Chapter 7

Shadow was hot.

Then again, he was always hot on Boom Beach. Having black fur wasn't exactly an advantage in this case.

But, nevertheless, he continued on down the path to the beach where Tails, Sonic, and Knuckles usually hung out. No assignment today meant that he had the day off, and even though he would never admit it in a million years, he wanted to hang out with his friends.

Lo and behold, halfway there, he spotted Sonic sitting on the front porch of Amy's old place, staring at the dirt like it was the most interesting thing since Chaos Emeralds.

"Finally lost your mind, faker?" he greeted.

Sonic looked up at him, his eyes slightly unfocused, like he had seen a ghost. "Geez, what happened to you?"

"I…did you…I think Amy's back," Sonic stuttered, still staring off into the distance.

"Oh, Rose finally came back? Good for her," Shadow answered. "Must be weird for you."

"I don't-" Sonic started, but stopped and shook his head as if to clear it. "Yeah. I guess so."

"I'll have to go find her," Shadow spoke thoughtfully. "Been a long time since I've seen her."

"That's for sure," Sonic muttered, still staring off into space.

"She still mad?"

"I don't know," the blue hedgehog replied, sighing. "I wouldn't really blame her if she was. We never talked about what happened. She saw me, told me she'd try to stay out of my way, then practically sprinted as far away as she could get."

"So that's a yes," Shadow snorted, finding his friend's predicament somewhat funny. Sonic glared up at him.

"You know, instead of screwing around, you could actually try to help me," he demanded.

"Where's the fun in that?" Shadow retorted, starting back down the path. "You're an adult. Fix your own problems, faker. Oh, and have Rose come find me if you see her. I think she and I have some catching up to do."

Sonic growled in anger and picked up a palm-sized stone, chucking it at light speed in the direction of the darker hedgehog. He heard an impact, but Shadow just chuckled and whipped it right back at him before disappearing.

He made his way down to the beach, spotting Knuckles with a familiar looking brown badger and someone else he'd never seen before.

"Christ almi- is everyone weird and stupid today?" Shadow grumbled.

"Shadow!" Knuckles called, grinning and waving him over. Shadow begrudgingly obliged. "You remember Sticks, and this is her partner, Rouge. Rouge, Sticks, this is Shadow the hedgehog. Member of GUN, general badass, and perpetually grumpy."

"Am not," Shadow argued, scowling. "Hmph. Nice to see you again Sticks. Hello, Rouge."

"Amy said we might run into you," Rouge smiled, her dark eyes sparkling mischievously. "How come I never see you around the agency?"

"Don't like to visit too often," Shadow shrugged. "People get on my nerves, so I do outside work for them."

"We're actually here on assignment," Sticks explained, hugging Shadow, who startled and tried to squirm away. "Aw, come on, stop fighting it, Shadow! You know you missed me."

"I could literally kill you with one finger," Shadow warned her, his voice muffled in her shoulder.

"I'm absolutely terrified," Sticks quipped, ruffling his quills. He finally shoved her off, shaking himself out and glaring at her. "Anyway, GUN sent us over here to find the last three Chaos Emeralds, 'cause he says something's going on with-"

"Iblis, I know," Shadow interrupted. "That's been my assignment the past few years. Found four, then they reassigned me to Blaze."

"What do you mean, they 'assigned you to Blaze?'" Sticks questioned.

Shadow looked at her like she was the dumbest person this side of town. "If Iblis is stirring, and Iblis is sealed inside Blaze…"

"Right," Sticks lamented. "Sorry."

"I've been staying around Blaze the past two years or so, just in case. If Iblis is released, they want someone close by to call it in and be on it immediately."

"Sounds dangerous," Rouge remarked with a smirk.

"I'm immortal," Shadow retorted with a small amount of pride in his voice. "Can't kill something that can't be killed."

"Fair enough."

"Sonic's lost it," Shadow commented, sitting down on the beach a good twelve inches away from everyone else. "Anyone else notice that?"

"What's wrong with him?" asked Knuckles.

"Rose is back, apparently. You should've seen the look on his face," Shadow laughed.

"Oh, crap, they ran into each other?" Sticks inquired, getting up quickly. "I gotta go find her."

"I'll come, too" Rouge volunteered. The two girls headed off in the direction of the town.

"Way to go, Shadow," Knuckles grumbled. "Can't even be here two minutes without chasing everyone off."

"It's one of my many talents," Shadow sighed, leaning back into the warm afternoon sun. "Not my fault you can't get a woman to stick around."