Sorry about the wait there, folks. Midterms, papers, labs, and all of that. Thanks for the reviews and comments from the first chapter! Things only get crazy from here. Here it is~

2. Contradiction

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she tried to snatch her wrist from my grasp — to no avail, of course. I could hear her scowl behind me at her futile attempts. "Oh, come on, you're not mad are you? I was only in there for an hour or—

"Five hours."

"Hm?"

"You were there for five hours."

"What? It was not—

I paused in my steps, turning to cast her a mild glare. "It was. You are lucky that I was bothered enough to drag you out of that infernal casino."

Yesterday, Rouge and I had spent our evening at the city's acclaimed Casinopolis. Omega was away handling his own tasks and I did not have anything better to do. I admit that I have spent a fair amount of time indulging myself in the ... games that the facility offered. Two of the Chaotix, Vector and Espio, had joined us midway during our Black Jack game. While I accumulated a thousand rings, Rouge - being more experienced with these casino games than I - had gathered far more. We all eventually left a quarter after two in the morning. As temporarily entertaining the games were, it would have been foolish to waste all of my rings in such a place.

I thought that a woman of her intellect would understand that.

Apparently not.

Rouge, supposedly, returned to the casino a few hours after we had initially left to gamble again. I had only found this out from a gang of pedestrians while getting breakfast near Speed Highway. They were rambling about "some hot bat lady who racked up 10,000 at Casinopolis" with their rambunctious, irritating voices. There's only one bat lady, I know.

The scene I was met with upon my arrival was ridiculous. The wretched stench of alcohol and smoke reeked in the air. A crowd of men surrounded her, jousting her with their ragged, hoarse chants and cheers as she sat at the poker table. Her arm perched upon its birch border as her head rested against her palm. A sly smirk shaped her lips as she faced her opponent – a tawdry-looking jackal.

Smirking smugly, the male had thrown out his hand: 2, 6, 7, 9, and 10 - all spades — a flush.

His complacent expression quickly dissolved as Rouge casually laid out her own cards: 3 aces (a heart, a spade, and a diamond) and 2 kings (a heart and a spade) — a full house.

Judging from the uproar of the crowd, her "full house" is stronger than his "flush."

Whatever.

Her testosterone-fueled audience yelled loudly in protest as I dragged her out of the vicinity by the wrist, before collecting her winnings. Mindless imbeciles.

At last, Rouge finally snatched her hand away from my grasp, caressing her wrist gingerly as she simpered. "Mm, I didn't know you were so concerned about me, Shadow."

My expression remained unchanged at her coy glance. "Since when did you care about money?"

The ivory bat rolled her eyes, shrugging. "Well, the bills have to get paid somehow."

I rolled my eyes. "What are you talking about? You have one of the highest salaries at G.U.N."

"I'm a lady of high class, hun," she continued, folding her arms across her chest as she began to walk ahead me. "You should know that."

"With casino rings?" I questioned, walking behind her. Maintaining her rent certainly should not be a problem for her. Not to mention, despite her income, that to support her "high class," most of her possessions were stolen.

She shrugged again, slowing her pace a bit to walk in pace with me. "Whatever works, sweetie."

"Surrounded by those debauched men?"

"They were admiring me work my magic," my thieving companion professed, almost impishly. "I can't imagine that it's common that a beauty such as myself graces their presence. I figured I'd give them a treat."

"Feh," I grunted in response, stuffing my hands in the pockets of my black jacket. It irked me how nonchalant she was being about her behavior. I was well aware of her capabilities and thoroughly convinced that she could take care of herself. Having been her comrade since the incidents upon the ARK, I knew underestimating a woman of her cunning was a mistake. Her greed was her ultimate enemy. It is disturbing to witness how easily the selfish sin could corrupt and manipulate her being. How reckless and precipitous her actions would become in contrast to her normal calculative, careful manner. I sighed, furrowing my brow. "Just do not expect me to drag you—

Suddenly, I felt a brisk presence approaching us. Before I could properly react, however, I was already knocked onto the concrete pavement. I growled, rotating my shoulder delicately, kneeling, as Rouge burst into a fit of laughter.

"Nice fall, clumsy," she jeered.

I shot her a glare before averting my sight toward the culprit of this ridiculousness — Sonic the Hedgehog.

The clueless faker cast me a sheepish grin, scratching the back of his head. "Eh, sorry about that, buddy. Guess I wasn't watchin' where I was goin'."

I ignored his apology as I stood up myself, focusing on brushing the excess dust off of my jacket. Frankly, I was inclined to walk away, but I could not help but notice ... the "off" tone of his voice. Not that it was any of my business, nor did I particularly care, but it was rare that the zeal in which the hedgehog typically spoke was false.

Rouge, I assume, was thinking similarly, as her amused expression faltered into a more inquisitive, slightly concerned one. ... Well, as much concern as Rouge was will willing to exhibit.

"What's up, Big Blue?" she questioned, leaning forward curiously. "You don't seem as ... hyper as you usually are."

Sonic shrugged, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. "Didn't think you'd be one to care, Rouge."

She smiled teasingly. "Consider me a concerned bystander."

"You concerned?" I interjected, mildly incredulous.

Rouge feigned a gasp, pursing her lips in mock disdain. "Don't be like that, hun. I can have a heart..." She added with a laugh,"... sometimes."

The klutz snickered at her remark. "Heh. Well, no need to worry, Rouge—nothin's wrong with this dude."

Rouge and I merely looked at him before she broke our short silence, sighing, as she placed a hand on her hip, looking away. "Whatever you say."

The hedgehog shrugged again before dashing off in our opposite direction. We resumed our walk.

"There's something up with him," the ivory bat murmured. I raised a brow.

"What do you care?"

She gave me a distasteful look. "I'm just saying. I imagine that if there is something bothering him, he'll bounce back pretty quick."

I simply shrugged. "I suppose."

A thoughtful grin played at her lips. "You know... Blue could've met him..."

"Him?" I repeated, still looking ahead. Why was she still talking about this?

"You know him." She nudged me in jest. "Him!"

I turned, casting her a blank stare. "Rouge. Who are you-

"That punk guy Amy's been hanging around with," she finally stated flatly. "Kano. Wouldn't be surprised if he was her new squeeze."

Kano?

Ah, yes, that idiot Amy introduced us to about a week ago.

While the fool had a suffocating ego and an annoyingly cocky nature, I could not be bothered to give him much thought beyond that.

Admittedly, I was somewhat surprised that Amy enjoyed his company. I would have thought that one who exuded such a brash, arrogant attitude would annoy her. Then again, I had also thought that Rouge would have enough sense not to risk all of her rings in that blasted casino.

I have been contradicted a lot, lately.

Anyway, I know the hedgehog would not enable such a male - Kano - to anger him. He has proclaimed several times that he did not return Amy's affections, so it would not make sense for him to become jealous upon someone showing interest in her. If anything, I would expect him to be pleased.

Regardless...

"I do not care," I replied candidly. "It is none of my concern."

In my peripheral, I idly noticed the lunch diner to our right. Three large glass windows exposed its quaint, hospitable interior littered with customers. A large white sign advertising their daily treat - which were those disgusting chilidogs - encompassed the first window. I continued to look aimlessly at the people seated inside along the window booths. Amy Rose and Kano were featured in the third window. They appeared to be engaged in an intimate conversation.

Rouge, apparently, found this scene amusing as she began to laugh mischievously. "Aww, how adorable! They look like they're on their first date."

I remained silent.

What Amy chose do with Kano was her business — I certainly was not going to deem it as "adorable." I was not going to indulge myself in trivial, teenage matters. Whether Sonic was jealous, the status of Amy's romantic life...

It was irrelevant.

It did not concern me.

Shadow does not approve of chilidogs.