Amy Rose stomped through the city, growling at anyone who smiled her way. All of her hard work in training Sonic and he'd escaped her! Amy had planned to smuggle him out of the city today, go somewhere where they could get a cheap marriage license and get him to sign it, then hopefully find a minister and go through with a real ceremony before letting Sonic realize what had happened, but he had to go and wake up early somehow! …Maybe he'd had help. The thought had never occurred to Amy before; Sonic might have an accomplice in the city, but when would he have had time to discuss plans with him? Amy considered leaving Sonic as she went into the hotel every night for the past week. Maybe when he was running home he might have had time to talk to someone. But who would be out so late?

Amy recalled a conversation she'd overheard in the hotel lobby one evening about Shadow. Sometimes Shadow would go out drinking late at night and walk around the city a bit before going home. That would give Sonic and Shadow a short time to talk before Sonic passed out for the night. Amy's eyes narrowed. No doubt Sonic was at that diner that Shadow worked at right now. Amy turned around and made a beeline toward the diner, her hammer at the ready. No-one took Sonic away from her.

Sonic sighed. He had finished his plate of chilidogs and now he realized that he had also managed to drip chili all over himself. He paid the bill and went back to the men's room to wash off again.

Amy entered Eiglestein's, scanning the clientele for Sonic. Not seeing him, she looked over the waitresses for Shadow. No luck there either. To her logic, since neither was here, they must be somewhere else, and together. Not the best of logic, but it justified her rage.

"Where is Sonic?" she demanded; the staff looking up in unison, surprised and dismayed by her presence.

Shadow's ears perked. She had shut the door and sat down at her desk after seeing Sonic down the rest of the plate of chilidogs. He had enjoyed them. It had made her day. Right now though, she heard the voice of their first banishment; Amy Rose having been ousted by Mr. Eiglestein himself only a week ago. Then she heard the scream.

Shadow dashed out of her office. Mabel, one of the waitresses, was on the floor, cowering in fear, cradling a broken arm.

"Where is Sonic?" came the order again, "Where are you hiding him?"

Shadow rushed to separate Amy and Mabel, grabbing the handle of Amy's hammer, right above where Amy held it, and holding it still. Amy struggled. "I know you're hiding him in here somewhere!"

Amy pulled away and Shadow motioned to the cashier. He pressed the under-counter alarm. As soon as Shadow looked down to tend to Mabel's health, Amy leapt at her, hammer swinging. The fight was on.

Sonic hadn't hear much over the sound of running water and orders being shouted through the kitchen, but he had heard someone screaming from the restaurant, and that immediately stole his attention from his own hygiene. The scene he entered upon when leaving the restroom was something he'd never had imagined in his wildest, most insane dreams.

Amy Rose and Shadow the Hedgehog were exchanging blows in the middle of a restaurant, everyone else attempting to sneak to the exit.

Shadow wasn't as fast as she used to be, but she could keep up with Amy in her sleep. Amy knew this; therefore, she was trying to be as unpredictable as possible, and was doing as well as could be expected against the out-of-form Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow hadn't actually hit her yet, but she was desperate to keep Shadow from getting any hits through.

Sonic was torn. Amy Rose, the girl who had been dragging him everywhere all week, keeping him awake, leaving him to walk the streets by himself; or Shadow, the hedgehog he barely knew now, who was most probably protecting the restaurant from Amy's wrath… While wearing a uniform identical to a waitress'… and a nametag that said "Shadow the Hedgehog, supervisor"…

Shadow was running low on stamina, and this struggle seemed to be an uphill battle as Amy was armed and Shadow was not. Disarming her seemed to be the only option, and it wasn't going easily.

Shadow took a hit to the shoulder, knocking her arm out of place. It hurt, but it wasn't the first thing on her mind. She stumbled back into a fighting position.

Amy had been surprised that she had gotten a hit in at all, but now that Shadow was injured, she figured this would be a piece of cake!

She would have to settle for a pudding cup.

Sonic took this opportunity to break it up. Sonic sped into the imaginary ring… and immediately got the rings knocked out of him by Amy's hammer; the ever-familiar continue screen presenting the countdown he could use to start all over again. Sonic had no control over the ticking clock. Before long he would be sent back to the main menu and…

Where had these thoughts come from? Sonic was slowly falling unconscious from the hit, his train of thought taking a path similar to Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Before he was entirely comatose, however, Sonic heard a voice over the whistle of his mental train:

"What have you done?" exclaimed Shadow, the patrons and employees having almost all escaped and Sonic the hedgehog lying cataleptic on the floor while Amy Rose inspected her damaged target and police cars pulled up outside.

Amy only smiled and took Sonic's hand, turning toward the door, intending to leave with him like this. Shadow would have none of it.

Amy hit pavement. Not hard enough to break anything, but enough to leave a couple of nasty scratches. She stood up to tend to them, but when both of her hands were in front of her, handcuffs were clicked on her wrists. She was reminded of her rights and pulled to the door of the police cruiser. What had gone wrong?

Shadow raised an eyebrow as she lifted Sonic up over her good shoulder and headed for the door. She smelled smoke. Hurrying out the door and setting Sonic down next to Mabel and the other waitresses to await the ambulance, she rushed back inside. Someone had left the oven on, and Mr. Eiglestein was still in the building.