his shoulder bag.
"Okay, you two. In the bag." he whispered to them. Omochao gasped, then shoved the Dark Chao inside before hopping in. Shadow zipped it up and turned to leave. One warden looked up and saw the Chao were gone. He looked over and Shadow and frowned, did he think that disguise was actually going to work?
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted and ran after Shadow.
"Make a break for it, Shadow! They're onto ya!" Omochao shrieked as Shadow bolted for the door and burst through. He raced down the trail as the wardens gave chase. "Where did you get those clothes?! Get rid of them, they're slowing you down!' Omochao added. Shadow struggled out of the uniform as he ran, got his legs tangled in the pants and fell onto the path. The wardens caught up and grabbed him by the arms, dragging him back to the office.
"You're in big trouble, buddy! We're gonna call your parents and let them know you're causing problems at the zoo!" they scolded. Shadow blinked as he was taken away.
"My parents? I don't have parents." he muttered and looked worried, "What's gonna happen when they find out I don't have parents? Maria, why did you have to die on me?"
Cammy looked up at the sign on the warden's station and smiled, leaning on the butt of her rod. Sonic looked around, then up at the sign. He scratched his head and shrugged.
"I don't see Shadow. Are you sure he's here?" he asked Cammy.
"Positive." Cammy replied and headed up to the office. The group followed and they peeked into the window. Shadow sat on the bench, staring at his shoes and still wearing the jacket and necktie he took from the clothesline. The warden was asking him questions about his parents, but Shadow didn't answer.
"If that guy calls policemen to come here and deal with Shadow, they'll hand him over to G.U.N.!" Knuckles exclaimed. Cammy thought about the situation as the Sonic and Tails peered in worriedly.
"Why are they asking Shadow about his parents? He was created in a laboratory, he had a creator, but no parents." Amy remarked. Cammy smiled and snapped her fingers.
"Amy, you just gave me a great idea!" she declared and pulled out a green ribbon, sunglasses and scarf from her purse. She tied the ribbon around Sonic's neck to create a tie and the scarf onto Amy's head, tying it just under her chin. She gave her the sunglasses to wear. "You two can go in there and pretend to be Shadow's parents. That way he can come out and G.U.N. doesn't get him." she told them.
"Us? His parents?!" Amy and Sonic exclaimed together. Cammy nodded. Tails jumped up and down.
"Yeah! You can do it, Sonic! I know you can!" he declared. Knuckles snickered.
"Look! Sonic and Amy are a mommy and daddy." he teased and laughed. Sonic growled a little at him, then headed to the door with Amy.
"I feel so stupid." Sonic grumbled.
"How do you think I feel? This scarf clashes with my skirt." Amy muttered as he opened the door.
Shadow looked up as the door opened. The warden followed his gaze and frowned. Two hedgehogs, one blue, one pink, entered the office.
"Sonny boy! There you are!" Sonic declared in a fake cheerful voice. Amy hopped to Shadow, playing the role of airheaded mom.
"Oh, sweetie, we've been looking everywhere for you! You shouldn't run off and scare your poor Mommy like that, shnookums!" Amy cooed and gave Shadow a kiss on the cheek and hugged him tight. Shadow looked shocked.
"'Mommy'?" he echoed as Sonic explained to the warden that he was in the habit of running off and getting lost.
"It's his medication. Does that every time." Sonic whispered to the man and ran to open the door. Amy grabbed Shadow by the wrist and pulled him through the doorway.
"Now, come along, cutie-pie, and Mommy will buy you a nice ice cream cone! Wouldn't you like that, hmm? Yummy yum!" she cooed and the three of them rushed away. The warden scratched his head, confused, then shrugged and went back to work.
Shadow pushed them away once they were in the clear. He opened his bag and let Omochao out. The robotic Chao floated over him as Cammy, Knuckles, and Tails joined the group.
"I said to get him out, not kiss him." Cammy growled at Amy.
"I had to make it look good." Amy growled back. Sonic rolled his eyes and pulled off the tie.
"Why did you do that?! I had everything under control!" Shadow snapped at him. Sonic glared at him.
"Yeah right! That guy was gonna call the cops! If they see you, they'll drag you back to the military's clutches! You'll be locked away for research forever!" he pointed out.
"I don't need your help! And I could have used Chaos Control! Just leave me alone!" Shadow shouted and stormed away, pulling off the tie and tossing it down. Cammy watched him and whistled loudly.
"Yeah, yeah! Take it all off, baby!" she called out as he got rid of the jacket.
"And you stop stalking me! When did you change clothes anyway?! You weren't wearing that the last time I saw you!" Shadow yelled at her. Cammy blew him a kiss.
"Glad you noticed. And I told you I don't give up the chase that fast. Chaos Control all you want, Shadow. I'm still gonna get you." she purred. Shadow stiffened, then raced away again.
"Aw, he's getting away! Come on! We can cut him off at the seal exhibit!" Sonic cried and ran in another direction, his friends following him. Cammy watched them all leave and smiled again.
"Created in a lab, huh? Shadow really is a full-blooded creation of the ultimate life form. And to think that the military thought he was dead, ha! Bunch of over-paid, government idiots." she remarked and skipped away again, "Come out, come out, my little boy toy! Can't hide forever from me!" she sang along as she skipped down the trail, hammer packed back into her purse.