Chapter 37: An Escape from Society:

About a week after the previous chapter, dawn was creeping over the neighborhood where Sonic and his friends lived. A thin ray of sunlight poked through the deep purple sky and gleamed through the skylight above Shadow and Rouge's room, where Shadow was soundly sleeping. He rolled over and extended his arms, expecting Rouge to be there, but she wasn't. It was then that the black hedgehog woke up, realizing he was alone.

"Rouge?" He asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

He looked around. The doors to the bedroom and closet were closed, just as they had been when they went to bed last night, and the bathroom door was wide open with the light out. As Shadow was pondering over what Rouge could possibly be up to at this absurd hour, the door suddenly opened and in stepped who he was wondering about. Rouge was carrying a large silvery duffel bag over her left shoulder and a stack of six bacon pancakes topped with a large pat of butter and maple syrup in her right hand. She was wearing the yoga pants she had bought at the mall previously, though a button-down jean shirt was present instead of the tube top. All of the buttons on the shirt were undone except for two in the middle, revealing much cleavage, and the bottom part had been tied up to expose her midriff.

"Did I die and go to heaven?" Shadow asked, his eyes slowly moving up along his wife's figure before stopping at the breakfast.

"Oh, you wish!" Rouge replied, "But on a serious note, this is just nothing more than a belated honeymoon/escape from current life for a while."

Shadow thought for a moment.

"That's actually a great idea. We could use something like that." He said, slowly overcoming his sleepiness, "We both could."

Within the next hour or so, the couple had packed all the supplies for the camping trip into a small trailer. Amy and Blaze were standing just outside the front door, each wearing a robe that matched their usual daytime outfits, sleep in their eyes.

"You have gotta be fucking kidding me!" Amy commented.

"You're seriously gonna drag that thing all the way out to Mobius National Park with nothing but a motorcycle?" Blaze added.

"Well, we would've gone by plane, but the airlines are kid-powered." Rouge replied.

{A cutaway began, showing a blond child of around 5 or 6 playing in his front yard. He was running around erratically with a remote in his hand, callously moving the dual analog sticks around and pressing random buttons. "Yeah! This is awesome!" He cheered, jerking the left control stick sharply to the right and moving the right control stick sharply downward, "Nyeum! Nyeum! Hahaha!" Suddenly, a large shadow came over the entire front yard and most of the suburban home. "Oh no! A storm is coming! Do a barrel roll!" The child yelled, unaware that this was caused by his own actions. In the process of making the the plane twist though, both analog sticks on the remote controller snapped, rendering the plane unable to steer. The shadow that covered the child's lawn became even darker, and soon, the deafening sounds of jet turbines could be heard as well. The kid made a mouth-noise in an attempt to replicate a walkie-talkie being activated. "Hello passengers, this is your captain speaking! I'm afraid our trip to Adabat has been cut short, since the plane has been hit by a severe thunderstorm and we're about to crash! Everyone prepare for impact! We'll be crashing in five...four...three...two...!" Suddenly, the gigantic passenger plane landed right onto the house, destroying everything in its blast radius, and causing the cutaway to end in a blinding flash of light.}

"And besides! It's got the horsepower, so no worries!" Shadow lied, as Rouge sat behind him and clung onto his back.

The girls shrugged and went back into the mansion. After a wait of a few seconds, Shadow revved up the engine on his motorcycle to give the illusion that he was actually going to use it, and after looking around once again, he pulled a chaos emerald out of Hammerspace, its florescent green energy serving as the brightest thing among the dark and misty front yard.

"Chaos CONTROL!" He shouted, holding the emerald above his head.

A blinding flash enveloped the couple and soon they were gone, only to suddenly reappear in their chosen destination.

"...Nah, just for show!" Shadow said, putting the emerald away and parking his motorcycle next to a tree.

Mobius National Park was an expansive grassy field that (if not for Shadow's Chaos Control) would have taken the couple 6 hours by drive. It was known from around the world for many attributes, including its lush and rare plant life, clean and crystal-clear lakes and waterfalls, and rugged mountains. The park was also known as a good habitat for wild and endangered Animal Friends, as well as a common destination for tourists and biologists, though most people only came during the summer. Currently, it was springtime, and the park was empty. Without a soul around, Rouge and Shadow got off the motorcycle and started unpacking the trailer, which could hold a surprising amount of stuff, despite its relatively small outward appearance. For these two, the park was anything but unfamiliar, as they had celebrated Sonic's birthday here years ago. Camp was set up right near the very table which Sonic's party had taken place at, and afterwards both of them stood barefoot on the grass, admiring the silent scenery beneath the sunrise as Shadow discretely wrapped his arm around his curvaceous spouse.

"Just think, Shadow: two weeks together in one of the most beautiful locations in the world, and we have the whole place to ourselves!" Rouge exclaimed.

"I know! No friends, no family, no GUN commanders..." Shadow replied.

"...no paparazzi." Rouge continued.

"Yup!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Rouge asked.

The two immediately went off to enjoy the seclusion and wonders of the National Park.