After lighting the charcoal, Rouge mixed together some lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, parsley, cilantro, dill, mint, and chervil in a baking dish.

"What's that for?" asked Shadow.

"That," said Rouge, "is for some killer grilled chicken!"

"Ooh, I'm intrigued!" said Hope.

"Well, Rouge never disappoints with her cooking," said Shadow.

"I'll say!"

"OK, you two are just too sweet!" said Rouge.

"Hey, we could say the same of you!" said Hope.

Rouge giggled. "Oh, stop it, lady!"

"I'm glad you two are having a good time," said Shadow.

"Hey, lighten up!" said Rouge. "The weather's nice, you're among friends…what more could you ask for?"

"Not much, I suppose."

"By the way, how was your day today?" asked Hope.

"It was all right," replied Shadow. "I disposed of the old oil and filter from the Trans Am today."

"Good work! Any fun stuff going on?"

"Other than playing video games, reading, and watching YouTube videos, not really."

"What kind of videos, if I may ask?"

"Do you know what scraper drag racing is?"

"No, what is it?"

"It's like regular drag racing, but with a construction vehicle known as a scraper, which is basically a tractor unit pulling a large bowl with a retractable edge underneath that scrapes up dirt and rock."

"They actually drag race with those?"

"Yes, it's quite a spectacle."

Hope laughed. "Oh Shaddy, you're too much!"

"Hope, if they can play polo with automobiles, I don't see why they can't drag race with construction equipment."

"OK, what other weird sports are you into?"

"Well, Sonic's into motocross demolition derbies."

Hope laughed again. "I tell you, if I'd never met you, I might not know about all these weird and wonderful sports!"

"Personally, I don't get the appeal, but I accept his weird hobbies so long as he agrees to put up with mine," said Rouge.

"That's because I don't see much reason to bicker with you about extreme underwater crocheting," said Shadow.

"And I should hope you don't, because you know what'll happen!"

"Hmph."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta season the chicken; the coals should be just ready now."

Rouge seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper before putting it on the grill along with kielbasa and hot dogs.

"Man, I can't wait for this food!" said Hope. "I don't care if people think grilled foods give you cancer; it's really tasty that way!"

"I know, right?" said Rouge.

"And to enjoy it outside with people I like…what could be better?"

"I'm with you there!"

"Shaddy, thanks for setting up the grill and everything!"

"You're welcome," said Shadow.

"Rouge wasn't kidding when she said you were the best helper she'd ever had!"

"She seems to have said much about me."

"Well, you have made a BIG difference in my life!" said Rouge.

"It's not like I intended to do so," said Shadow.

"But you did, and that's why I like you and let you stay here!"

Shadow crossed his arms. "I guess it beats staying in some West End housing project."

"Hey, you're not still feeling glum about the bomb, are you?"

"Are you going to accuse me of lying if I say 'no'?"

Rouge rested an arm across the top of Shadow's chair. "No, but I am gonna poke around until I find out what's bothering you."

"Well, if you must have an answer, it's because I looked up information on the Ferdinand Rozmiarek shooting, and I find it even harder to believe that people could get so worked up over one mortal."

"Well, wouldn't you get worked up if you were part of a minority group that suffered mistreatment at the hands of the police?" asked Hope.

"Well, I wouldn't burn cars and smash up innocent shopkeepers' livelihoods, that's for damn sure!"

"OK, I think we've talked about this long enough," said Rouge. "Let's agree to disagree for now and just have good food and a good time, OK?"

Shadow and Hope nodded.

"OK, now if you'll excuse me, I have to check everything…" said Rouge.

Rouge flipped the food over using a spatula.

After the cookout, Shadow, Rouge and Hope all played a part in putting away the leftovers and packing up whatever needed to be packed up, although the grill had to sit for a little while so the remains of the coals could cool off. Shadow went to his room and was about to turn on his computer when he heard knocking on his door.

"Come in," said Shadow.

"Hey Shaddy!" said Hope.

"So, what's up?"

Hope closed the door. "Oh, I just thought we might listen to some music together!"

"Does it matter what we listen to?"

"Actually, I thought we could listen to one of my favorites."

"How?"

Hope pulled out an iPod Touch. "You got any Bluetooth devices in here?"

"The record player has Bluetooth. Just look for the Crosley CR704B-PA. Let me turn it on…"

Shadow turned the combo player on.

"There," said Shadow. "Try it now."

Hope pressed the screen on her iPod a few times. The combo player beeped, indicating that the iPod was hooked up.

"OK, here we go!" said Hope.

Hope pressed the screen a few more times before setting the iPod down on Shadow's desk. Meanwhile, the combo player began belting out "thank u, next" by Ariana Grande. While Hope was content to dance to the music, Shadow's reaction was wholly different: just a second into the song, he furrowed his brows, clenched his fists and shook with rage. Disco was one thing, but he could hardly understand the appeal behind…whatever this was. The music, the lyrics…neither one connected with him on any level. Finally, he decided he'd had enough, so in his state of fury, he grabbed the iPod and hurled it as hard as he could against a wall. The wall survived. The iPod didn't. The moment the music got cut off, Hope instantly dropped her jaw and gasped.

"Shaddy, what the hell was that for!?"

Shadow crossed his arms. "If you think I'm going to put up with that slick, soulless, manufactured crap, you are sorely mistaken!"

"Look, I can understand if you don't like the song, but you don't break people's stuff because of it!"

"Do I look like I care?"

"Listen to yourself! This isn't like you!"

"Then apparently, you don't know me well enough!"

"Hey, the Shadow the Hedgehog I know wouldn't flip out over a song!"

"Get this through your head, human: you only exist in this place because of her! Without her, Mother Nature would have had a piece of your pathetic mortal ass!"

Hope put a fist on her hip and pointed at Shadow. "Oh, so you think I'm PATHETIC!? Just a few days ago, you said that my life mattered!"

"I don't give a DAMN what I said! I didn't make a promise to my one true friend just so I could kowtow to every whim and will of mainstream society, which, I might add, is far too sick to survive anyways!"

"Is that it!? You think society is sick just because a minority group is campaigning to gain equal rights with the majority!? You need to open your eyes, bud!"

"THAT'S IT!"

Shadow punched Hope in the gut, not hard enough to kill her, but hard enough that it caused her to reel backwards for a couple of steps while grasping the spot where she'd been hit. Still in shock, she gasped for breath while trying to comprehend what had just happened before collapsing on the floor. Unable to take it anymore, she cried. Still holding up his fist, Shadow looked at her with cold indifference. For the first time in a long while, he didn't think about his promise to Maria; he felt like the cold-blooded killer that Black Doom and Gerald had always intended him to be. Having had to put up with unrest in Emerald City for so long, Hope had seemed like the perfect target for all his frustrations. Nothing else mattered.

"SHADDY! WHY!?"

Upon hearing these words, Shadow blinked. He kept his fist raised, but now, he wasn't too sure it was the right thing to do.

"I…"

"I gave you love and this is how you return it!? I feel like I don't know you anymore!"

Slowly, Shadow lowered his fist. Seeing Hope lying on the ground with tears in her eyes because of something he did was just heart-wrenching for him. Sure, he'd been angry, but it wasn't as if he meant to do something he would end up regretting, was it? In this moment, he couldn't help but think of how badly his mind had been warped by current events and how sad it made him knowing that he let these get to him like this. What really hurt for him was that he'd broken the promise he'd made to Maria, all in the name of attempting to stand up for what he thought was right. Now, nothing seemed right anymore, except for one thing…

"H-Hope…"

"Shaddy, just go away! If you're going to attack me, you might as well get out of my life!"

Shadow fell to his knees and clasped his hands together. "Please, you don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand all right! I understand you're just a heartless bastard who doesn't respect other people!"

"Hope, I'm sorry!"

"Oh yeah!? If you really were sorry, you wouldn't have done that!"

"Look, I know it was wrong, and I had no excuse to do it! If you want to be mad at me, that's OK, but please, I humbly ask your forgiveness, and I promise I'll never do it again!"

Hope attempted to suppress her tears the best she could. She still wanted nothing to do with Shadow, but somehow, a little voice in her head told her that maybe he really was sincere about how sorry he was.

"Oh…I can't stay mad at you forever," said Hope. "I'm still shocked by what you did, but I guess you really are sorry."

Shadow bowed his head into his hands. "Thank you."

"Shaddy…please get me something for this horrible pain."

Shadow raised his head. "As you wish. Just hang in there, OK?"

"I'll try…"

Shadow exited his room and proceeded quickly yet cautiously to the nearest bathroom.

"Hey Shaddy, how are you?" said Rouge.

"I can't talk now; I have to go to the bathroom," said Shadow.

"OK, I won't keep you!"

Shadow and Rouge parted ways.

In the nearest bathroom, Shadow dug through the supply closet and pulled out a pressure-activated ice pack. He returned to his room and squeezed the ice pack in his hands to activate it.

"Here." Shadow handed the ice pack to Hope. "Put this on the spot where it hurts."

Hope took the ice pack and put it on the spot where Shadow had punched her. Still in tears, she winced a bit, but she held it down. Meanwhile, Shadow went to where he'd thrown the iPod and inspected the device. The impact had well and truly shattered it. He frowned when he'd confronted himself with this evidence of his wrongdoing. Hope's words about not knowing him anymore really struck him and – for the first time in a while – made him question who he was. If he was still capable of committing such atrocious acts, he figured he deserved to be locked up for another 50 years at least. On the other hand, he cringed at the thought of never getting to see those who mattered to him ever again. After putting down what remained of the iPod, he walked back to Hope.

"How are you feeling?" asked Shadow.

Hope sniffled. "God…it still hurts. I've never been hit that hard in my life! I'm so scared right now!"

"You're perfectly right to be scared. Even if I didn't hit that hard, I recognize that what I did was wrong, and I feel extremely ashamed of myself right now."

"I don't know what to say. I mean, I'm still sad that you broke my iPod and hit me, but on the other hand, it's really sweet of you to acknowledge your mistakes."

"Thanks. Can you stand up?"

"I don't know…it just feels so painful…"

"Then just keep holding the ice pack there until you feel better. In the meantime…"

Shadow opened up a drawer on his desk and pulled out his Bank of Mobius checkbook along with one of numerous BiC pens he had. He then wrote out a check for 1,500 Mobiums, tore it out and handed it to Hope.

"W-what's this for?" asked Hope.

"A reparation for destroying one of your personal belongings. I was originally going to write this for 1,000 Mobiums, but I decided to give you an extra 500 for calling you 'pathetic'. Buy yourself a nice MP3 player and put the rest in a savings account."

"Shaddy…I…I don't know what to say…"

"Whatever you say, I'm sure it can't hurt me worse than the fact that I pretty much alienated somebody who really meant a lot to me."

"H-hey, don't beat yourself up like that."

"And why shouldn't I? I did something that no man should ever do to a lady and be allowed to live with a clean conscience."

"Look, I know men shouldn't hit women, but Rouge told me about how well you treated her, and I know this isn't like you. Shaddy…I forgive you for your horrible mistake."

"Really?"

For the first time since this argument began, Hope smiled. "Really!"

Shadow attempted to smile, but it came on a bit weak.

"Thanks."

Finally, Hope attempted to get up. It was quite the struggle because she still hurt, but she managed it. She knelt down and put a hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Shaddy…promise me one thing…"

"What?"

"I know it's not like you to hit girls, but please, go into therapy for whatever's ailing you."

"Fortunately for both of us, Rouge scheduled me an appointment last week. It's tomorrow at 2:00 PM. I promise you I'll be on time for it."

"She really cares about you, huh?"

"Well, you and I both know this by now."

At that moment, there was knocking on the door.

"Come in," said Shadow.

Rouge entered the room.

"How are you two?" asked Rouge.

"We're all right, I suppose…" replied Shadow.

"Yeah, everything's good," said Hope.

"OK. By the way, what have you got there, Hope?"

Hope turned around. "Just an ice pack."

"Why?"

"Shaddy and I had a little fight earlier, and he hit me."

Rouge let out a loud gasp upon hearing this.

"SHADDY, GET OVER HERE!" Rouge pointed at the spot in front of her.

Knowing that he was really screwed, Shadow calmly walked over to Rouge, but even before he reached her, she tackled him to the floor and started beating his head in.

"So you hit a WOMAN, huh!?" said Rouge. "Let's see how YOU like a taste of your own medicine!"

"Rouge, stop!" said Hope. "This isn't right!"

"And neither is having to hear about innocent women getting beaten!"

"But this won't make you any better than him!"

"I don't care! He needs to learn a lesson!"

Rouge continued to punch Shadow in the face, while he just lied down and took it without so much as flinching. He knew he'd screwed up, so it was only logical that she would give him a taste of his own medicine, although he wondered how much was really enough. Soon, Rouge had stopped punching him full-force and was merely tapping him with her fist before slowly lowering it while huffing and puffing.

"I am so disappointed in you!" said Rouge.

"If that's how you feel, so be it," said Shadow. "If you must throw me out on the streets, then do it. Just don't ever let it be said that I never loved you."

Rouge raised her eyebrows. "Shaddy…did you…?"

"I didn't mean it in that way, but yes, I did."

Rouge's lower lip trembled. Even if she had been disappointed in him, his words meant so much to her that she hugged him and cried. Shadow returned the hug. On one hand, he felt bad about making her cry, but on the other hand, he'd sometimes had fantasies about being there for her when she was feeling really sad. Granted, this was because of something he did, but he got his wish. Somehow, she felt more cuddly when she was sad. As for Rouge, she was still having trouble comprehending the fact that Shadow used the "L-word" with her…or at least one of them. He did say that it wasn't meant in the way that people often usually used it, but still, it really struck her through the heart. Contrary to what she said earlier, she wasn't that disappointed in him at this point, but still, it wasn't often that she heard about him hitting women. Soon, Rouge stopped crying, but she and Shadow continued to hold on to each other. Even when they backed away, they kept their hands on each other. Hope looked on at the whole thing with both sadness and happiness.

"I…I can't stay mad at you forever!" said Rouge. "Even if you are a cold-hearted hardass sometimes, I know you're a good person!"

"Thanks, Rouge. You really do bring out the best in me."

"You're welcome!"

Rouge pulled a pack of tissues from her cleavage, blew her nose and dried her eyes.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've kept that appointment you made for me," said Shadow. "I also wrote Hope a check for 1,500 Mobiums."

"Wait…you did what?" said Rouge.

"In all my anger, I broke something of hers, so I only found it fair to compensate her for it."

Rouge smiled. "I have taught you well!"

Rouge hugged Shadow again, and he returned it. Even if the memory of his error would always remain, it hurt less knowing that his best friend in the whole world had forgiven him for it.

"Before we let go, there was something I wanted to try…" said Shadow.

"Yes?" said Rouge.

Shadow rubbed his nose against Rouge's, causing her to giggle.

"Oh Shaddy, you're too much!"

Shadow smiled. "Hey, you deserved the kindness!"

"Stop! You're going to make me cry again!"

"But don't you feel better afterwards?"

Rouge put a finger on her chin. "Hmmm…I guess you got me there."

"Anyways, before you break down crying again, I just wanted to let you know you're the best mommy that any hedgehog could ever ask for."

"Awww…you're so sweet!"

Rouge gave Shadow the biggest hug that she could manage.

"OK…I think you're actually suffocating me there," said Shadow. "Nevertheless, I'll allow it."

"Good, because mommies always give the best hugs!"

"You know, it's really cute how Shaddy called you 'mommy'," said Hope.

"What can I say? I've done my best to teach him well! Granted, I wish I could've done more to prevent him from hitting you, but still, he's so cuddly!"

"Um…Rouge…" said Shadow. "I enjoy you being 'Mommy', but can you let go now?"

"Just a few more seconds! Please?"

"Well…all right."

Rouge squeezed Shadow for a few more seconds before letting go. They then stood up.

"By the way…" said Shadow.

"Yes?" said Rouge.

Shadow smiled. "EAR NIBBLE WAR!"

Shadow playfully tackled Rouge and started nibbling one of her ears, causing her to giggle.

"Shaddy, STAHP!"

"No."

"Shaddy, stop nibbling my ear or I'm gonna tickle you!"

Shadow stopped nibbling Rouge's ear. "Oh-kay…"

Shadow and Rouge got up. Shadow looked at Hope, who had a silly grin on her face from watching the ear nibble war. Contrastingly, his look turned a bit more serious.

"By the way, you're not legally required to shower or cuddle with me tonight if you don't feel comfortable," said Shadow.

"Oh, it's OK," said Hope. "I mean, I probably won't forget about the hurt you caused me, but you seem to be worthy of a second chance!"

"Well…if you're sure…I won't stop you."

Shadow felt a little uncomfortable showering with Hope knowing that he hit hard enough to leave a bruise, but other than that, it was a tremendous relief knowing that she'd forgiven him for the pain he'd caused.

"Dear Journal:" wrote Shadow, "After I finished my previous entry, I drove to Mobius Hazardous Materials Disposal Depot #1 to get rid of the old oil and filter from my Trans Am, only I didn't drive that down there. Instead, I drove that 1975 GMC 4x4 that Sonic and Tails gave me. I found it somewhat intimidating to drive due to its ride height, but I suppose it would be really good off-road.

After getting back to the mansion, I looked up information on why people are so angry about Ferdinand Rozmiarek being shot dead. According to what I found out, he was killed for supposedly stealing a few candy bars and reaching for his vehicle papers too fast. I can understand why humans would be angry given past controversies with the Emerald City Police, but my research also told me that in spite of recent reforms, Rozmiarek was no saint, either. I'm so tired of all this looting and vandalism, but if vigilantism is going to cause me pain as well, I might as well just take a rocket out to space, far away from this madness.

I spent some time watching some of my favorite YouTube videos, and Rouge told me to break out the grill because she wanted to have a cookout. She cooked what she referred to as 'killer grilled chicken', which was indeed to die for. The hot dogs and kielbasa weren't bad, either. Spending time with Hope was a blessing, too. Unfortunately, things went downhill really fast when Hope visited my room after the cookout and asked to play some of her music. She ended up playing this awful manufactured pop crap, and I got angry and smashed her iPod. We ended up getting into an argument about it, and I hit her and made her cry. I apologized and got her an ice pack, but then Rouge came in, got mad at me and beat me for hitting Hope, and she cried as well. Both of them forgave me, but I still feel horrible and wish I was dead. I only hope that I make some progress with my new therapist tomorrow, even if it's only a tiny bit."

After Shadow put away his journal, he went to bed. Eventually, he dreamed that he was in his room, surfing the 'Net on his computer. Suddenly, somebody pulled him out of his chair and held him from behind by his biceps.

"You continue to amuse me, Shaddy."

"Let me go, Mephiles! LET ME GO!"

"And why should I? I attained plenty of lulz from your little undertaking in domestic violence."

"Look, I told Hope and Rouge I was sorry! Now let me go before I kill you!"

Mephiles spun Shadow around to face the door. "That would be an injudicious course of action. I think it would be far more advantageous to both of us if you were to suffer for the lulz you've bestowed upon me. Black Doom!"

Black Doom entered, only he was wearing a Goofy mask and carrying a flail.

"IT'S GOOFY TIME!" said Black Doom.

"NO!"

Shadow awoke before Black Doom could strike him. After breathing heavily for a few seconds, he did something he hadn't done in a long time: he let a few tears out. In this moment, he regretted everything bad that he'd ever done and hoped for the best from his therapist.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.