STH © SEGA

Sarah and Sam © Cozy Shadow

Flame, Petunia, and Jeffery © Phantomask

Italicized brands belong to their rightful owner.

More on Silver and Amy next chapter. After you read this chapter, you might be wondering, so remember that. I repeat, more on Silver and Amy next chapter. Good? Good. And the animal instinct thing. Basically things are more explained next chapter because it's our first big Shadow and Amy chapter. Yay!

Chapter Seven:

Curiosity Killed the Cat

Spreading the jam over the toast, Amy thought about what she was going to do that day.

"We need groceries."

Obviously, the thought didn't last long once a certain ebony male pitched in an idea that would eventually become a demand.

Shadow sat down at the head of the table and watched as Petunia smeared jam over her face and as Jeffery nibbled on his scrambled eggs. Amy, however, was looking at her food now with distaste.

"Hm…I suppose that means I'll take the kids and you do nothing?"

"If by nothing you mean work, then yes."

Amy sighed as she slumped back in her chair.

Whatever good vibe that had been going through the air last night was completely diminished now. Amy still stared at Shadow like he would burst any moment in rage and send her packing. But she could never quite tell if he was angry or…not angry. She definitely wouldn't call it happy.

He's just unpredictable. Amy poked her scrambled eggs with her fork. Sonic might have made him open up more, but it's not by a lot. He might've helped Shadow stop being so damn cocky but he's still rude.

And yet, he has his good moments where he's actually a nice being. Not nice enough to call a friend but enough to last through one more day in this ever changing, bizarre household.

Speaking of the household, Amy wondered where Sarah and Sonic were.

It was Sunday and neither had work, but she didn't exactly recall them ever coming home. Still, the kids woke up and Sarah directed them to the kitchen that morning before going back to bed. Amy didn't even want to think about what they might be doing in there.

At least it means everything went well. And that would mean that Sonic and Sarah are engaged. She took a moment to think about the thought. A wedding. That would be nice. Better than shopping for sure.

"Fine. But if I lose one of them then it's on you and Sonia gets to murder you any way she'd like to."

There was a pause and Amy almost thought she had gotten out of grocery shopping. But she would be a fool to think that Shadow wouldn't be stubborn, even for something as stupid as this, and allow her to stay home another day.

"Fair enough. Be back by five."

Shopping would've been ten times easier if Shadow had specifically stated what he wanted.

Instead, Amy had a list of items to work with—a list written by Shadow. Amy learned two things upon looking at the list the moment she walked into the grocery store.

1) Shadow wrote in cursive. That meant with every item, Amy had to look at it and guess what it said. It wasn't that Shadow's handwriting was terrible, it was actually very neat. No, the problem was that Amy couldn't read cursive—good or bad. It all looked like loops to her.

2) Shadow either didn't have any preference to what she bought (for example, did he want cheddar cheese or Swiss cheese?) or he expected her to know already. Granted, Amy probably should've been paying attention to him when he made his sandwiches during lunch. Or she could've at least looked in the fridge before she left. But no, Amy was stuck with buying whatever she liked. And what scared her most was that Shadow might not like what she liked.

He's a guy, he'll eat anything. She reassured herself plenty of times while picking out the cheese, picking out the oatmeal, picking out the meat, etc.

The only thing she praised herself on was the milk. She knew what milk the entire house drank and was glad she remembered. Unfortunately, the store wasn't stocked up on 1% so she stuck with whole milk and prayed to God that they weren't secretly health nuts.

And so, with those two things learned, Amy continued on with her journey.

The first half hour of shopping was fairly decent. The kids stayed in the cart with Jeffery in the actual kid seat and Petunia with all the food. Amy got pretty far on the list she clutched in one hand with Shadow's money. She simply had to stay in budget with the wad of cash he had handed off rather reluctantly.

I'm just buying food, jeez. I'm not going to buy anything for me—oh, look! An apron!

Amy stopped to look at the pretty design. It's my size, it looks adorable, it's on sale, and Shadow would kill me if I bought it. Moving on.

The pink hedgehog had strong self-control. She only glanced back at the apron twice before vanishing around the corner.

It was upon the whole aisle of cereals that things took a turn for the worse.

Jeffery slammed his bottle against the cart handle for the fiftieth time since they arrived. Amy puffed up her bangs in a sigh before grabbing the bottle roughly as he slammed it down once again.

Her sweet smile was anything but as she stared down at the boy. "Jeffery. Let's not, okay?"

The boy, whose hair was still flat as paper, glanced curiously up at Amy before gurgling nonsense. Amy took her hand off the bottle and eyed a worker that had spotted her.

He was human. Roughly twenty-five and smiling gently at her. "They're a handful, aren't they?"

Amy opened her mouth to speak but found she was beaten to it. Another voice—a familiar, annoying voice—broke the air and responded before she ever had the chance.

"Yes, they are."

She didn't have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to.

Samwell Turner.

When Sonic awoke, he was alone.

He didn't pay too much attention about it since the shower was running across the hall. Lazily getting out of bed, Sonic groaned.

Last night was a success. Though, he partially thought Sarah saw it coming a mile away, she never gave away anything.

I am engaged.

The realization hit him like a brick. But it was like a smiling, happy brick and he sort of just embraced it. After so long, Sonic the Hedgehog was more than ready to settle down and he chose the one person whose last name he could never remember.

Hutchson…Hutchingsonton. Hutchington. Sarah Hutchington. There we go. Sonic smiled like a goofball as he grabbed clothes for the day. Soon-to-be Sarah Hedgehog. Which will be so much easier to remember.

Yes, the blue blur had a great day yesterday and an even better morning.

Well, it's going to be better. That he decided as he made his way to the bathroom and welcomed himself inside.

~.~

Shadow walked in through the garage/house door like usual and was greeted with a sight he almost didn't want to see.

Sonic was cooking with nothing on but a towel around his waist.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Cooking food for me and the future missus."

Red eyes became slits as Sonic simply continued to cook and ignore the situation that only Shadow was making seem awkward. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"The future missus' towel," Sonic sighed out as he didn't miss a beat.

Shadow grumbled under his breath to keep from shouting. Oh, this damn hedgehog. One day, he was going to smack Sonic into kingdom come and it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy him.

Green eyes glanced at him. "Where are Amy and the kids?"

"Getting groceries."

Sonic stopped short and raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure she can handle both of them? I mean, they are pretty rambunctious."

Shadow shrugged lightly, though Sonic almost didn't see it, and sat down. Red eyes looked at anything but the male in the towel. "She'll probably be fine, Sonic. I highly doubt she'll get into any trouble."

"Shadow…" Sonic sighed and stared at him with slight distress. "It's not that Amy finds trouble. It's that normally trouble finds Amy."

The ebony Mobian snorted. "She'll be fine."

It almost sounded like Shadow was trying to convince himself more than Sonic, but the blue blur didn't see it. Shadow pondered about it while Sonic went back to the stove.

She'll be fine.

…

Still…Trouble does have a way of finding her. But honestly, what can happen? She's only going shopping for groceries.

"She'll be back by five before we know it," Shadow spoke up.

If it had been Amy, she would've been surprised that Shadow was still talking. But Sonic expected him to speak again. They knew each other that well. Sonic could read Shadow easily now and vice versa after four years. And Sonic knew when Shadow was growing concerned in certain situations.

He exhaled heavily. "Let's hope. Amy Rose doesn't give up so easily after all."

Shadow could agree with that. He was about to, too. Unfortunately, Sarah came in. It wouldn't have stopped Shadow from responding but it was what she was wearing.

Red eyes stared at the dark, oversized shirt and nothing else on the female. He turned and put his hand to his forehead, blocking his view. "Oh, good Lord."

"Sarah."

"Oops. Hey, Shadow."

Amy stared at the cereal and pretended to be listening to Samwell.

"Fancy running into you here, eh? No Shadow?"

"No." She gritted her teeth and stared at the cereal with a hard gaze. Petunia watched the scene unfold with timid, scared eyes. Jeffery had quieted down, as if sensing that this guy was getting on Amy's nerves.

Sam flapped his wings a bit as he sauntered closer to the young flower. "And with kids this time. I must say, you do surprise me."

"Hm."

He walked until he was completely in front of her and blocking her view from the cereal. His blue eyes cold and lustful still.

This time, though, Amy was actually thinking. It was probably having the kids with her, but her animal instincts turned to motherly instincts and she wanted nothing to do with Samwell Turner.

"If you'll excuse me, Mr. Turner."

Amy tried to get around him but he was of course there to block it off. "Whoa, no first name basis any longer? Ouch." He smirked as succeeded in blocking her way out off. "Perhaps I should call you Miss Rose then. Or just Rose?"

She faltered for a second.

No. You can't call me that. Amy cleared her throat and shoved him aside, reaching for a random cereal box and throwing it in the cart. Her hands clasped the handle of the cart and she was off with the bat trailing her heels. Never in a million years can you call me that, you pig.

"No, thank you."

"Aw, c'mon!" the bat skidded around to the front.

Amy looked down the aisle. Where the hell had the worker gone? He had just vanished upon seeing Samwell. So much for any potential help.

"I didn't mean to scare you the other day," Sam confessed as he held the cart and ignored the children. "I was having an off day."

Amy groaned in frustration, finally letting it out. "Look, I'm not dumb, okay? Shadow told me everything about you."

"Oh?" His gaze became harsh. "And what was that?"

"You're accomplices with Scourge."

"More like Scourge is accomplices with me." The bat motioned to himself but grasped the cart again when Amy made a move to leave. "So, I guess you heard about the little accident that went on at Shadow's place?"

"You and Scourge were burning fields and barns down."

Sam snorted. "As if. Scourge merely wanted to teach Sonic a lesson—something about some fight or another way back when. I didn't care to listen. Anyway, all we did was go to the barn. We were going to release some animals but nothing too serious. Just enough to show Sonic that Scourge was still watching."

Amy watched him with a calculating gaze. "I don't believe you."

"But you believe Shadow?" Sam whispered as he leaned closer. "Really? He attacked first."

"You trespassed."

"That's true," Sam said as he backed away and stared at her. "But we weren't going to set anything on fire."

"I don't know what you two were planning on doing," Amy growled as she pushed the cart against him. "I don't believe you because Scourge never did anything small. He'd come in with a bang and go out with a bang. No matter what you two did, it doesn't change the fact that you did it and trespassed while doing so. So, leave me alone."

She rammed through with ease as the quiet bat turned to the side. Just as Amy was going by him however, his hand gripped her arm roughly and yanked her towards him. The pink hedgehog yelped as she slammed into his chest.

Cold eyes gazed down at her.

There were some people that got angry and shouted. And there were some like Sam that didn't shout. They spoke so quietly that it sent shivers of fear running down the spines of their victims.

"He knows you're here."

The whispered words caught her off guard. She imagined him taking advantage of her some way or another. But those words haunted her the moment she realized who he was speaking about.

"Why would Scourge care?"

"He's been looking for something to anger Sonic and Shadow a little more."

"What about—" she stopped herself from speaking. What if Scourge didn't know about Sarah? Amy didn't want to let it slip that Sonic had a girlfriend if Scourge and Sam didn't know. They'd surely come after both her and Sarah then.

But if they knew about her then surely they knew Sarah existed.

"His little girlfriend doesn't get out much," Sam snorted, as if reading her mind. He got closer to Amy, holding her to him as his face neared hers. "We can't ever pin her. She goes to work and then home. If she's anywhere else, Sonic's not far behind. We know that much."

"You stalk us?" Amy murmured in fright. She didn't dare speak because of how close they were. One move of her lips and she felt like she could feel his. But Amy didn't want to think about that.

Sam smirked with an evil glint in his eyes. "I call it taking interest from far away."

Great. I don't want to live here anymore. Amy swallowed heavily as she struggled against his hold. He let her slip out of his grasp.

"What else do you know?" Amy dared to ask. A part of her told her not to. It was bad enough that she was actually speaking to this guy, but asking questions like a curious cat was even worse.

"Enough to take you and your friends down. Scourge has wanted this badly. And I must say, after you arrived, so have I."

"You won't get away with it."

"Go ahead." Sam took a step closer to her with a challenging grin. "Tell Sonic. Cower that pretty body back to Shadow and try to hide. We know exactly where you'll be."

Amy glared as sudden anger and determination ran through her veins. "I could just report you to the police."

"But you won't."

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as Sam continued to smile. He knew he was winning. He knew he was frightening Amy.

"You're too curious, Miss Rose." He twisted around and turned his back to her, walking away. "It'll get you into some serious trouble someday." Glancing over his shoulder, Sam flashed another grin her way. "And I'll be there to watch it happen. Count on it."

Amy glowered until he was completely gone. She reached for the handle and nearly missed as her fingers shook.

"Amy?"

"Yes, Petunia?" The young adult looked down at Petunia.

The child looked shaken up. Amy bit her bottom lip. She should've gotten rid of Sam sooner. The poor children looked scared out of their wits.

"Is that a bad man like on TV?"

The question shocked the pink female. She cleared her throat. "I…"

What was she supposed to say to the five-year-old? If she said yes then that would make Petunia worry. If she said no then perhaps it would make Petunia not worry. But if she did say no then Petunia would always ask why he acted like a bad man if he wasn't one.

"I…Don't worry about it, Petunia," Amy offered the girl a smile as she spoke. "Let's just go home, okay?"

"Okay, Amy."

Pulling into the driveway, Amy shut off Sarah's car and sat in the seat.

Petunia and Jeffery were asleep.

The image of Sam so close and intimidating her haunted Amy's mind. Every time she tried to think about something else, his face would pop up in her mind as if to remind her that he was probably watching her that very moment.

Sonic's truck was still in the driveway and the garage door was open. Inside rested Shadow's piece of junk that Amy despised. She looked at the porch and at the house windows.

Where is everyone?

Sighing, the rose hedgehog got out and tended to the children. She unbuckled Petunia and Jeffery from their car seats. Petunia, tired and cranky, woke up and got out of the car as Amy picked up the sleeping Jeffery.

"Let's get inside," Amy murmured to Petunia, directing the child to the porch.

Petunia stumbled up to the door and opened it lazily. Amy smiled softly and walked into the house with the children, looking around.

No one was inside either.

"Hm…I wonder where everyone is."

Several minutes later, after helping the kids out of their shoes and coats, Amy put them on the couch to sleep. Jeffery had stayed out but Petunia was still somewhat awake.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to get the groceries."

Amy left the kids hesitantly. She convinced herself they'd be fine and nondestructive for a few minutes as she unloaded the groceries. It only took her two trips from the car to the kitchen before she got all of the bought items inside.

The kids were still out like lights. As she took everything out of the bags and put them away, she couldn't help but come back to one reoccurring thought.

Where the hell was everyone?

Maybe Shadow's working in the shed. Sonic could be too, but Sarah? I guess she'd probably work on the farm too since she's living here.

"Amy?"

The female voice sounded welcoming to Amy. She smiled and poked her head out of the kitchen as she watched Sarah arrive from the hallway. "Hey! Where were you?"

"Downstairs on the computer. I had last minute assignments to make for the preschoolers for tomorrow. Decided I'd finish them now. I didn't think you'd get home so early though."

"Wha?" Amy glanced at the clock. It was almost two-thirty. "I guess I'm a quick shopper."

Sarah shrugged as she leaned against the doorway. "Hey, listen." The female rubbed the back of her neck. "I was wondering if you'd be my Maid of Honor."

The pink hedgehog stopped abruptly. "I would love to, but…don't you have anyone else?" she questioned with furrowed eyebrows.

"I go to work and come home," Sarah stated. "I have some old college friends that I hang out with occasionally. That's who I was with when you arrived but I don't really want any of them to be my Maid of Honor or bridesmaids because…well, they suck at keeping organized and I'm sort of a control freak. They already understand."

"Oh, well in that case, I'd be happy to help in any way," Amy grinned.

Hm…She seems a little socially awkward like Shadow. At least she's not an asshole though. Hopefully. Amy thought as she put away the milk. I wonder how she and Sonic met though if all she really does is work and then go home.

"How'd you and Sonic meet?"

Sarah's ears perked in Amy's direction. "Uh, Hunter's Ed class down at the school. He stole my seat."

The pink hedgehog giggled. "The strangest ways, huh?"

"Yeah, sure." Sarah watched with a raised eyebrow. "So…You dated Silver the Hedgehog?"

The milk slipped from her fingers and crashed to the floor. She was honestly surprised it didn't explode. There was a small dent in the gallon container but nothing else seemed to be wrong with it.

Amy brushed the stray quill out of her face. "Who told you that?"

"Shadow brought it up this morning."

"You guys talked about me?" Amy inquired as she silently scolded herself. Stop being curious, Amy. What if they said bad things?

"Well, after we learned you and the kids were in town shopping, we somehow got on the topic of you dating Silver. How was that?"

"Honestly?" Amy cringed. "We were better as best friends. Both of us agreed that it wouldn't work out. Besides, Blaze and Silver got together not too long after and I'm glad they did. They just…mesh as a couple. Silver and I mesh as brother and sister better than lovers."

"Hm," Sarah nodded. "Cool because Shadow was ugh," she waved it off.

That caught Amy's attention.

She paused for a second. "Shadow was what?"

"Well, he just brought it up randomly. I mean, Shadow thinks about some things more than he thinks about other things. I guess this was one of them. He seemed a little...odd about the entire thing. He almost didn't believe you and Silver dated because he just simply couldn't see it happening."

Amy put her hands on her hips and glared. "Well, we did. It's not anything to really remember and celebrate about though. I mean, it's awkward when someone brings it up and Silver and I are in the same room. We just…sort of forget that we dated. It's not like it was super intimate anyway. The most we ever did was kiss and hold hands. After that, we decided to break up. Then he went with Blaze."

Sarah put her hands out. "I get it, I get it. Fine with me. I personally think they look better together anyway."

"Me too."

It was silent for a while. And then Sarah broke the silence again in her monotone voice. "Sonia and Flame will be here in about three hours. She texted me a little while ago."

"All right."

Amy stood at the table, organizing the food as she watched Sarah turn and leave the kitchen.

She might be socially awkward sometimes, but she certainly can break the silence easier than I can. She and Sonic are definitely different but they work. And hey, it looks like I'm the Maid of Honor.

Amy slightly smiled and went back to putting groceries away. She was about to set the eggs in the fridge when a thought crossed her mind and she halted in her actions.

What the hell does a Maid of Honor do?

"It was fun, Sonia. Really."

"…You didn't even watch them most of the time, did you?"

Sonic sighed as his sister eyed him up and down. "I was a little busy getting engaged."

Sonia blinked at him in disbelief. "You mean she said yes?"

"Why did everyone think she'd say no?" Sonic raised his arms and let them fall back to his sides as he shook his head. "Goodbye, Sonia."

"Sonic—"

"Love you, too," Sonic quickly said before shutting the door in her face. He turned and stared at the trio on the couches by the fireplace. He looked to Shadow. "Did you think she'd say no?"

Shadow slowly turned his head to gaze at the nuisance. "I plead the fifth."

"Ugh, you are all jerks," Sonic said as he plopped down between Sarah and Amy. The former held a pillow to her chest and the latter was busy looking at her nails.

"Speaking of jerks," Shadow pointed to Sarah. "You have a cat here and didn't tell us."

Sarah, clutching on the pillow, narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How…exactly does that make me a jerk?"

"Get rid of it."

"Still stuck on the jerk part."

"I will get rid of it if you don't."

Sarah moaned as she fell back on the couch, slouching into it. "Shadow's nice though."

"Weren't we talking about jerks?" Amy whispered in a confused tone.

"Wait." Sonic lifted his head and raised an eyebrow at his fiancée. "We have a cat named Shadow?"

"I didn't do it on purpose," Sarah said as she stretched across the two. Her feet skimmed Amy's lap and her thighs were over Sonic's. "He's a black cat and I just thought, 'You know, I'm gonna name him Shadow. And he's gonna like it.' So that's what I did."

"How long have you had him?" Shadow questioned. "Please do not tell me for four years."

"Okay, I had him for six years." Sarah shrugged as they gave her the look. "What? He likes his solitude, he's a complete jackass, and he never comes out to see anyone."

"Boy that sounds familiar," Amy stated as she eyed Shadow. The ebony male opened his arms as if to say, 'What?' but Amy only smirked lightly and waved him off.

"Don't you think he'll enjoy the outside better?" Sonic inquired after a long pause. "Because we want him out."

"That's not fair," Sarah complained. "Doesn't he get a say in this?"

"We've gone over this before, Sarah, inanimate objects and animals cannot actually communicate with us," Sonic explained to her calmly as he patted her knee. "Just let him outside. There are tons of trees for shelter and lots of mice for food. He'll love it. Who knows, maybe he'll actually come and see you then."

"I loved that water bottle," she murmured as the pillow covered most of her face as she put it up and over her head. "And then you threw it away."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was the water bottle."

"Wait, what?" Amy stopped the conversation with her confused look.

"Sarah gets attached to inanimate objects rather than actual living people," Sonic sighed exasperatedly. "Mostly water bottles, pencils, erasers, money, and sometimes food. The occasional animal or two. You know. The people who like the company of their computer more than their future spouse," he spoke the last sentence looking at Sarah.

The lime green hedgehog only clicked her tongue and pointed at him. "You got it."

The warm water helped ease some stress off of Amy's shoulders.

She couldn't get Sam's piercing gaze out of her head.

What am I going to do?

She stood in the shower and let the water run down her body. Part of her told her that she shouldn't be wasting hot water like this. But the other part was too busy on debating what to do about Sam.

I could tell Shadow. But what would that solve? What would he do? He'd most likely tell Sonic and the two would confront Scourge about it.

If Sam lied about not being a part of the fires then maybe he's lying about watching us. Maybe he was just trying to scare me.

"It worked…" Amy whispered. She held herself as she got out of the shower and shut the water off. Shivering a little, she wrapped the towel around herself and stared at the fogged mirror.

I don't know if he was lying or not. I still can't help but feel terrified to go anywhere now.

She dressed quickly in her pajamas and hung up her towel with the rest. Combing through her quills, Amy opened the door and nearly yelped out of fright.

Red eyes glowed in their usual harsh looking gaze.

"Shadow…" Amy breathed out heavily. "You scared me."

"Apologies. But I couldn't help but notice a few things," the ebony hedgehog stepped out of the shadows and leaned up against the doorway. "What exactly happened in town?"

"I went shopping."

"And?"

Amy bit her lip as she set the brush down. Tugging at one of her quills, Amy cleared her throat. "What makes you think anything else happened?"

"Because you forgot some groceries," Shadow responded.

Amy couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. After what happened with Sam, she hadn't bothered with the rest of the list. She had up and left the store. She had wanted to go home, where it was somewhat safe, and away from that thing.

Now she would have to go back into town to get the rest of the groceries. Shadow probably wasn't happy with her now. Not like he was to begin with.

"And because you smelled like Sam."

She paused and gazed up at him cautiously.

Oh, that would explain the harsh look. He wasn't exactly mad about the grocery thing. He had memorized the scum's scent the first time he had met Sam. It wasn't that hard. Sam was practically the only Mobian he knew that smelled worse than Scourge.

Such a stench on Amy could only mean one thing. And Shadow wasn't an idiot.

His menacing look wasn't really directed to her however. It was more like he was mentally trying to punch Sam from miles away. Still, it was hard to avoid that vermillion gaze that seemed to stare forever until it squeezed the information it wanted out.

"I…might've met up with him."

"You met up? Meaning you contacted him?" Shadow growled. "I told you to stay away from him. He's not—"

"I didn't contact him," Amy shook her head. "I ran into him. He wouldn't leave."

Shadow lowly snarled to the side as he glared at the bathroom counter. "I shouldn't have let you gone today…" he murmured to himself as he turned down the hallway. "Or I should've gone with you."

Amy followed him slowly. "Shadow?"

"Trouble does find you, Amy." Shadow sighed as he leaned his head against his closed bedroom door. He glanced down at her. "What happened?"

"He told me about Scourge. Tried to make me believe that they weren't the ones ruining fields. He told me they were just trying to rile up Sonic."

"Sounds like an excuse he'd give," Shadow snorted.

"And then…" Amy stopped short. Shadow raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then what?" It was evident that he wanted no time wasted in this conversation. But Amy still wondered if she should tell Shadow at all. It seemed to be the right thing.

"He said something disturbing. Sam said Scourge knew I was here."

Amy glanced up and wasn't surprised to see Shadow's eyes into slits. Sonic's would've been too. And Sarah's probably. "He said they watch us. Stalk us. I have a feeling they know more about us than we know about each other."

The ebony male gripped the door frame as he breathed out heavily. He closed his eyes and controlled his breathing while thinking of snapping Scourge's neck. Sam's too.

"Shadow?"

…

"Are you going to see Scourge?"

…

Amy bit her lip. Part of her was nervous that if she spoke another syllable, Shadow would lash out at her. Another part told her to keep prying in order to stay in the loop.

She wasn't weak. She could handle her own if something bad happened, but she wanted to know what Shadow's plans were upon hearing the news.

"Shadow?"

"No."

"You're not going to confront Scourge?"

Shadow looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He saw nothing but surprise in her eyes and could hear nothing but disbelief in her voice. "If the bastard wants anything to do with anyone in this house, he'll be the one to make the first move."

"He wants to anger Sonic and you. At least that's what Sam said. Scourge wants to take you down."

A snort of humor filled the air. "Ten years since Mobius crumbled, since we saved their pathetic lives, and they're trying to kill us still," Shadow smirked in a challenging way—as if he were taunting Scourge. "How rude."

"What are you going to do?"

Shadow turned to Amy and towered over her. It was then that Amy saw part of the old Shadow—the arrogant side. The Mr. Ultimate Life Form that couldn't be beat.

"Not a damn thing. If Scourge wants to destroy us so badly, let him try."