39 - Fluffy - 39

Empire City, Shopping District

Afternoon, 2:00 PM

Maybe Sonic shouldn't have talked so much crap, because now he was dreading it. Shadow almost literally dragged him to Empire City's shopping district, the most extravagant and overpriced area in the country, and he couldn't get himself out of this. Even when he tried to clam up to prevent his date from getting him anything, Shadow threatened that if the hero didn't find anything worth buying, he'd randomly buy something expensive for him anyway—regardless of what it was or if Sonic was interested in it or not. Sonic was cornered, there was nothing he could do. He pissed off his boyfriend and now he would suffer his wrath of egotistic generosity. Still, he could tell Shadow genuinely wanted to do this besides the fact that Sonic was upping him in terms of spending on a partner. He wanted to make him happy the same way he was making him happy, and that was very kind of him, but he couldn't handle this! He hated when loved ones spent money on him, it's why he threw absurd parties for them every once in a while. Right now he was pulling him in a nearby a large store by his tail, the blue one whining the entire time as they entered through the doors.

They heard gasps and felt starstruck eyes land on them as they traveled within the shop, but they ignored them. Sonic would actually love to run away and sign autographs just to escape this torture, but Shadow had a tight grip on his wrist. They passed by clothes, the grocery section, the entertainment aisle and even a section dedicated to holidays. When they finally got to a section that was void of customers, Shadow took the time to let go and face the blue hedgehog. He pointed his finger in his chest, causing Sonic to flinch. "Now that we're alone, I want specific answers about your likes and dislikes." He commanded firmly. "I don't want any stuttering or hesitation, you better give me clear cut responses. Understood?" He saw Sonic weakly nod. "Favorite color."

"B-Blue..." Sonic felt that one was obvious.

"Which shade?"

"Err, royal blue...? My least favorite color is probably a murky green."

"Favorite hobby."

What the hell was this, speed dating? They were beyond that. "Okay dude-" He felt his quill get pulled at painfully. "A-Alright, alright! Um," He looked around for a brief moment before answering nervously. "Drawing? Traditionally, I guess. Mixing music is fun too...I don't like swimming, obviously."

Shadow nodded in approval. "Noted. Favorite food."

"Bro, even Eggman knows that one." Sonic deadpanned with a blank stare. "I ain't sayin' it." He then thoughtfully decided to add to this answer. "But I will say that I hate anything vegan unless it's cooked by Amy. She's the only person in this world that can make that stuff taste good. Blegh."

"Hmph," The biohog supposed he could accept that answer. "Favorite snack."

Sonic had to think about that one for a second. "Hmm..." He tapped his finger to his chin. "I kinda eat almost anything but if I had to pick, I think cheese puffs. I don't really like plantain chips, though."

"Favorite genre of media."

Okay was he doing some kind of online quiz, or was he on a date with his boyfriend? He wasn't sure anymore. With a tired glare, Sonic reluctantly answered. "...Action, animation and comedy. I hate romance and documentaries-Shadow, what the hell are you doing right now?" He asked with squinted eyes. "Why are you polling me about my likes and dislikes like some simdate avatar? It's weird and it's kinda crampin' my mood right now."

Meanwhile, Shadow continued to nod with a satisfied expression. Excellent information that he would use and abuse later in their relationship when he least expected it. "I already figured out most of this data on my own, I just needed to fact check what I knew. And I'm happy to say," He gave Sonic a precarious smirk. "I was right about most things. Everything else I just didn't know, but I do now, and I'm going to take advantage of that." He seized Sonic's wrist again and began pulling him towards a specific area of the store, the younger hedgehog spewing several different types of excuses as to why Shadow shouldn't be doing this. "I'm not doing this just to one-up you, I'm doing this because I want to." He clarified firmly as they entered the art department. "I also know that you won't accept a gift without whining if you don't have an incentive, so I have a request for you." They walked past several art college students, who stared in shock with dropped jaws as to who just whisked by. They finally stopped in front of a selection of gradient and charcoal pencils. "But before I make that request, I need to know one last thing." Shadow said as he let Sonic go, who looked very troubled at the moment from all this. "What are you most skilled at with traditional art?"

Blushing, Sonic frowned. "I dunno man," He scratched behind his head, no one had ever asked him that before. "I do a little bit of everything. Tie dye, graffiti, gradients...I guess I could tell you what I do the most." He turned to eye the several packs of pricey professional art pencils hanging up on the shelves. "Even though I'm pretty good at it, I don't really have time to complete big projects like painting and using charcoal. I'm also not a thread or crafts guy, and I don't mess with digital stuff. Too complicated for me. The most I do on a regular basis," He then bent down to gaze carefully at the thin graphite pencils on sale. "Maybe once every couple weeks or once a month, would be sketching. It's quick, easy and there's barely any mess. I've got a couple of notebooks at home but eh," He picked up a pack in his hand. "Haven't had the time, recently. The last thing I did was that picture of Maria." He smiled a little. "Drawing her was fun, I really liked how it came out."

Shadow saw that he picked something up, watching him stand up straight as he looked over the 12-pack graphite pencils. "Is that what you want?" He asked softly.

That's when Sonic realized what he was doing and quickly moved to put it back. "N-No! No, not at all." Shadow caught his arm, stopping him from placing it back on the shelf. "...?"

"If you want it, I'll get it for you." His voice was gentler than before, and his grip was barely tight at all. "It's just a pack of pencils. I'll buy the world for you, if that's what you desire."

God damn it, he was doing that super romantic charming stuff again. "Shit..." Sonic ignored his own rapidly beating chest and refused. "Shadow, art stuff is way too upscale. I'm not-" He was silenced with a short kiss. "...!" His face was completely beet red from that. "I freakin' hate you sometimes..." Sonic hissed while half covering his face.

"Now that you're done complaining," Shadow took it upon himself to take the pack of graphite utensils from the shelf himself. "I'd like to make my request." He saw the price of the pencils were indeed stupidly exorbitant, but he didn't care. It was pennies to him as it was for Sonic. "I want you to draw me." He tapped his finger onto the pack. "With these." He turned around to look at the shelves opposite of the pencils, noticing that there were thankfully some sketchpads here. "Maybe..." He grasped a large sized sketchpad, one that should be big enough to cover someone's lap and then some. "Yes, this. I want you to draw me on fourteen by seventeen paper. That should be big enough." He handed it over to Sonic, who was stunned by this. He stared at the sketchpad with an unreadable expression. Shadow noticed his conflicted silence and said something he'd been wanting to say to him for a while. "That picture of Maria was beautiful, probably the best piece of art I've ever seen. It looks exactly like her, almost better than the real thing. If you can do that on a such a small piece of canvas, I'm curious to see what you can do with a bigger space. I know you'll resist if I just give it to you, so that's why I'm asking you to do this for me." His expression was honest. "Let me buy this for you, Sonic."

Damn it, he couldn't deny that handsome face anymore.

A quiet exhale released from the blue one before he closed his eyes. He then tucked the sketchpad under his arm, and took the pack of graphites from Shadow's hand. "...Okay," He replied with a quiet tone. "I'll do it, but only because you asked." He didn't look in Shadow's direction, and he could tell Sonic was a little shy at the moment. "I'll need more than this, though. I ran out of some stuff a while ago."

Glad that the hero was finally giving in, Shadow graciously offered to go and retrieve whatever else he needed. "Of course, we can get that too." He then watched as the blue one began walking on his own deeper into the aisle. He curiously followed him, and saw him glance over some rows of erasers. There were classic pink ones, but there were also grey ones and white ones...Was there a difference? "Err," Shadow felt like he was in the dark at the moment. "You need erasers?" Sonic completely ignored the pink and grey erasers, only checking out the white ones. "Won't any of them do?"

Sonic shook his head with a focused expression. "The pink ones are for writing with normie pencils, the grey ones are like putty. They're used for charcoal, they're called kneaded erasers. Don't need that right now." He spoke to Shadow dismissively, as if he was some kind of naive art student. Actually...That was kind of hot. He kept forgetting how attractive Sonic was when he was really honed in on something. It's why he was so horny when he was teaching him how to meditate with chaos energy, it just did something to him whenever he made that serious look. "No, no..." He mumbled. "That's for sandpaper, don't need that..." He then saw exactly what he was looking for. "I need plastic and hi-polymer." He concluded confidently, almost as if he was talking to himself. He took a few of the white erasers off the hooks and handed them over to Shadow without even looking or asking. All of a sudden, Sonic suddenly asked, "You want it colored or grayscale?"

Since when did he get in control of the date? Shadow was put off by this question. "I'm...unsure. What do you recommend?"

"For full body commissions with a traditional medium," He said as he stood back up to inspect more items. "I recommend grayscale. To me, color ruins the whole thing. Black and white keeps the beauty of the strokes and markings."

Traditional medium? Strokes and markings? Sonic did not talk that sophisticated. Was this the same moronic blue hedgehog from before? Shadow had no words, and he was very attracted at the moment. "...Oh."

"Plus, your physical color scheme is mostly monochromatic anyway." He gestured for Shadow to continue following him since he was ready to move on from this part of the aisle. "I'd rather embrace that than screw up the composition with unnecessary hues, it's pretty lame. I kinda colored Maria's picture, but it was with super light gradients. Didn't wanna mess up the foundation I made." He then made a difficult expression as he looked back and forth. "Where's the fixative sprays? Can't have it smudging when I'm done." He asked aloud before catching sight of the aforementioned item. "There they are." He walked over to another shelf of spray cans. Some of them were paint cans, and others had other solutions of chemicals. "Believe it or not, some people use hairspray instead of buying the legit stuff." He casually informed the GUN agent as he picked up a couple of cans. "It doesn't work as good though, and some sprays are better for paint than other dust-based mediums."

What was happening right now? At this point, Shadow was practically intimidated and highly aroused by how intelligently he was talking about this. "Do you..." He wasn't even sure how to talk about this. "...Need any paint cans for graffiti or...?"

Sonic shook his head once again. "Nah, I'm chillin' with the street art for the moment." He got what he needed, so he gestured for Shadow to follow him once more out of the aisle. It would take them a second to find the checkout counter, as the store's size was considerably large.

"How long have you been drawing?" Shadow asked peculiarly.

"Since I was little." The hero easily answered. "There's rocks on the ground that can be used as chalk, stuff that's brittle or sedimentary. Lil' me would randomly pick up random rocks, sharpen them and draw all over solid ground. Or Tails and I would make sand sculptures in Green Hill." He chuckled a little. "He'd always get so jealous at how big I would make the castles. When Amy and I were young, we'd make these little seashell necklaces." He smiled at the fond memories. "'Guess I always had a knack for creativity." He paused for a moment before turning to look at Shadow. "Hey," He said with a more excited tone. "You wanna buy me stuff, right?" He saw the biohog nod cautiously. "Weeeelllll, I did a little modeling for a sports brand a few months ago. There's a shop nearby selling its merchandise and I wanna see if they got my face hanging up somewhere. Plus, I need some new threads." He grinned. "Wanna check it out after we're done here?"

Shadow nodded, liking the idea of potentially seeing more photos of Sonic. "That's fine."

3:00 PM

Carrying plastic bags of the art supplies they bought earlier, the striped hedgehog spent perhaps ten minutes staring at an advertising stand. It held an official magazine photo of the blue hero, showcasing the athletic fits on sale. The way he smiled, the way his body was posed, it was a work of remarkable craftsmanship. Whoever took this image did a fantastic job. This was one of the pictures Rouge sent him, but seeing it on a larger scale was something else. He didn't wake up from his daydream until he felt a finger tap his shoulder. He saw that Sonic was giggling at him. "I know you're in love with me and everything, but you've been standing there for like, almost twenty minutes." He had a few articles of clothing in his arms with hangers and tags still attached to them. "Come here," He grasped his hand and traveled with him to the changing rooms in the back of the store. "I was gonna try some stuff out in the changing rooms, but I wanted to ask you to guard the door. I told ya, fans can get real handsy. There's a lot of creeps that hang out in places like this, too."

Blinking out of his daydream, Shadow agreed. "Of course, sorry. No one will get past me." He felt Sonic place a kiss on his cheek before heading inside one of the rooms. Shadow walked over and stood in front of it. While Sonic was changing, he took this time to check his holographics. He held up his wrist and tapped his ring, red holograms appearing above it. Good, no notifications. No news was good news. Then again, Shadow thought of something. Who knows how long it would take for them to return from that realm that Zonic spoke of, and Shadow's job technically still wasn't done. Infinite had escaped to another place, sure, but that didn't mean he was neutralized. No, his job would be completed when the bastard was stripped from his power and either locked up, or killed. If Zonic could somehow help them find Infinite and defeat him, this would take a whole lot longer than expected. This mission wasn't over and therefore, Shadow needed to notify Tower about this. He wouldn't give him specifics, but he would warn him that he may not be back for some time. Yes, that seemed like the most suitable action. A small transparent red keyboard appeared, and his fingers tapped away in the air to relay a message:

General Tower, SEA Shadow reporting. It has come to my attention that there may be a way to locate Infinite and the Phantom Ruby. If my suspicions are correct, along with Sonic the hedgehog, we will devise a plan to take him out for good. I fear the method in attempting to find him will be extensive, as we will not be present in this realm to find the answers we're looking for. With that said, our presence in Mobius will be barren. I will give consistent updates on my progress with any breakthrough found, and I will notify you and Team Dark about our findings immediately. I will complete any necessary paperwork to extend this case, and authorize my absence.

In a few seconds, Tower responded back.

That's a little concerning. What are the circumstances of this request of absence?

Shadow quickly responded: The details are still ambiguous even to me. Someone who's been able to travel between another realm and Mobius has been appearing in our world in secret. I conversed with them during Infinite's attack on Green Hill Zone, and they were able to not only heal Sonic of Infinite's corruption, but they were also willing to give answers about Infinite. This person does not live in our world, and requires my and Sonic's appearance elsewhere. They will only give us the data we need if those conditions are met.

He didn't want to tell Tower any further information than this. First, it was too confusing. Two, it had a lot to do with Sonic, which was none of the old man's business. He had to be careful with reporting to him.

Again, I don't like this. I can easily write this off as a top secret mission that requires you to be AWOL from GUN HQ for a while. Similar to what was done with E-123 Omega. If you have a chance at gathering information on this miscreant, then I am more than willing to allow you full permission to engage. However, with all due respect Shadow, you've already failed once before. That failure nearly cost you your life, wasted thousands of dollars in lawful protection, and caused panic throughout the city. I am not entirely assured in this decision.

A scowl planted itself on his muzzle. That was barely concern that he was showing, he was completely doubting his ability. Either way, he was insulted and he'd make him pay for that. Abraham, I think you've forgotten why I work for you in the first place: To protect the world she wanted to thrive. I will utilize any means necessary to make that happen, with or without you. I never needed GUN to protect the world, and I do not need them now. Therefore, I don't need your permission for anything that I do. I only report to you out of respect, but I could have easily ditched this communicator and disappeared on my own without telling you a thing. I understand your faith in me has waned due to recent events, but I am still the only person capable enough to find that bastard and bring him back kicking and screaming. This is my responsibility, and I will either arrest or eliminate Infinite by my own means. If you're truly that disappointed in my efforts and my next plan of action, I will gladly and personally hand over my badge to you in the next hour.

"Hmph." He awaited a response, which was taking a little longer than usual. Good. He wanted that old man to think long and hard about what he was trying to say. He may have been an old crone now, but Shadow could still see him as nothing but that troublemaking little boy from all those years ago. It'd be unwise to piss off someone who could severely weaken GUN's manpower by just simply putting in their two-week notice. He never needed GUN to protect what he cared about, and he didn't need their help with his endeavors in the slightest. If Tower had cold feet, then he should just cut Shadow off while things were peaceful. He had no time for this.

Finally, Tower replied.

However, this wasn't a simple holographic email, he put an audio clip along with it saying: "I understand, SEA Shadow. It...was not my intention to offend you. You've made great, valiant efforts to protect the people of this planet many times. It's why I gave you the promotion in the first place. If you are confident in this proposal, then there is nothing else I can do. You and I can make the necessary preparations for your absence, and you'll be on your own as requested until you return. I just...I only wish for your safe return. If something happened to you, well...It'd be a very dark day for all of us at GUN, and the United Federation."

That's the answer he wanted to hear, but...

Damn, now he felt slightly guilty. It'd only be right to respond back via an audio recording as well. "I appreciate your concern, Abraham. But you and I both know that it only takes one mistake for me to see my errors, and fix them accordingly. What happened before will not happen again. I will neutralize Infinite, and I will make this right. Mark my words."

After he ended that message, he lowered his wrist with a solemn expression. Did the old man think he still owed Shadow something? Well, perhaps he did, but he always sounded so sad whenever he spoke with the biohog alone. Maybe that's the self loathing Sonic kept trying to tell him about. It was different to see someone other than both himself or his lover doing so, so now he could clearly see what the hero meant. He mentally sighed, maybe he could try and meet up with the general more often outside of work hours. He couldn't deny that he...cared about him despite the mistakes he made. Shadow was no saint either, he had to respect that. Huh, Sonic was right.

He had more friends than he realized, if Abe would consider himself as such.

That's...exactly what Sonic was trying to show him with that party.

It worked.

Shadow's ear flicked at the sound of shuffling from the side. He turned to see that nobody was next to him, but then he looked upwards at the stall next to Sonic's. He saw white lights flashing from above it, and someone was peeking their head over the divider of the changing rooms. A few throbbing veins appeared on Shadow's head as he placed down their bags and quietly walked inside of the dressing room. As he went in, Sonic exited out with a new outfit. He was so happy and proud to show it off to Shadow, until he realized his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. "...? Shadow?" He looked around and saw their bags on the floor. He raised a brow and was going to bend over to pick it up, until he heard a bunch of whimpering and thumping in the dressing room next to the one he just walked out of. He slowly turned around to see the door bust open with a male Mobian koala getting thrown to the floor. A sweat drop planted itself onto Sonic's head. He was scared to know what happened in that stall.

The koala had a bloody nose and was attempting to sit up, until an air shoe planted itself harshly onto his back. Shadow had a smartphone in his hand, one that didn't belong to him. That's when Sonic connected the dots. Swiftly, the ultimate life form crushed the device in his hand and let it fall to the floor in a tiny pile of brutalized metal and plastic. "How many pictures did you take?" He asked before stomping his foot on the koala's back.

"T-Three...!" He choked out.

"You recorded him?"

"N-No-" Another bone shattering stomp. "I-I'm not lying, I swear!"

"Did you send any of the pictures you took?"

"I-I didn't get a chance to, no."

That's when Shadow narrowed his eyes down at the koala. "You've done this before, haven't you?" He knelt down and gripped the back of his collar, lifting him up in the air with a tight grip. "Are you stalking him?" He then slammed him against the wall. "Lie to me and you go straight to hell." He threatened with a seething, quiet tone.

The koala shook his head back and forth rapidly. "I'm not, I'm not! I just saw him going in the dressing room and I-I wanted to sell a few pictures!"

Sonic tilted his head and smiled absentmindedly while placing his fists on his hips. "Oh yeah, I remember you! You're that one guy who stole my socks out of my drawer." He then realized what he just said. "Oh gross, you're that one guy who stole my socks out of my drawer...Freakin' ew. You're the worst kind of ex."

Since Mobian males didn't wear much, that was basically equivalent to underwear. In summation, Shadow was now beyond pissed. "You stole his underwear, you fucking pervert." He snarled, nearly frothing at the mouth with sharpening quills.

"P-Please don't kill me, I won't bother him again. I'll get rid of his number, everything! I promise!"

Sonic winced in the background. "Dude, you still have my number when I personally told you to get rid of it? Ah geez-" He saw a spike in amber red chaos energy surging from Shadow's body. "Uh oh."

"Why would I kill you?" Shadow smiled manically. "I'd rather scrape the bone marrow out of your kneecaps with a rusted spoon, and watch you plead for merciful death."

Yikes—Okay, that was enough. Sonic simply walked over to the biohog and lightly pulled at the back of his jacket. "Alrighty hotshot," He placed his hands onto his shoulders and began to pull him away. "That's enough." He said gently with a soothing voice. Reluctantly, Shadow could feel his rage dissipate, and his grip in the koala's collar loosened. Finally, he let him go and watched the koala scramble to his feet before running out of the store while covering his bleeding face. He was almost faster than both hedgehogs for a minute there. He continued to rub his hands into Shadow's shoulders affectionately. "We're cool, you're cool. Nothing bad happened, I'm okay."

He could feel Shadow sigh tersely before placing his clenched fists at his sides. "...I should've killed him for that."

"Babe," Sonic said with a scolding tone. "You're better than that, no. Come on," He turned him around and presented himself to him. "Don't think about that creep anymore, look at me instead!" He grinned cheerfully. "Don't I look nice?" He posed with an arm behind his head. "I modeled for this one too, y'know~" Shit, Shadow almost forgot why they were even in here to begin with. He didn't even take the time to look at what he was wearing. When he finally took a good look, he was pleasantly surprised. He was wearing a black mid-riff revealing jacket that had dark blue trims and matching gloves. He wore matching boot sneakers, an entire outfit that was well worth it's price. It was all shiny and had some nice material. It was strange—Shadow literally saw this idiot naked so many times, and yet he almost found him more sexually attractive with clothes on. That made no sense. Sonic began to tug at the end of the jacket. "Dude, this is so thick. I don't think I could rip these." He tapped the tips of his shoes against the hardwood floor. "And the kicks are so comfy! I think these are comin' home with me," He looked at Shadow for approval. "What do you think? Looks nice, right?"

He was so happy-go-lucky and carefree, he didn't even care about the fact that he was literally just being harassed by an ex. Sonic said things like this happened to him many times before, was it really so easy for him to shrug it off just like that? Of course, that's just how Sonic was. He let nothing bother him, and if it did, he'd try his darndest not to let anyone know about it. He repressed a lot of emotions constantly and like Tails complained before, never talked about them or just avoided doing so. Shadow kept forgetting that. With a frown, Shadow just decided to go with it. "...Yeah." He said softly. "You look great, as always."

Sonic was ecstatic from his agreement and suddenly handed over a handful of clothing. "Okay, now you try these on. It's your turn, I wanna see. I wanna see!" He said with a hyperactive voice.

"But why-"

"Do it, do it!"

Sighing, Shadow just did as he was requested. "Fine." He slowly walked back in the dressing room and shut the door.

As he did so, Sonic's face fell and he made an annoyed groan. He pulled out his phone from his quills and began texting Rouge with irritating fingers.

yo. need u 2 get the drop on someone else for me.

oh no. another stalker blue? its been a while but consider it done, just give me a name.

ex. i got a name and deets. im on a date with shads so ill txt u later.

oh shit, did he get mad?

i deleted his number and blocked this asshole but hes still on my ass. weirdo was takin pictures of me in a dressing room at the mall so yeah. shadow was pissed. dont need anybody makin him mad like that so could ya handle this for me please? ill get you some fruits from angel island in exchange.

of course honey, i got you. get the pomegranates this time~

thanks rouge~

Maybe Knuckles and Amy were right, having a high body count while being a celebrity increased the chances of stalking and harassment significantly. He was so wrapped up in getting tail that he didn't think about the consequences until it was too late. Well, that's what he got for being young and dumb. Like he told Tails, they all still had a lot of growing up to do, Sonic included. He'd probably never screw around like that again, especially now that he was taken. He wished he learned this lesson a lot faster, because this was embarrassing. He didn't want Shadow to have to see that. What if he was offended or mad at him? That could have ruined the date entirely. He hated himself sometimes, he really did. He then ran his head through his quills, and clenched his teeth. He should have never given himself to anyone other than Shadow. Yeah he didn't know he'd fall in love, but why didn't he think about the consequences of when he would fall in love? Then again, maybe because he didn't think he could fall for someone...Damn it. Why did he throw himself around like a cheap rag? Was that all he was? Is that all he made himself out to be? God he was an idiot...

But no, he couldn't let Shadow see this side of him. Be cool, be chill. It was fine. He'd just...Deal with it later. Alone. Nothing to worry him about, he had his own problems. There was no sense in worrying about something stupid like this, he was an idiot as usual—end of story.

"..."

He sighed at himself.

The door to the dressing room opened to reveal the ultimate life form dressed in exactly what Sonic was wearing, except it was black and red instead of black and blue. He was looking over himself as he walked out, noticing what Sonic pulled. "If you wanted to match, you could have just said so." He said before glancing at the younger hedgehog.

Sonic was suddenly brimming with thrilling elation, steam blowing out of his nose and his tail wagging. "Ohmyfreakinggodyoulooksogood!"

...The hell did he say? Shadow squinted his eyes. "...Excuse me?" His pupils suddenly shrunk at white light being flashed in his face. Sonic was making several poses at mach speed and taking pictures with his phone of himself and Shadow. "Are you really taking pictures right now?" He asked skeptically. "Seriously?" He was kissed on the cheek, and another flash went off. Blushing, the biohog scowled. He hated this. Sonic grinned as he paced around, scrolling through his new pictures.

He was sure to make a nice album from that barrage of selfies. "Oh hell yeah, I can't wait to show Rouge."

Shadow was starting to regret offering to buy Sonic whatever he wanted. "Can we go now?"

39 - END - 39