A/N: Before we get on with this chapter, I'd like to give a BIG shout-out to Cashlin Snow, who not only writes fanfics and original material, but also does voiceover work and even did a reading of my one-shot fic Best Hug Ever in Rouge's voice! I haven't read all her fics, but I've liked what I've seen, though a bit of it is dark stuff. Then again, I wrote two fics of Sonic characters going to prison, so...

After the last act packed its bags for the night, the ECPD and the Constabulary made a more thorough search of the Palladium.

"Hey Jim," said a uniformed ECPD Sergeant. "Officer Grundy was searching the service duct under the stage when he found something that he thought might interest you two."

"OK, thanks, Ted," said Stauerbach.

Stauerbach and Moroder climbed down the ladder. They found a significant blast mark along with fragments of the bomb. Stauerbach gathered up whatever remained of the bomb, although Moroder made an interesting discovery.

"Hey Sarge, look at this…"

"What do ya have there?"

"I'm not too sure; I think it's a porcupine quill."

"Let me see it."

Moroder handed the quill to Stauerbach, who squinted at it.

"That's not from a porcupine; it's a hedgehog quill," said Stauerbach.

"How did you know?"

"First of all, it's not as hard as a porcupine quill, and second, I've been around enough hedgehogs and porcupines to know the difference. That aside, let's get this to the lab so we can get a positive match on it."

Not much changed the next morning, barring Shadow's continued uncommunicativeness.

"Shaddy, are you still not feeling OK?" asked Rouge.

"No, I'm not."

"It's OK to feel that way, you know. I'll still be here, as will Hope and Omega. Your appointment is tomorrow, too."

Shadow nodded.

"Well anyways, I'm really thankful that you stopped that bomb last night! That was very heroic of you."

"I was just doing what had to be done, that was all," said Shadow.

Rouge got out of her seat and walked over to Shadow. Once again, he stood up and let her hug him. Hope joined in as well.

"We all love you, Shaddy," said Rouge. "You know that, right?"

"I know, it's just…it's hard to see the good in all this crap," said Shadow. "Don't get me wrong, I know it's there; it just doesn't feel like it lately."

"Well, I'm glad you at least know it's there!" said Hope. "I'd be really sad if you were drowning in darkness and stuff."

"Let me put it this way: I'm just barely treading it at the moment. I promise I'll do my best not to drown in it, OK?"

"OK!"

After breakfast and freshening up, Hope went to see Shadow.

"Hey, before I go, I just wanted to share something I've been meaning to give you…" said Hope.

"What?"

Hope pulled out a pen and a notepad from her pocket, wrote something down and tore off a piece of paper for Shadow.

"What's this?" asked Shadow.

"That's my phone number. Call me if you're having an emergency or if you just wanna talk. I get half an hour for lunch at 12:00 PM, so that's probably the best time to call me."

Shadow nodded. "Right. May I see that notepad and pen?"

"Sure!"

Hope handed the notepad and pen to Shadow, who wrote his number down and handed it to her.

"Since you gave me yours, I felt it was only fair for me to give you mine," said Shadow.

"Thank you! Anyways, have a nice day!"

Hope kissed Shadow.

"You're welcome, you too."

Once Hope left, Shadow went to his room to write in his journal.

"Dear Journal: Yesterday's newspaper talked about a possible terrorist threat at the Emerald City Palladium, where the International Festival of Community is being held. Sonic – who had been interviewed for the article – was confident that he could take care of any threat that menaced the concert, but even so, I was genuinely worried about him. Rouge and Hope – who I might add look really good dressed up as metalheads – went with me to have supper at a Five Guys near the Palladium. I am really turned on by the fact that Hope likes hot sauce on her burgers.

At the Palladium, we were searched by members of the Emerald City Police and the Constabulary for weapons, which was a bit difficult with Omega around, but they let us through. Sonic was excited to see us and introduced his friends to Hope, and they all seemed to take kindly to her, which means a lot to me considering that she's not only my girlfriend, but also human. As for the show itself, it was quite fun, but when Sonic's band started playing 'Children of the Grave', I knew that something was wrong. After asking who I thought was a janitor, I entered a service tunnel beneath the stage and discovered that some wicked soul had planted a bomb down there. Luckily, my body absorbed most of the blast. Backstage, I gave Sonic a hug. I'm not entirely sure why I did it; I think maybe it's because I would be really sad if he died, which isn't really like me at all.

Back home, I told Rouge and Hope about the bomb, and not only were they shocked, but they were also proud of me for my actions. Hope even nibbled my ear, which made me feel good. Unfortunately, I had another nightmare, one where I was unable to stop the bomb before it went off, and it killed Sonic and many other people. On a brighter note, Hope and I exchanged phone numbers today."

Shadow put his journal and pen away, and all of a sudden, he remembered that he hadn't taken the old oil and filter from his Trans Am to the disposal depot yet, so he hurried down to the garage and grabbed both. Just for a change, he decided to drive down in his GMC. Once the garage door had opened, he was off. Driving the pickup felt kinda funny for Shadow not only because of the squared-off hood, but also because it rode higher than the Trans Am, especially considering that Tails had put 33-inch Super Swamper tires on this truck. Nevertheless, he felt confident enough in his ability to handle it, and listening to one of his tapes – "THE BEST OF MEGADETH VOLUME 1" this time – helped as well. By the time "Peace Sells" was playing, he came to Mobius Hazardous Materials Disposal Depot #1. Since Shadow had the proper Royal sticker on the windshield of his GMC, the guard there opened the gate for him. He pulled up to a station marked for automotive fluids, put the truck in "PARK", got out and handed the oil drain pan and filter to an attendant, a dark gray falcon.

"Is that everything?" asked the attendant.

Shadow nodded. "It is."

"Thank you, have a good day."

"You too."

On the way back to Rouge's mansion, a question entered Shadow's mind and wouldn't get out no matter how hard he tried: what was it that Ferdinand Rozmiarek had done to warrant being blown away? After parking his GMC in the garage, Shadow went to his room, logged in to his computer and proceeded to cross-check two sources on the matter: Snopes and Wikipedia. The latter had attracted considerable criticism for its free-to-edit nature, but what really drew him to both sites was how they weren't afraid to get to the truth and yet presented it in as non-incendiary a manner as possible. According to what he'd garnered, a human matching Rozmiarek's description had shoplifted a few candy bars from a local Circle K convenience store, and Rozmiarek himself had been shot because Officer Courtney saw him reaching for and opening his glove compartment too fast.

Upon further digging, Shadow also learned that Rozmiarek had done time for a string of burglaries in addition to one count of attempted sexual assault and a count of unauthorized narcotics possession. On the other hand, Rozmiarek had also been released from prison about a year before his death and seemed to have mended quite well, volunteering with an organization that planted and tended to gardens for the elderly and infirm. A couple of things struck Shadow as wrong, one of which was the fact that the gardening organization that Rozmiarek volunteered with had mostly female members, mainly because he believed that people convicted of sex offenses – failed or successful – deserved death or at the very least life in prison. He was also disgusted by how Rozmiarek was treated as a god after his death when his past character suggested otherwise. On the other hand, Shadow reflected on his own past – which had been anything but saintly – and thought about how he'd feel if people thought about him poorly for it.

At this point, Shadow closed all browser tabs related to Rozmiarek, deciding that it was best not to think about it too much. Instead, he watched YouTube videos about scraper drag racing, the word "scraper" referring to a piece of earthmoving equipment used in construction and mining, also known as a "wheel tractor scraper" or "motor scraper". Just for fun, he also watched all the theatrical trailers for all of the Executioner movies released thus far.

By the time Shadow finished watching the trailer for Colorado Kill-Zone, it was lunchtime, so he fixed himself a garlic roast chicken sandwich with bacon, lettuce and honey mustard, also having a box of Swiss rolls and a bottle of iced tea. After lunch, he spent more time playing the first Executioner game on Xbox 360, playing for a couple of hours at least. He was also heading for the library when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Shaddy, it's me," said Rouge.

"What do you want?"

"Get the grill and folding table set up on the observation deck; we're having a cookout today."

"As you wish. Anything else?"

"Nope, that was it! Buh-bye!"

"Bye."

Shadow went to a storage closet on the top floor, where a charcoal grill as well as some folding chairs and a table were stored. He grabbed the grill first and brought that up before returning for the folding table and chairs. Once he did, he returned to the library, where he spent time reading a Haynes repair manual on the 1967-1987 GM full-size pickups, which also included info on Suburbans, Blazers and Jimmies from 1967-1991. Eventually, the doorbell rang, so Shadow opened the door for Rouge.

"So, did you set everything up like I asked you to?"

Shadow nodded. "I did."

"Good boy!"

Rouge put down her grocery bags and hugged Shadow, who returned the gesture. He also gave Hope a big hug and kiss.

"So, are you excited for the cookout?" asked Hope.

"I suppose so," replied Shadow.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll enjoy it! According to Rouge, you two haven't had a cookout in a while."

"This is true."

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.