CHAPTER 2

THE WAY THINGS ARE

The next day in Tech City, the sun was shining brightly with only a few clouds in the sky. The day seemed to be quiet and peaceful at the Chaotix Detective Agency.

The detectives were in the lobby pacing around while they dealt with another busy day within the agency.

A green male crocodile slammed down a stack of papers onto a desk in frustration. The crocodile seemed much older then the rest of the group that were in the lobby. With a yellow and gold arms band on his upper arm, it appeared that he was the leader. "I can't believe how stomped we are today!"

A young bee sat down on the surface of the desk while he watched the crocodile pace around back and forth. The yellow and black bee appeared to be around eighteen years old. "Yeah" he agreed. "Who knew so many people had so many problems."

A purple cat woman shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe it's just that time of year?" She had looked like she was in her early twenties. She was also dressed in a professional like outfit. She had appeared to be the secretary.

The crocodile stood in front of a window and caught sight of a white bat woman sitting on a wooden bench outside of the building. The way she had her head down, she had looked upset about something. "Yeah we're in here busting our ass' and Rouge hasn't done shit except mope about Shadow!"

"Cut her some slack, Vector", a male purple chameleon had spoke while he leaned against the desk the bee was sitting on.. "She just misses him. We all do…don't you?"

Vector turned to the purple chameleon and sighed heavily. "I do Espio, but…just moping about him and wondering where he is doesn't help any of us."

The young bee could understand how angry Vector was. He figured he was upset because Shadow took off without saying anything to anyone except Rouge but it was just lucky that she caught him in time before he actually left. A sudden sadness had overcame the kid bee, "He didn't even say goodbye…"

Espio saw how everyone in the room was becoming either sad or angry. "Come on, guys. Shadow's going through a rough time. He thinks everything that happened months ago was his fault."

"But it wasn't", the cat woman spoke. "That demon was using his body and making him do all those things." She could remember how the demon who was possessing him made him attack all of them.

Espio tried to put himself in the place of what was possibly going through Shadow's mind. "And let's just face it. What if that were one of us? How would we feel if we still knew what was going on but had no control of our actions?"

The bee then began to sympathize with Espio. He never quite understood Shadow's reason for leaving them but now he could see it a little more clearly. Apparently, the demon didn't just hurt them but caused Shadow to go through an emotional struggle as well. "Well, that demon did make him kill innocent people and hurt us."

"…And Rouge", Vector could remember all of the vile things that demon did to her. "That demon made him hurt her in more than one way…"

Everyone then began to understand why Rouge was taking everything so hard. That demon played with her mind and emotions.

A hopeless look had formed on the bee's face. "…Will Captain Shadow ever come back?"

Vector didn't want to promise to everyone that Shadow would return. He really didn't know if he was going to come back or not. He once again stared out the window and looked at the melancholy bat woman. "…I hope so, Charmy. I hope so…"

Outside of the Chaotix, a red male echidna who appeared in his mid twenties stood in front of the door at the detective agency. He sighed heavily as he tried to prepare himself before he entered the building. He hesitated as he reached out to the handle of the door. He had visited the Chaotix detectives from time to time to see how everyone was doing since Shadow's absence. However, he more or less always visited just to see his old lover.

Before he could lay his hand on the door handle, he caught sight of a white bat woman sitting on the surface of a wooden bench. He then turned away from the door and decided to approach her. When he confronted her, she didn't turn to him right away. He figured she didn't notice him or she just wasn't in the mood to talk. She was just sitting there while looking down at the grass on the ground sadly. She looked like she was deep in thought. He then decided to speak out to her, "…Hey, Rouge."

She slowly looked up at the male red echidna standing next to her. The way she had looked, it looked like she didn't want to talk to anyone. "…Hey Knuckles", she spoke in a dull tone.

He could tell in her voice that she wasn't in the mood to talk but he was determined to make her open up to him so he could cheer her up a little. "Mind if I sit?"

She really wasn't in the mood to make conversation with anyone but she didn't want to turn him away when he was attempting to cheer her up. She paused for a moment and then made a small nod. She watched as he sat down on the wooden bench next to her.

It took a moment for him to gather the courage to start a conversation especially when she directed her attention away from her. "So", he began. "How are you holding up?"

She carelessly shrugged her shoulders carelessly as she looked back down on the ground, "Okay I guess."

He knew that she was still obviously upset about Shadow leaving and he hated the idea of her even thinking about him. He bit his lip as he debated if he wanted to really say what was on his mind. "…Rouge", he spoke. "I can't stand to see you like this…"

She slowly looked up and focused her attention on him once again.

"You're still upset over Shadow aren't you?"

She turned away from him not wanting to admit that she did indeed miss Shadow. She knew that he and Shadow were never really on good terms with each other so she wondered why he would even bring up a conversation about him.

"Rouge, you shouldn't be wasting your energy and tears on him. Remember what he did to you a few months ago? He almost killed you!" Anger began to fill up inside of him as he remembered all of the horrible things that happened to her.

Tears swelled in her eyes as she started to remember the awful things that happened to her. "It wasn't his fault", she muttered. "He was possessed by that demon." She remembered how that demon made Shadow tell her that he loved her and torture her emotionally and psychically.

He didn't care if that was the demon actions or Shadow's. It all came down to that she got tortured and hurt with his body. "Yeah? Well what about when he left? The time you needed him the most and he turns his back on you and everyone else! Is that what you call love?"

Despite Knuckles not liking a thing about Shadow, he did make a good point. Why would Shadow leave? She thought it was important for him and everyone else to discuss what had happened between them but it seemed that he didn't think highly of the idea. Just by hearing his hurtful words, she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

Knuckles' heart stopped when he saw a tear falling down her face. He felt terrible for lashing out at her about Shadow but he felt like he needed to be blunt with his opinions about the entire situation.

"…He promised he would come back", she spoke in a hoarse voice.

"And what if he doesn't come back?"

"He will!" She spoke in a much louder tone with another tear streaming down her cheek .

It hurt him to see her so upset. She had been like that ever since Shadow had left Tech City and it killed him that she had changed so much after when it happened.

He was deep in thought about the situation. It had been three months since Shadow left, and he was honestly starting to think that something happened to him. If anything, he was sure he was dead or not even bothering to come back. "Rouge, you know I care about you and I don't wanna see you this way. You don't deserve to be going through this. You need someone there for you. Someone like…"

She turned to him with a disgusted look on her face. "Someone like you?"

He paused and shifted his eyes from hers shamefully. Could he really say that and especially after the way he had treated her before all the madness even happened?

"You're full of shit", she spoke in a bitter tone.

"Rouge, I…" His words trailed off as Rouge began to angrily speak out.

"You hurt me and you want me to just take you back like nothing happened?"

The guilt was starting to flood back to him. Ever since, he had deep regrets about cheating on her. If it weren't for his past mistake, he thought that the two would still be together.

"I loved you Knuckles, and you apparently didn't love me back."

Before he could say anything else to her, she got off of the bench and angrily walked away from him, leaving him feeling guilty for his past actions.

Later on that day, Shadow had slowly opened his eyes and found himself laying a small bed. He heard multiple voices surround him.

"Hey, boss! He's waking up!" A deep and heavy male voice said.

"It's about time!" Another male voice spoke.

When the hedgehog opened his eyes completely, a gray albatross was looking down at him in curiosity

The albatross had a green male hawk and purple swallow woman standing next to him.

Startled, he practically jumped out of the bed. He quickly sat up from the bed and aimlessly lashed out at the group.

The group took let out panicking screams and stepped to the side as a yellow light came from his hand and hit the wall. They all sighed in relief as the blast of energy missed them.

The female swallow had spoke out at the alarmed hedgehog. "Hey! It's okay! Calm down!"

Even though the woman assured his safety, he didn't believe her right away. He still remained vigilant. "…Who are you? Where am I"

"It's us!" She looked over to the green hawk and gray albatross who was standing next to her. "That's Jet and Storm." She then pointed at herself, "And I'm Wave."

"Don't you remember us, Shadow?" Storm had asked.

Shadow had then began to have memories including his past adventures with the three standing in front of him. He had stared at the green hawk as his face began to become familiar to him. "…Jet?"

The green hawk sighed in relief when he saw him starting to remember him, "At last you remember! And after when you try to barbeque us!"

Afterwards, the hedgehog began to settle down after finding out that the three strangers were harmless. "…What happened to me?"

In The Next Chapter:

Storm: It's been so long!

Jet: We have much to discuss!

Shadow: I had to leave...to become stronger...

Wave: That's awful...

Razi: I can't believe he left and all this time.

Damon: Razi! Shut your mouth!

Razi: Holy crap!