The Bet
Chapter 9
10:53 a.m.
Shadow shifted in his sleep before finally waking up. He yawned and stretched, then he noticed the empty space next to him…then he noticed the very familiar ruby red walls and pink comforter that was around him. He sat and thought for a moment. Then, he silently groaned to himself. He didn't remember falling asleep at Amy's apartment… Suddenly, he heard someone that wasn't Amy.
"Amy, I really need to find Shadow right now. It's very important." someone said.
"That voice…" Shadow sat up and threw the blanket off of him. He now saw that he was only dressed in his jeans from last night. This only meant that he fell asleep willingly. He inwardly shuddered from the girly colors and quickly darted out the room and down the stairs. There he found the owner of the voice; the blue hedgehog…
"Um, Shadow's sleeping right now, and-" the rose-pink girl was interrupted by the ebony hedgehog clearing his throat.
"Shadow! I wasn't expecting you to be here." Sonic said. Amy sighed and rolled her eyes.
"What do you want?" Shadow asked.
"If you don't mind, could we talk about it outside?" The blur asked. Shadow looked at him suspiciously, before following him. After the door was closed, Sonic sighed.
"Why are you here?" Shadow asked.
"Uh, well, you see, two years ago I got into this club. But the owner has been out to get me, so he said if I went to the police, he killed the team. He went through this whole back-story of how he lost his daughter to a building fire and I never got to her in time. Now, I have bring someone from the team there, or he'll kill all of you. I, uh, sort mentioned you…" Sonic explained trailing off.
"Have you lost your goddamn mind?!" Shadow shouted.
"Shhh! I don't want Amy to find out! The reason why you need to stop seeing her is because this Boss guy has a thing for girls like Amy and…making them into his slaves… It's nothing real crazy, just someone to replace his daughter. But he likes to have a new one…every year…"
"I knew I could never trust you…you're supposed to be the hero! You're supposed to stop the crime, not be apart of it. Then you go and bring the team into this! I don't have to stop seeing Amy to protect her, nor will I, but this is something you need to fix. I'm not going to bail you out every time." Shadow sneered.
"Please, Shadow! If Amy can help, that's fine, but I don't want the others to know. You're their target if I fail, so I'm the only one that can help you." Sonic pleaded. All Shadow did was glare before sighing and rubbing his temples.
"If this guy is really after the you, why is he targeting the whole team?" he finally asked.
"I don't get that part either. But one of the members met with me last night and told me that if I don't hurry up, he'll snitch and have us all killed anyway. I wanted you away from Amy before they started to catch on to save her…I'm sorry…" the blur said sadly.
"You screwed up big time, faker. Just know, this is the last time I helped in one of your problems, got it?"
"Thanks…"
"Don't thank me yet. I'm still going to kick your ass for endangering Amy's life… Why did you join the club in the first place?" Shadow asked.
"When I first saw the flyer, it said, 'Best Chilidog Makers Club'. But, when I got there, they told me it was a trap. Appearantly, they change it to lure certain people in." Sonic explained, scratching his ear. The ebony hedgehog just shook his head.
"You're the stupidest hedgehog known in existence…"
"Whatever! It's not like you're so smooth yourself. Why, of all places, would you be here?" Sonic asked, smirking.
"It's not like that. We…went somewhere and it was late getting back. I don't even remember what happened after we walked in the door, but I woke up with my pants on." Shadow explained. Sonic snickered at his answer, but remained quiet. Shadow rolled his eyes and opened the door just as Amy came out the kitchen with two plates.
"Really? Where's mine?" Sonic joked. Amy gave him a look. "I'm just kidding! I gotta go anyways." and with that, he was gone in the his famous blue streak.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" she asked. Shadow just shrugged and followed her up to her room.
"I can't believe you actually left Shadow to come with us!" Cream said, sarcastically exclaimed.
"Whatever. It's not like you missed me." Amy shot back.
"Why wouldn't I? It's just that ever since your birthday, you call us less. We last saw each other at practice…" Cream sadly stated.
"It's only been a week." Blaze corrected.
"I don't care!"
All the older girls did was shake their heads. They were currently standing in line for movie tickets. Since Amy couldn't convince Shadow to come yesterday, she decided to ask Blaze and Cream to one instead. At least he gave her money for snacks…
"So, who's paying for the movie?" Cream asked.
"Well, we all agreed on Ride Along, so let's all chip in and buy our own snacks. That's seems fair enough." Blaze said.
"Sure…if only the line wasn't so long…" Amy sighed. There had to be at least twenty more people ahead. The worst part was that there were only two tickets booths open.
"What do you expect? It's Friday, most movies premiere on Fridays, whether you're seeing it or not." the feline said.
"True…"
"I think she was talking about getting up there in time for the show. The closet show is seven before the last at nine-thirty and eleven. It's six-forty now." Cream clarified.
"Maybe we can just go grab something to eat?" Amy suggested.
"Let's give it a chance at least." Blaze said confidently.
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"Hello, welcome to IHOP. I'm your server this evening, can I start you off with drinks?"
"Yes, we'll all have a fruit punch, please." Blaze spoke. The waiter nodded and walked off towards the kitchen. The silence was broken by the exaggerated sigh from Cream.
"What is the luck of all the shows selling out by the time we get up there?" she said. The feline and hedgehog could only sighed and shrug.
Elsewhere with Sonic and Shadow…
11:43 p.m.
"So, tell me, who is this mystery person?" Shadow asked.
"Um, well, I can't necessarily tell you, crew code, but you're welcome to guess…" Sonic answered.
"Whatever. How do you know we can trust this guy?" the ebony one questioned.
"We don't, but it's worth a shot."
"How can you just go off of a feeling?"
"You ask a lot of questions." Sonic complained.
"And? When someone gets dragged into something his so-called friend started, it seems necessary to question said hedgehog about what they're getting into." Shadow retorted. Sonic rolled his eyes. Soon, they came to a stop, right where sonic met the hedgehog last night.
"Well, he should be here…"
"And I was, but when you wait for so long, you tend to leave." a voice said. Then out came the same green hedgehog from yesterday. "You're late…again…" he sneered.
"Look, I may be the fastest thing alive, but don't expect for me to be punctual all the time." Sonic countered.
"Whatever. I see you finally convinced Stripes…" the green hedgehog smirked.
"Um, you see, not exactly…."
"I came here to find out why your 'boss' is after me and the whole team. I'm not leaving without answers. So, are you coming out or do I need to come over there?" Shadow snapped. Said hedgehog chuckled before coming out into the light. There, he had revealed himself…his icy blue eyes shone with intensity, sunglasses perched atop his head, leather jacket decorated with flames, and two identical scars across his chest.
"Shadow, you know Scourge…" Sonic said, quietly.
"I wish I didn't…" he said.
"Sure, Shadow. So, why did you call me out here anyway?" Scourge asked, impatiently.
"Just as he said. Why is the Boss going after him and the whole team?" Sonic asked.
"As much as I'd like to help the good guys, I'll be left without a job if he goes, so what do I get out of all this?" the green smirked.
"I know a girl that's desperate right…"
"Not this time, Blue. It's gonna take a whole lot more than a few girls to get me to squeal." Scourge said.
"What will it take?" Shadow asked.
"Hmm…I heard you've taken a love interest in Pinkie…"
"No."
"Alright then, consider this conversation void." Scourge turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Sonic called. He stopped and looked back slightly. "W-What about Amy…?"
"Sonic…"
"Oh, don't worry Stripes. I won't hurt her…maybe rough her up a bit." The green hedgehog said, smiling wickedly.
"Um…instead of doing that, why don't you take her on a date?" Sonic tried to reason.
"Sonic…!" Shadow warned again.
"Doesn't seem too bad…here's another idea. Personal stripper for a day." Scourge smirked. His eyes narrowed seeing Shadow glare back. "Surely you wouldn't mind, right, Stripes?" he tested. At this point, the ebony hedgehog was all but breathing heavily, trying to keep his cool.
"Shadow, come on! Stop being selfish and think of how this could save everyone." Sonic said. There was silence between the three hedgehogs.
"We're leaving." Shadow finally spoke.
"But-"
"NOW!" he shouted.
"Fine. All I have to do is tell the crew all about your plan and it's over. Oh well…see you." Scourge marched off and Shadow stormed off in the other direction leaving Sonic in his place. He looked at both hedgehogs walking away before being knocked out of his trance and running after Shadow.
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"Shadow, I can not believe you!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Yeah, and why not? Just because I don't agree to his terms when you basically put Rose up for auction?! It's bad enough you got them after us, but putting our lives in danger? Do really want to stoop that low?" Shadow shouted.
"If it means getting us out this mess, then yes! We're going up against one of the dirtiest crews in Station Square, and they will fight and get their hands dirty just to get back at me, and all of us." Sonic snapped. Shadow stopped abruptly. The blue hedgehog had followed him all the way back to Amy's house, and he already knew why.
"So, you're saying that even if it means risking Amy's life, you'd still want her to go off with that bastard…?" Shadow sneered. Sonic looked down, realizing what he just said.
"Shadow, what choice do we have? They know where we all live, they know where we work, where Cream and Tails go to school, where we could be at any given time! They've studied us. They know our weaknesses, our strengths…for the first time ever there is someone out there that are no match to." he said.
"Well, if that really is the only way, let's see what Amy has to say about all this, shall we?" Shadow said, glaring.
"You did what?!" Amy screeched.
"Not only that, he tried to make a deal with him to give you up as his personal stripper, take you on a date, or just give you to him altogether!" Shadow explained, glaring at the blue hedgehog.
"Sonic, have you lost you're goddamn mind?! What the hell is wrong with you?" Amy asked.
"Look, we would've been out of this mess if your little boyfriend over here wasn't a wuss and chickened out of something that could save us. You wanna blame someone, blame him!" Sonic shouted. Shadow continued glaring, while Amy blinked in surprise.
"So, this is his fault?" she asked quietly.
"It would seem so." Sonic said. Amy looked down, and Sonic stood still, waiting for either hedgehog to move. Suddenly, Amy stood up and walked over to her door, opening it. Walking back over to Sonic, she pulled him by the arm and threw him out the door and into the railing, the only thing that kept him from falling three stories. "Amy, what are you-" SLAM! He looked at the closed door that was slammed by the pink hedgehog.
"Hmph, who needs her? I don't need her permission to do want is best for the team." He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.
"What?"
"Can we still make the deal?"
"Well…I guess, but you have to get her here within twenty-four hours."
"Fine. Meet me at the night club off of Starling and Field at ten o'clock tomorrow."
And the twist ending is here! I know, Sonic is still the bad guy here, but trust me, you need to stick around to find out what will happen to Amy, Sonic, and everybody else. Until then… -D.A.K