In spite of the fact that it was out of their sector, Stauerbach and Moroder elected to visit the scene of Shadow's latest killings.

"Hank, you gather up whatever evidence you can," said Stauerbach. "I got a witness or two to question."

"Right."

Moroder went to inspect the bodies of Shadow's victims, while Stauerbach went to talk to a potential witness, a yellow giraffe. He tapped the officer speaking to him on the shoulder.

"Let me handle this." Stauerbach turned to the witness. "OK, let's take this from the top: what did the killer look like?"

"I don't know!" said the witness.

"Was the killer a human? A cat? A hedgehog?"

"I just don't know, man!"

"There was quite a bit of light near that alley. Surely, ya had to have seen somethin', no?"

"I really don't remember; I was drunk at the time!"

"Ya don't know or ya don't remember?"

The giraffe shook his head. "I don't know!"

Stauerbach chuckled. "You're so full of it, pal!"

The next day, Rouge cooked quite the breakfast for everybody. Usually, she'd cook a rather basic breakfast of eggs, some type of protein and some type of starch, but today, she had a real buffet going on: Ham, fried chicken, pancakes, French toast, and more.

"That was really nice of you to cook all this food, Rouge!" said Hope. "Why so much of it?"

"Oh, I was just in a really good mood, not to mention you're our newest guest, so it only made sense to do something special!"

"Works for me." Shadow took a bite out of his ham.

"SOMETIMES, I WISH I WAS ORGANIC," said Omega. "MY ANALOGIC CIRCUITS INDICATE THAT THESE FOODSTUFFS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DELICIOUS."

"Believe me, Omega, being a meatbag isn't all it's cracked up to be!" said Rouge. "This food isn't just tasty; we also need it to live!"

"Not me," said Shadow. "I just eat it because it feels good."

"Wait…you don't need to eat?" said Hope.

"Exactly."

"Rouge, are you sure Shadow's normal?" asked Hope.

Rouge nearly choked on the piece of fried chicken she was eating because Hope's question caused her to laugh.

"Are you OK?" asked Hope.

"Normal?" said Rouge. "SHADOW? Oh Hope, you wreck me, honey!"

Even Hope had to have a chuckle at Rouge's comment. Based on the interactions she'd had with Team Dark, she could tell she was going to enjoy staying with them.

After freshening up, Rouge and Hope got dressed and went to work, leaving Shadow and Omega by themselves.

"So Omega, what do you think of Hope so far?" asked Shadow.

"MY ANALOGIC CIRCUITS INDICATE NO TRACES OF DECEIT IN HER. THEREFORE, IT IS SAFE TO ASSUME THAT SHE IS NOT LIKE OTHER ROBOTNIKS."

"Ordinarily, I would say that you make an ass of you and me when you assume, but in this case, I actually agree with you."

"I AM GLAD YOU AGREE WITH ME."

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I must do my daily meditation."

"YOU'RE WELCOME. ENJOY YOUR TIME, SHADOW."

Shadow went to the spa, where he got in his daily round of meditation. This time, he had little – if any – trouble getting to his happy place. Nothing really interesting happened here…that is, until Sonic showed up.

"Hey Shad, want some chili dogs?" asked Sonic.

"For some reason…I do."

"OK, help yourself, man!"

Shadow grabbed a chili dog and took a bite out of it. Even though he wasn't as passionate about them as Ol' Blue, the Ultimate Life Form found this to be the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten, as if a thousand tiny angels had exploded in his mouth. He got a big smile on his face and started flying through the sky, leaving a rainbow trail behind him. Up here, he encountered a variety of weird and wacky creatures, such as emus with computer keyboards for heads, noses with legs, and green donuts. He didn't pay too much nevermind to such things; the feeling of weightlessness and freedom had pretty much gone to his head. Eventually, he landed on an island that resembled a giant blueberry pie with a bunch of candy canes sticking out of it. However, when Shadow landed on the island, he snapped out of his happy place.

(OK, what was that about? What does Sonic have to do with any of this?)

Rather than going to the hot tub this time, Shadow went up to the rooftop observation deck and looked up at the sunny sky, which had pretty much no clouds in it. In the past, such a thing would only have served to remind him about the Space Colony ARK and the grave injustices he'd suffered in the past, but today, it reminded him how beautiful everything was out there in the middle of nowhere. He opened his arms wide and took a breath of fresh air.

Having gotten his fill of nature, Shadow went to the game room and went to the fifth-gen kiosk. Here, he decided to play Spyro the Dragon for PlayStation. He ended up playing the game until it was lunchtime. Another box of Swiss rolls later, and he found that they were now all out, so he went to DGA again and bought a few more boxes before returning to the mansion.

For a bit of a change, Shadow went to his room, lied down on his bed and thought about Hope. For once in his life, he found somebody he actually greatly looked forward to seeing, and it wasn't Rouge. He didn't hate Rouge or anything, but Hope really excited his passions in spite of him not having known her for that long. He realized that he'd done all right in the past without having a romantic partner, but now he felt as though they might just be right for each other. Whether they'd actually reach such a point was unknown to him at the time, but he felt that if he played his cards right, then they might have something beautiful going on. As for how he'd go about doing that, he wasn't too sure.

Having spent a significant amount of time reflecting upon Hope, Shadow went down to the gym and jacked some more iron. Feeling powerful, he went to the firing range and picked out an M60 machine gun in addition to two 100-round belts of military-grade 7.62mm NATO ammo. For his target, he chose a standard police-grade target showing a guy pointing a revolver at him. After loading "the pig" – as it was nicknamed – he took aim and let loose on the target, not even using or needing the bipod for sustained fire. While not all shots hit the exact same spot, he nevertheless hit the target with every one. Again, he marked it with the date, time, weapon and ammo type. He looked at the M60's barrel and noticed that it had gotten quite hot from all the firing he'd done with it. Somehow, it reminded him that he should cook something for supper tonight.

After going up to his room, Shadow fired up his computer and did a brief Internet search. He found a recipe titled "Tangy Braised Short Ribs". A survey of the kitchen revealed that the only things missing for this recipe were the short ribs and some frozen lemonade concentrate. However, those were easily obtained with a quick trip to DGA. He also grabbed an extra onion because he was going to make the best damn onion rings to go with them.

Before getting started with the short ribs, Shadow ran the can of lemonade concentrate under hot water to thaw it out. Having done so, he chopped one of the onions into rings. Next, he mixed the thawed lemonade concentrate and 15 ounces of tomato sauce in a large saucepan and cooked it over medium-high heat until it was sufficiently hot. He then put some parsley, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, red pepper flakes and a bay leaf in the pan. Next came the short ribs. Moving on, he mixed everything together and stirred occasionally until it all came to a boil. Then, he covered the saucepan and brought the heat down to a simmer. He also set a timer on his phone for three hours. Occasionally, he would come back to the kitchen to stir the mixture, punctuating his time with such activities as weightlifting, basketball and video games. During this time, he heard the doorbell ring, so he answered it.

"Good afternoon, Rouge and Hope."

"Good afternoon, Shaddy!" said Rouge.

"Good afternoon…OW!" Hope had her hand on her back.

"Hope, what's wrong?" asked Shadow.

"I think I threw out my back at work today…OW!" replied Hope. "Would you be so kind as to give me a massage?"

"Wait…what?"

"Well, I've never had one before, and Rouge…OW…said you were really good with your hands, so…"

Shadow furrowed his eyebrows. "Rouge, what have you been telling her?"

"Hey, it's true!" said Rouge. "I really enjoyed it when you gave me a massage!"

"Come on…OW…Shadow, this will be fun for both of us!" said Hope. "Please?"

Shadow stared deeply into Hope's eyes. On one hand, he found it strange that she'd asked him for such a thing when they barely knew each other, but on the other hand, he figured that this could be another opportunity to get closer to her.

"Very well, Hope. Rouge, please get me a pen and a paper."

"Sure thing!" Rouge pulled out a notepad and pen from her cleavage.

Shadow proceeded to write down his onion ring recipe, tore off the paper and handed everything back to Rouge.

"I'm already cooking something, which you'll need to stir every so often," said Shadow. "Think you can handle the onion rings while I'm with Hope?"

"Sure thing!" Rouge gave a thumbs up.

"And here…" Shadow handed Rouge his phone. "There's a timer already set. Please address us over the PA system when everything's ready."

"You got it!"

Rouge went up to the kitchen, while Shadow picked up Hope.

"What are you doing?" asked Hope.

"Just saving you some more back pain," replied Shadow.

Shadow proceeded to carry Hope up to the spa, where she let out a loud gasp upon seeing it.

"Ohmigosh, this room is so BEAUTIFUL!" said Hope.

"I couldn't agree more," said Shadow. "I go here every day to meditate."

"Wow, I can see why!"

Shadow proceeded to carry Hope to his favorite grassy patch, where there was a nearby massage table big enough for most humans. He set her down on her feet next to the table.

"You may disrobe now," said Shadow. "I promise I won't look until you say so."

Shadow looked away while Hope proceeded to strip naked. In spite of his promise, he snuck a peek anyways. In doing so, he discovered that even though she couldn't be more than a couple of years older than Maria had been at most, she already had a nice set of curves. She lied down face-first on the massage table.

"Ready whenever you are, Shadow."

Shadow got up on the massage table and straddled Hope. After taking off his gloves, he grabbed a bottle of massage oil that was hanging off the table, opened it and oiled up his hands.

Then, Shadow started massaging Hope.

Upon feeling Shadow's hands on her, Hope let out a soft "ooh". Rouge had told her that he was good with his hands, but even so, it was still a pleasant surprise for her.

"Does this feel good for you?" asked Shadow.

"A little lower, please."

As per Hope's order, he moved his hands down a bit.

"Mmmm yeah…right there!"

And so, Shadow continued to massage Hope's back, and she moaned as he did so. He had to remind himself of a few things, one being that Rouge also did this when he massaged her. More importantly, this was just a friendly gesture, nothing more. Nevertheless, he found that her body was so soft and that he enjoyed having his hands on her like this. Furthermore, he wondered why he didn't give massages more often.

As for Hope, to say that she was getting a charge out of what Shadow was doing to her was an understatement. Having spent an entire shift's worth of doing maintenance and repairs to G.U.N.'s fleet, she could really feel the pain and stress melting away. It wasn't that she hated her job; it was just physically demanding sometimes. She continued to moan as he rubbed the pain away.

"Would you like me to massage any other part of you?" asked Shadow.

"Now that you mention it…could you rub my feet, too?"

"As you wish."

Shadow turned around and rubbed his hands down Hope's legs before working on her feet. She moaned a bit more loudly when he did so, causing him to wonder if she had a foot fetish or if it just felt really good when he did this. In any case, knowing that she enjoyed this made him feel better about himself. He still wondered why such a young girl was employed in a trade that involved machinery, but if Rouge had vouched for her, she must be worth something.

Hope continued to lie there as pain was replaced with pleasure. At no point did she regret talking to Rouge about her back problems nor asking Shadow to massage her. For a guy, his hands sure seemed awfully soft, too. Being surrounded by nature was a very nice touch as well. In this moment, her mind never drifted away from how good she felt after a long day's work. Eventually, her pain was all gone, but she let him continue to massage her for a while longer.

"OK, that's good for now," said Hope.

Shadow stopped massaging Hope and just let her bask in her feelings of warmth and happiness for a bit. Then, he grabbed a nearby roll of paper towels, tore some off and dried his hands as well as her body. After having her fill for now, Hope got up and got dressed.

"Shadow, that was THE BEST massage I've ever had! Your hands felt SO GOOD on my body!"

"Feeling better now?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!"

Shadow nodded. "That makes me feel good, too."

"Awww!"

Just then, the tone sounded over the PA system.

"Shaddy, Hope, soup's on!"

Without question, Shadow and Hope headed down to the dining room.

When they got to the dining room, they found that Rouge had served each of them a plate of short ribs and onion rings.

"That looks delicious!" said Hope. "What is it?"

"Tangy braised short ribs with the best damn onion rings ever," said Shadow. "And I see you've been kind enough to discard the bay leaf and coat the short ribs with the sauce, Rouge."

"Of course!" said Rouge. "I can cook too, you know!"

"So which one of you made this?" asked Hope.

"I was in the process of making the short ribs and simmering them when you two returned," replied Shadow. "I had Rouge finish them and cook the onion rings while I was giving you a massage."

"Wow, you're very smart, Shadow!"

"I'm not exactly a genius, but I try."

Shadow sat down and prayed before anyone ate. When Hope bit into a short rib, her eyes widened.

"Wow, these are great!"

"I'll say!" said Rouge. "I love it whenever Shadow cooks!"

"I usually let Rouge take care of the cooking or bring home takeout," said Shadow. "I just do this if I feel like it."

"That's sweet of you!" said Hope. "I heard you two worked well together, but this…!"

"I'm going to be honest," said Shadow. "In the past, I only worked with her because I saw her as useful to helping me keep my promise. The more time I spend with her, the more I see her as a real friend rather than a business partner."

"See?" said Rouge. "Women can bring out the best in men!"

"I actually agree with that, Rouge," said Hope. "I think if more men learned how to treat women properly, then this world would be a better place."

"I won't doubt that," said Shadow.

Once everybody had their fill of short ribs, it was time for the onion rings.

"Ohmigosh, these ARE the best onion rings ever!" said Hope. "If you two keep cooking the way you do, I won't wanna live anywhere else!"

Rouge giggled. "Thank you, Hope! We aim to please!"

After they had some drinks to wash their food down, and after they put the leftovers away, Shadow, Rouge and Hope went to the living room and watched the news again.

"Good evening, Mobius," said Reg. "In tonight's top news story, police are looking for answers in the case of a bizarre execution-style triple murder in the Crown Park neighborhood. The victims, Richard Wilton, Beau Stroud and Leonard Petrowski were found dead in an alley of one gunshot wound each. In the midst of continuing unrest following Ferdinand Rozmiarek's death, there is growing concern that the killings may incite further violence between humans and animals, but the ECPD refuses to comment on any motive at this time."

"Shaddy, you didn't do this, did you?" asked Rouge.

"No."

"You're not lying?"

"No."

"I just wanted to be sure because you seemed pretty angry two days ago when we watched the news."

"I just needed a way to blow off steam. I realize that wasn't the healthiest way to do it, but I'm not the type to kill people with my .44 Magnum without sufficient reason."

"MY ANALOGIC CIRCUITS INDICATE THAT SHADOW IS TELLING THE TRUTH," said Omega. "THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY, ROUGE."

"You might not think so, but I just want to make sure Shaddy's OK," said Rouge.

"You're really concerned about him, aren't you?" said Hope.

"I am, and I'm not ashamed to admit it."

"Truthfully, I think she over-worries sometimes," said Shadow. "However, I recognize that she truly does care about me."

"Oh, I OVER-WORRY, do I?" said Rouge.

"I don't see why that's any of your concern, but yes, I think you could be a little less overprotective of me."

"OVERPROTECTIVE!? I'll give you 'overprotective'!"

Rouge tackled Shadow to the ground.

"ROUGE! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Who's your mommy? Who's your mommy!?"

"Y-YOU ARE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Hope couldn't help but giggle at the whole thing, while Omega didn't care either way. In short order, Rouge stopped tickling Shadow.

"I think you've learned your lesson, honey!"

"Hmph."

"Hey Rouge, do you mind if we change the channel?" asked Hope. "I understand you like to be informed, but I'd rather watch something more lighthearted."

"Go ahead!" said Rouge. "You're our guest!"

Thus, Hope changed the channel to one that was playing the show Police Surgeon. Everybody sat down and behaved themselves for the duration of the program.

After the show, Shadow got up from the couch and headed out of the living room.

"Hey Shadow, where are you going?" asked Hope.

"To the game room."

"Cool! Can I come with you?"

"Please do."

And so, Hope accompanied Shadow to the game room. Once again, she gasped at the sheer variety of games.

"Whoa, look at this place!" exclaimed Hope.

"Yes, this is another one of Rouge's additions."

"I wonder why she has all these games here."

"I think it's mainly for guests. She plays video games too, but usually only with other people. Do you have any preferences?"

Hope shrugged. "Not really."

"Suit yourself, then."

Shadow led Hope to the seventh-gen kiosk and withdrew The Executioner: War Against the Mafia.

"This is one of my favorites."

Shadow popped the game in the Xbox 360 and chose Multiplayer mode. Shadow chose Mack Bolan as his character, while Hope chose Mack's girlfriend Valentina. As for the mode, they did a standard Deathmatch in the Suburbia level, 15 points to win. Initially, Shadow got a good lead in when he picked up an M16A1 and repeatedly mowed Hope down, but she eventually picked up an M14 and kept picking him off from long range. In the end, she won 15-10.

"What!?" Shadow threw his arms up. "How did you beat me!? I know this game inside-out!"

Hope smiled. "Hey, I've played similar games, too! Don't knock me until you try me!"

"Hmph. Let's play again."

This time, Shadow and Hope played in the Hotel level, all other settings being the same. Hope got an early lead when she picked up dual Uzis and kept mowing Shadow down. In spite of his best attempts, Shadow fared even worse, at 15-7.

"OK, there is NO WAY that somebody like you should be able to beat me so easily!" said Shadow.

"Then maybe you should play better!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "OK, that sounds like something Rouge would say. However, since I like her, I'm going to let that pass."

Hope smiled. "Oh, so you're saying you LIKE me, too?"

"WHAT!?" Shadow blushed. "I wasn't saying that! I was just…"

"Come here, bud!"

Hope gave Shadow a hug. Not knowing what else to do, he returned the gesture. Although he hadn't hugged a human in ages, he really enjoyed hugging her, even if he was a bit embarrassed about feeling like he'd brought it upon himself. She enjoyed hugging him, too. Surprisingly, she found that even though he had quills, he was quite soft and cuddly. Overall, she felt very comfortable around him. Eventually, they let go.

"You know, I never expected you to be that soft!" said Hope.

"Well, I've heard that hedgehog quills aren't exactly sharp unless we're feeling threatened," said Shadow.

"And you didn't feel threatened by me?"

"I'm not going to lie, I felt weird when you were teasing me, but I guess my brain didn't perceive it as a threat. Perhaps I've gotten so used to Rouge's teasing that my mind doesn't really see it that way."

"I was only being playful! I'm sorry if I offended you in any way!"

"Don't be. That was one of the best hugs I've received in my lifetime."

"Oh, Shadow!"

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to play another round or two if that's OK with you."

"OK, I'm up for it! Just don't cry when you lose!"

"Hmph."

Shadow managed to win one round against Hope, but that was about it. When bedtime rolled around, he broke out his journal again.

"Dear Journal: I killed three more criminals last night, and I still don't feel bad. Actually, it makes me feel good knowing that three more scumbags won't be ruining anybody else's happiness. Speaking of happiness, Hope came back here with back pains, and for some reason, she let me give her a massage. I haven't touched a human in so long, but she's so soft, and massaging her felt very good. Later on today, she and I went to the game room and played a few rounds of one of my Executioner games. Somehow, she managed to beat me most of the time, but it didn't matter too much to me because I think it's beautiful that girls can be into video games, too. For the first time, Hope hugged me. I don't know if this means she's in love with me, but that meant a lot to me. I hope that if there is a mutual attraction, then we can take it even further. I may have mentioned this before, but she's very lovely. NO ONE can touch her."

After finishing today's journal entry, Shadow put his journal and pen away before grabbing his Model 29 + speedloaders for another killing spree. First, he took the empty shells out of his gun and replaced them with fresh bullets, and then snuck out of the mansion.

Upon his arrival in Emerald City, Shadow entered the Thornton Street Station of the Emerald City Metro. Though not a frequent user of mass transit, he was in possession of a Clam Card, the reloadable fare card used by the Emerald City Transit Authority. After scanning his card at the turnstile, he passed through and took the stairs to the Red Line platform, which travelled from the West End to the North Lake borough. In less than a minute, a rubber-tired subway train arrived, and he entered one of the cars closer to the front of the train and took his seat. Eventually, the doors closed.

"Smith Street, next stop," said the motorman over the train's PA. "Next stop, Smith Street."

As the train rolled on to its next destination, Shadow took a brief survey of the car's passengers, arms crossed. Not many people were on at this time of night except perhaps some college students looking to frequent really good restaurants in other parts of the city or perhaps the occasional unlucky corporate drone who had been immersed in a big project. One person did rub him the wrong way: a human in a brown raincoat who looked like he hadn't had a good haircut in ages. Fortunately, neither party locked eyes with each other, and Shadow was free to reflect on topics such as the history of the Executioner film series or to listen to his favorite metal tunes in his head. By the time the train got to the Smith Street Station, only a select portion of the car's passengers had gotten off, and even fewer boarded.

"Yurchak Street, next stop. Next stop, Yurchak Street."

This time, Shadow didn't pay any attention to the passengers. He was too busy humming "Blitzkrieg" to himself to care. Fortunately, nobody else bothered him during this time. When the train got to the Yurchak Street Station, he was really engrossed in thought, so much so that he failed to notice that the car had practically emptied, nor did he hear the motorman announcing Charles Street as the next stop.

It was only when he felt something tap him on the knee that he snapped out of his trance. Standing before him was a gray, blue-eyed hedgehog with a scar over his right eye. The other hedgehog was pointing a Glock at him, and with an evil grin on his face, beckoned with his free hand. Shadow looked to his left and noticed the guy in the brown raincoat standing watch at the door to the next car. Looking back at the other hedgehog, Shadow decided not to take any crap from him, and instead pulled out his .44 and shot him in the heart. The other hedgehog got a shot off, but it proved ineffective. Hearing the shots, the other guy turned around and attempted to draw his own pistol, but dropped it when Shadow shot him in the gut. He slumped against the door, still alive, while Shadow approached him with his gun still drawn.

"Don't worry," said Shadow. "It'll all be over soon."

Still in shock, the other guy began retching, and in short order, he was vomiting up his internal organs. Shadow elected to stand and keep his gun raised while the man died. Once the last of the man's organs had exited his body and the man went limp, Shadow holstered his big bad .44 and waited for the train to stop. As soon as it did, he wasted no time in getting off, but avoided hurrying as he didn't want to attract undue attention. Fortunately, no one paid him any regard as he scanned his Clam Card at the turnstile and paid his fare, although one young lady was unfortunate enough to get on the same car that Shadow had been on. She screamed when she saw the two dead bodies.

"OH MY GOD, THEY'RE DEAD!"

A nearby police officer heard the scream and ran over to investigate. By this time, Shadow had become just another face in the nighttime crowds.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.