Woohoo! Next chapter I need DW…which is something I'm sure everyone is looking forward to. So returning characters…also some new ones… you'll see. Okay, reviews.

Nohailzone: I'm glad you enjoyed it and we'll have to see how much Shadow wants to kill Ethan.

Meadow of Starlight: I'm glad Ethan here's too.

Christian Wolf27: Well that's just a HUGE spoiler. Have patience, you'll see.

DylanDamboise321: Loved the pun. Also spoilers in which I am not giving away. Have patience! (:

Nicole's POV:

I will never go missing ever again. I'm serious.

So immediately one minute after Shadow had left with Ari, Team Sonic (both Generations) showed up. At least Cosmo was quiet when I showed up…

The following hour was constant questioning by everyone, even as we made our way to the hospital. I didn't answer any of them.

Miley must have realized how uncomfortable it was and made everyone shut it. But that didn't change the tense feeling in the air…Jr was especially dancing with excitement.

The next 24 hours all of us spent at the hospital, nervous and tense. As for the shooter…well, Miley described it the best to me.

"Well, after the gunshot and the crowd going wild, Shadow ran over to Arianna and examined her. He then pointed at a tall building and shouted at Sonic to get his tail over there and find the gunner. Jr and Sonic got there first, but didn't see anything. Man, that guy must have taken off immediately after firing, because no one got even a glimpse of the guy. Anyway, when we got up there, all we found was a few abandoned fire arms and a single shell casing. The sniper rifle wasn't found so they must have taken off with it. Other than that, nothing. Not even a crumb." Miley blew at her bangs in frustration.

No sign of the idiot, or anything. In fact, that's how it stayed for the whole week. By this point, Arianna was stable and would be fine. The only thing Team Sonic was concerned with was who's the shooter, what does he want, and if and when he's going to strike again…well that was supposed to be their only concern.

"For the last time, none of your business!" I snapped in frustration.

Jr ran around the briefing table and halted next to me. Leaning over, "Well your back and we should know about this 'mission' Shadow sent you on, right? Did you leave the country?" The hedgehog grinned.

Across the table, Miley giggled…which was a bit strange.

Annie seemed to have a different view on the whole vanishing act. "So…who is it?"

"Who's who?"

She smirked at me. "Oh come on, a whole year! There's no way a mission takes that long. I'm thinking you got ticked at Mr. Grumpy over there," she gestured towards a very quiet Shadow, "and ran away with somebody. A very special somebody…' Annie gave a sly smile at me.

Topaz interrupted the conversation. "Who would want to go out with her?" With a disgusted look on her face, her disbelief was clear.

Pinky shrugged, "Someone with very strange tastes." The two friends nodded at one another in agreement.

I rolled my eyes, hiding my anger from everyone. "Can we get back to the situation at hand please?" I motioned at the clip playing on the TV.

True, it was blurry and the suspect was only there for a second, but you can always hope.

Across the room, Arnold just glared at the video. "Well, we know it's a Mobian, but that's it. How can someone be there, then not?"

"Teleporting?" Miley suggested.

"Teleporters, oh I hate teleporters!" Jr groaned.

Miley smiled. "Don't we all, Jr?"

He smirked back.

Okay… I shook my head. "Well we know that they can move quickly, most likely by teleportation. Also, they're a trained assassin."

"Is he?" Annie interrupted.

"Is who what?"

Another smirk, "You're boyfriend."

Trying to keep my cool, I gripped the table. "He's not my boyfriend…"

"But you admit there was a boy?"

Curse Topaz.

The girls high-fived in celebration.

With my anger growing, I threw my hands up, "If you want to talk about someone's love life why don't you ask your brother?"

Annie rolled her eyes, "Him? He couldn't get a date even if it meant chili dogs."

Everyone started laughing (except Shadow and I). Jr joined in a bit nervously. "Yeah…chili dogs."

I think Topaz noticed. Slowly, she raised an eyebrow, "Jr? Is there something you aren't telling us?"

A bit rushed Jr denied her accusation, but the subject had been successfully changed.

"Sonic Hedgehog Jr…" Annie threatened.

Poor Jr…I actually felt a little bad for doing that, but I'd rather deal with this mess then talk about Ethan. That name still sent me into a panic.

"I…I…um…" Jr looked about ready to bolt for the door.

Across from me, Miley looked just as uncomfortable. Her eyes darted around the room, nervously.

"Jr! Spit it out!" Arnold looked a bit bored and amused at the same time.

Surprisingly, Jr actually crumbled. "It wasn't my fault!"

Miley sprang up. "Excuse me?!"

Oh boy…this is going to get interesting.

A bit surprised, Annie just sat quietly along with Topaz.

"What do you mean, 'It wasn't your fault?'" Miley hissed.

Jr shrank back a little. "Uh…I meant that it wasn't my fault that I fell for a lovely girl."

Miley glared daggers at Jr.

"A lovely fox," Jr amended.

"Oh…then why didn't you say that first?"

"I was desperate!"

"Hold it!" Annie threw up a time out sign. Slowly, she turned on Miley, "You're dating, my brother?!"

"You're dating Arnold!"

"That's different!"

"It is not. You kept it a secret just as we did."

Topaz nodded in understanding. "She's got a point there."

About that point, I lost track of the conversation.

A few moments later, Shadow had enough. "Enough!" He marched forward. "Your dating, the end. Now move on. We have bigger problems. Ari's want-to-be-killer is still out there and will strike again. Now we can't have this right now. Do you all understand?"

I think it's safe to say that my Mentor was angry. Quickly (a little too quick if you ask me) everyone nodded.

Shadow exhaled. "Good. Now let's get on to more important things."

Jr leaned next to Miley, "Yeah, like who's Nikki's boyfriend."

Miley sniggered.

Not sure why I got so mad at that. I think part of the problem was I was already angry at this shooter, and the whole 'boyfriend' thing made my blood boil.

Furious, I whirled around, "He's not my boyfriend!"

Miley looked a bit scared and ashamed, but I didn't really have the chance to apologize because at that exact moment…

Okay, my life's weird, but this was defiantly WEIRD.

A gray hedgehog fell out of the sky.

Nicole: Sure? Why not? Random hedgehog's falling from the sky! *folds arms*

Me: *shrugs* DW's idea. Say hello to her character.

Nicole: Hello strange hedgehog.

Me: Anyway, review please!

Nicole: This story just got weird…

Me: …How so? It's no weirder then you being Charity.

Nicole: *glares death daggers at me*

Me: *steps away* Umm…bye!