Sonic Heroes 4
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The door to the apartment opened. Shadow, who was reclining on the couch with a glass of ginger ale, looked up. Baton, their new bat friend, walked in.
"Greetings, Baton," intoned Omega, who was cleaning up a mess that Shadow had accidentally made by the minibar.
"Hey," said Shadow smoothly, setting his glass down and helping her with the shopping bags she carried. As he passed her, he gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. Over the days, he'd gotten a deeper relationship with Baton. She improved on Rouge in every aspect. She could help him understand his still cloudy past. But today she seemed distant.
"Something wrong?" he asked, handing some bottles toward Omega so they could be put in the minibar. "You seem a little… off." He'd known her for five days, and he could tell how she felt.
She placed the last grocery bag down and sighed. "Yeah, we have a problem."
Omega looked up, closing the door to the minibar. "May I inquire as to what this problem is?"
"Yeah," she said, pulling out her old baton and twirling it absently. "We all need to talk."
Shadow, prepared for the worst, flung himself back into the couch and sipped his ginger ale, his eyes asking her to tell him what was troubling her. Omega, who was equally comfortable standing, remained upright. Baton seated herself on a plush armchair and began hesitatingly.
"Before I met you… I didn't have much. Rouge had been like both our mothers, and the government confiscated her jewels before I could get them from her will. I was a dancer… in a nightclub."
Omega bleeped several times while Shadow's eyes widened.
"The manager gave me five days off for myself," said Baton, sniffling once before continuing. "He was understanding. And now, it's the fifth day. He's going to want me back. I'm just telling you this… so you're ready."
She peered fearfully at them, anticipating their reactions. Baton thought of what they would say…
Shadow slammed the ginger ale down, ice cubes tinkling. "I knew it! You gained our trust, you moved in with us, and now you put us all in danger! I knew we should never have trusted you!"
Omega beeped angrily. "You took advantage of us!"
Shadow's eyes were cold as he pointed at the door.
Baton held her breath without realizing it. What would they say…
Shadow blinked once and tasted the ginger ale again. "Why don't you just go back? It wouldn't be that hard, would it?"
"It is demeaning, but you could avoid the anger of your manager," spoke Omega.
She knew they wouldn't have understood. "No, you don't get it… I can't go back. Not now, not when I have you two… and a new life. I couldn't."
Shadow nodded slowly, eyes bright. "Well, we haven't had an adventure for a while now. We'll just have to pay him a little visit, now won't we?" Omega made a synthetic popping noise, which sounded suspiciously like cracking knuckles.
"No!" she shouted. "You can't kill him! I told you, he was understanding. We can't hurt him."
Shadow nodded curtly. "Fine," he said. "But anyone that he sends…" He left the sentence hanging as he finished the ginger ale and set it down.
Baton smiled, glad to change the subject. "Who's going to help me put the rest of these away?"
As Shadow and Omega grudgingly moved to help put the groceries away, Espio smiled grimly from outside. His reptilian hearing had picked up on the whole conversation. The old alliances were forgotten. Those foolish mammals and that dim robot would get a lot more than they bargained for if they tried anything on him.
Another cliffhanger! How many can you have? Review!
