"I got it, I got it!" Tails yelled as he ran to catch a high-flying airborne football. He was sprinting, but seeing that it was doing him no good, Tails' instinct kicked in and he lifted himself off of the ground using his two tails. Gabriel yelled from the other side of the yard.

"Hey, no cheating, Tails!" he cried, but all with a smile on his face.

"Heh . . . sorry," Tails said meekly, walking the ball back to the "field". Knuckles groaned.

"Your legs are too short," he remarked. Tails glanced down at his legs.

"They are not!" he insisted. Knuckles smiled.

"Yeah, they are."

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Sonic and Gabriel exchanged looks that said, "Oh boy, here we go." Gabriel sighed and called over to the bickering echidna and fox.

"Hey guys, come over here! We're switching games!"

Knuckles and Tails gave each other a final glare, and then ran over to the other two.

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Lighten up, you two, or you're getting an early bedtime!" Sonic said, trying to cut into the argument. Gabriel chuckled.

"Okay, the next game we're going to play is called, 'Spud'. Each one of us will be given a number, and the number that's called will be the person to catch the ball after the caller throws it up in the air. They'll yell 'Spud' after the rest of us run as far as we can from the caller. He'll take three steps towards the next person, throw the ball at them, and if they hit that person, then that person is the caller. For every time you get hit, you get a letter. You lose once you get the letters S, P, U, and D. Sound good?" The Mobians nodded.

"Got it!" they chimed in unison. Before the game started, Amy, Cream, and Cheese approached the group.

"Can we join this game?" Amy inquired. Gabriel nodded.

"Of course! The more, the merrier!" he said.

"Yay!" Cream high-fived her Chao.

"Okay, I'll give you guys your numbers, and then we'll get started. All right?"

"Yeah!"

Agatha had just finished loading up the dishwasher. She closed it up and put the dish towel back on the rack where it belonged. Agatha went into the TV room, where Rouge was sitting on the red couch and watching a soap opera.

"What'cha watching?" Agatha asked, staring at the flashing screen. Rouge tilted her head to the side to speak, but never took eyes from the screen.

"It's called, 'Hopeless Romantic'. This show is keeping me on the edge of my seat, I'm telling you. No, Christine, don't you dare accept that proposal!" she yelled at the screen, clutching a throw pillow and pointing at the screen with the other hand. The TV showed a young man with a sly grin was holding an open ring box out to a slim stick-figure actress. "Oooh, what a beautiful diamond! Maybe it's not such a bad idea . . ."

Agatha nodded slowly.

"All right, well . . . you have fun, Rouge."

"Believe me, I will," replied Rouge, still not tearing her eyes from the TV.

Agatha tiptoed up the stairs, looking forward to reading her book in bed, followed by a sweet mug of hot chocolate. She opened the door with a creak, just as a dark figure walked through the open window.

Agatha gasped and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Relax, Agatha, it's only me."

When she turned on the light, Agatha saw Shadow walking across the room, calm as ever.

"Holy crap, Shadow! You scared me!"

"Heh . . . I figured."

"What were you doing?"

Shadow looked back at the window, and then turned again to Agatha.

"Your room is the only one that leads out to the roof. It's a nice place to sit and think. Until I got sick of those kids screaming, 'Spud!' at the top of their lungs."

Agatha tilted her head, puzzled.

"You're always so deep in thought, Shadow. Why is that?"

Shadow shrugged.

"I guess there isn't much else for me to do."

"You can't play games with the rest of the kids?"

Shadow raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Apparently, neither can you."

Agatha raised both eyebrows.

"Touché," she said. "I like my quiet time; I suppose everyone does."

"There you have it," Shadow said. "I'll leave you alone now, like you so kindly did for me."

"Thanks, Shadow. Oh, and can you please close the door on your way out?"

"No problem," grunted Shadow. He stepped closer to the door and then noticed Agatha as she picked up her book. She opened it up, and then realized that Shadow was still standing in the doorway.

"Uh . . . you okay, Shadow?"

Shadow stared at the book for a moment, and then shook his head rapidly.

"Yeah . . . I'm fine."

"Okay."

Shadow closed the door on his way out, as Agatha began to read and entered a different world.

Shadow stood motionless outside the door for a moment, and then suddenly heard a close voice.

"Spud!" Sonic stood at the end of the hallway, holding the ball and balancing on one leg.

"Don't you even think about it," Shadow growled. Sonic took the risk anyway.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Before Shadow had time to say anything else, the ball had struck his face. Sonic laughed triumphantly, but only just before Shadow began chasing him around the house angrily.