Hello guys. I'll apologize for taking so long, but I hope you come to enjoy this chapter. It's just that my job consumes quite a lot of my time, and whenever I have any free time I decide to rest, since it's pretty exausting. But anyway, I'll try to write more, so for now just sit down and enjoy!

Chapter 5: The meeting.

Blaze sighed in annoyance as she struggled to get a table clean. No matter how much she wiped it with a wet piece of cloth, some sticky (now dry) liquid refused to be removed, and after a whole minute wiping a single spot, she finally managed to finish her task of cleaning the tables. She wiped some sweat from her forehead. She didn't expect the job to be so tiring, but she couldn't deny that she was enjoying herself. It was way better than her usual boring routine of doing nothing in her castle. Not exactly 'nothing', but comparing her duties as ruling her kingdom and serving some clients, the latter was much easier and enjoying than a stack of papers.

But at that particular day, Blaze was angry. She wasn't feeling like burning everything to the ground, but she wasn't in a good mood. A few days ago she was supposed to have a meeting with Amy and everyone else, but at last minute the pink hedgehog called to reschedule the meeting to Friday, which would be today, at the current day. Blaze should be happpier, but she had a good reason not to. Blaze made sure to tell Amy that she was in hurry and that it was important, but she was so angry that she didn't even pay attention to Amy's excuse. Now her kingdom would have to wait even more time for her. And that made her terribly uneasy and worried, not to mention angered.

Not just that, but Shadow was also getting on her nerves. A few days ago she was wondering what kind of person he was, and by now she was sure that if the sin of Pride had an incarnation, that would be him. Whevener he could, he said things like 'I'm the ultimate life form', or 'Nothing is impossible for me', or even 'There's nothing anyone here can do that I cannot do better.' Not just that, but even though he always did things perfectly, the smug smirk that always showed in his face right afterwards often gave her the desire to punch him and break his teeth for good. What angered her the most, though, was the way he spoke: like as if he being great was natural, like as if it was obvious. He spoke with such calmness when making a smug comment that it seemed like he wasn't bragging to piss off anyone (even though with was working perfectly with Blaze), but rather for the single reason that he was great and that it was a fact.

Despite his ego, she found him to be a great person, but never dared to tell him so it wouldn't boost even more his pride. He was actually very dedicated to his job, which was respectable. He gave orders like a strict militar captain: calm and precise, yet with authority in his voice that obliged people to obey. He was also very polite when not bragging and she could see he often tried his best at being sociable with customers and his staff, like Zeff wanted him to be. Unfortunately for him, though, it was difficult and she found amusement at seeing him struggle to be nice. The staff always bickered at how strong Shadow was, and for a second she considered if he was as strong as he said, but she convinced herself that the power he claimed to have was just more ego talk.

"I'm done with the tables." She told Shadow after releasing an exausted sigh. He was carefully cutting some beef as he looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"Good. Go get some rest then." He answered, refocusing his attention on the large piece of meat. She took that as a hint that he didn't want to be disturbed again. After grabbing herself a glass of water, she let herself rest as she sat down on a chair at the employees's room, a.k.a kitchen. She looked at the time as she gulped down the water.

"It's getting late... Don't tell me they're not coming?" Blaze shook her head from the thought. She didn't need any more stress than from today's day of work. Eventually Shadow appeared next to her and sat down. He scratched his forehead.

"Where are they?" He asked.

Blaze sighed in annoyance. "I don't know."

Silence.

Shadow frowned. He wasn't as worried as her about this whole thing, but he hated having to wait for something or someone. Waiting for Sonic of all people to show up wasn't exactly the way he'd pass his time, but he was being forced to it and was now just as stressed as Blaze. Maybe not as much, but still stressed. He felt like going for a smoke, but knew he couldn't. He was still on working duty, and also he respected the people around him that didn't smoke. So he'd have to wait until he was home and far from Blaze for his usual smoke. And hell, how it pained him.

"Do you think they're coming?" Blaze's voice took Shadow awat from his thoughts of murdering a certain blue hedgehog. He slowly turned to her direction, only to find her staring at the ground with an unreadable expression. He shrugged.

"Beats me." He honestly said. He couldn't expect much from Sonic, and even if he didn't, it wouldn't change the fact that Sonic was, at times, the most unrealiable person in the planet. Sighing, he got up and started cleaning up the dishes. Eventually Blaze got up too and started helping him, much to his surprise and curiosity.

"I'll help you out." She said as she picked the first plate and threw water on it.

"Suit yourself." He said.

She glanced at his through the corner of her eye"Am I getting a 'thank you' by the end of this?" She teased.

Shadow raised an eyebrown at her and smirked. "It is in your best interest to assist me. I'm sure you'll be fine without one."

She rolled her eyes, giggling. "Yeah, sure. As if the 'ultimate life form' even needed any help to begin with, right?"

"You took the words right off my mouth." Both chuckled as they focused their attention back to their piles of plates and worked in total silence. Only 20 minutes later, when they were done, that Shadow muttered more words.

"I suppose I should thank you." He maintained his usual smirk, getting in return a sarcastic look from the purple cat.

"Wow, I got the 'ultimate life form's gratitude'. This is the happiest day of my life." She teased as she laughed

"It should be, you know. You got to work together with a legend, and very few people get to do that."

She rolled her eyes once more. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Legends."

Shadow was glad she was starting to feel better. He could tell she was stressed the whole week, and her smile was finally starting to return. She let out an annoyed sigh as she removed the cleaning gloves. "Do you think they'll come?"

Shadow looked at her in suprise. She suddenly looked very melancholic, even for him. He approached her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "They gave their word, so they'll make it this time. If they don't..."

Blaze looked at him for some moments then slowly nodded. She flashed him a weak smile. "I'll go back to work."

Nodding, Shadow removed his own gloves and left for his own duties.

After three hours, Shadow was clenching his fists as he glanced at the wall clock. He nearly broke a glass he was holding, so he placed it on the counter before it was smashed to pieces. Sighing, he glanced at the sad Blaze sweeping the floor. Somehow it pained him everytime she stopped what she was doing to look at the front door. Whenever the doors opened and the small bell ringed to inform that clients have appeared, she would stop whatever she was doing to look. And would always disappointedly go back to what she was doing, since it was never Sonic.

Another table got empty, as the couple occuppying it finally got up to leave. Shadow noticed how empty the restaurant was. But that was normal, since it was getting late. Shadow sighed as he struggled not to pull out a cigarette and smoke it. He stared at Blaze in silence as she silently worked to get her mind out from a certain subject. Shadow was about to approach her and say something when he heard familiar voices. Turning around, he saw from the kitchen window some guests he really wish that weren't there, but he still managed to reach Blaze before she disappeared from his view.

"They're here." He told her, and immediately saw the change of emotions in her expression as she turned to him

"Really?" She didn't even wait for an answer as she hurried for the kitchen window and saw the familiar figures at the front door.

They were looking around with confused expressions in their faces, most likely looking for her. Amy even pulled her cellphone, probably to call Blaze and ask where she was. She could swear she heard someone say 'She's not here'. One of them motioned for them to leave, but Blaze soon left the kitchen and approached everyone.

"Hey, guys." She said, bringing everyone's attention to her.

Amy's eyes widened in surprise at seeing her friend in a dress. A maid's dress. Her surprise mixed with her joy and her happiness and the result was a surprise death hug at Blaze. "Oh my god, Blaze! I haven't seen you in so long! You look so good on that dress!"

Smiling, the cat pushed away from the hug and stood face to face with her pink friend. "It's good to see you too, Amy."

"Yo, Blaze!" A familiar loud voice greeted her, and Blaze turned to see none other than Sonic, with Tails, Cream and Knuckles right next to him. He eyed her from head to toe with surprise, but managed to hug her before asking the question on everyone's mind. "What's with the get-up? You working here?"

"It's great to see you Sonic. I thought you wouldn't come." Blaze rolled her eyes. "And yes, I'm working here..."

"Of course we'd come, Blaze." Amy patted Blaze's back. "We're sorry that we're late though. Some things happened..." Amy, Tails and Cream glared at Sonic and Knuckles for some reason, while both just embarrasedly looked down and shrugged.

"It's ok. I'm just glad that you came." Blaze smiled. Despite everything, she was feeling happy. She was happy to see everyone, and even happier because she'd get what she came here for. "Can we talk now?" She asked.

"Of course, Blaze. Lead us to our table, if you may" Sonic smiled at her, while she just giggled and escorted them to a table next to the wall. Everyone sat down, while she stood up.

"Well, before everything, will you guys be having anything? I can take your orders." Blaze said, already pulling a note pad from her dress's pocket. Unsurprisingly, everyone had their orders of drinks, and Blaze quickly wrote them down before bowing. "I'll be back soon with your orders."

"Take your time, Blaze!" Tails offered a polite smile before turning his attention to Cream. Blaze then hurriedly left them talking between themselves before entering the kitchen. She was already on to their drinks when Shadow suddenly appeared next to her.

He noticed she was getting drinks. "I take it that they ordered it?"

"Yeah." Blaze responded, sounding cheerier than usual. "I'll take these for them and then we'll finally talk. You'll be joining us?"

Shadow hesitated for some moments. "...Sure. I'll be there shortly."

Blaze nodded and left the kitchen with everyone's orders, leaving Shadow behind. They were all laughing to themselves when Blaze appeared, and soon she was the center of everyone's attention.

"Thanks Blaze. You look great on that dress!" Amy commented as she picked her juice.

"No kidding. How long've you been working here?" Sonic asked as he took a sip of his glass of beer.

Blaze handed Knuckles his own beer and then turned to Sonic. "I started here on Monday." She then turned to Amy as she handed Tails and Cream their orders. "And thanks for the comment, Amy. I don't really like wearing this stuff, if you ask me." Blaze smiled as Amy started giggling.

"That's written all over your face." Everyone laughed for a while, and Amy offered for Blaze to sit into the empty chair next to her. Blaze politely obliged, until Tails raised his hand.

"...Yes?" Blaze raised an eyebrown, confused.

The small fox seemed troubled to find some words. "Blaze, I think this is a stupid question since you work here... but... did you get to know someone called-"

"Shadow!" Sonic exclaimed. Everyone turned to the black hedgehog, who approached them with his usual frown. Without saying anything, Shadow pulled a chair from another table and sat next to Blaze. Finally, he just nodded and greeted everyone at once with a bored "Hm."

"Nevermind..." Tails said as he finally opened his can of juice. Everyone greeted Shadow individually and finally Sonic turned to Blaze.

"Well, I think we're all here. Blaze?" He motioned for the cat to speak. Breathing heavily, Blaze finally calmed down and then faced the multiple stares directed at her. She got herself comfortable before speaking.

"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone that came here. Believe me, I wouldn't call everyone here if it wasn't a very serious matter. I hate involving people in my problems, but this time... I really need help."

Sonic suddenly had a concerned expression. "It's ok, Blaze. You can count on us. What's going on?" The blue hero asked.

"I'll try to tell you everything with as much details as possible, but without taking much from our times." She started. "Well... I... Most of you already know, but a few probably don't. Anyway, I came from another dimension, and in that realm, I am the queen and the chosen guardian of the Sol emeralds."

"...What the hell? Another dimension? Queen? Sol Emeralds...? Who the hell is she?" Shadow thought to himself as he tried to absorb the informations. If what she said was true, a lot of things would make sense, like the fact that she didn't have a home or the fact she didn't see Sonic very much, even though they claimed to be friends, for example. Yet, that would prove that Shadow knew nothing about the girl that has been living with him, and somehow that made him uneasy, as if he should be on defensive for some reason. Yet he silently listened to her.

Blaze took a deep breath and kept talking. "Similar to the emeralds you have in your dimension -whose name I don't remember- , the Sol emeralds are jewels with enormous power within them. There are seven in total, and together they can grant unlimited power to whoever has them. As their guardian, I have them in my possession all the time but..."

Blaze closed her eyes and took another breath. Everyone seemed aprehensive. "I'm sorry. As I was saying, they are with me all the time, but there's someone in my dimension who's interested in the emeralds and their power, and is constantly after them."

"Eggman Nega." Sonic muttered. Blaze nodded at him. Shadow raised an eyebrown. Every word she said was making him even more confused. As if reading his mind, she spoke again.

"Eggman Nega is like a counterpart from the Eggman in your dimension. He's a... very capable scientist, and he's always inventing and creating robots to go after me and claim the emeralds for himself. Not very different from this Eggman, from what I recall. But... After some time without attacking my castle, he suddenly invaded with an absurd army of robots. There were countless robots, all of them with all kinds of weapons, and I was rendered powerless against them. My friend, Silver, and my own army also failed to keep up with them. I had no other choice but to run away with the emeralds to this dimension."

Blaze's voice started getting weaker. Everyone could tell she'd cry soon, and Amy soon approached her chair to Blaze's and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I know that as a ruler that was cowardly of me and... that my people were counting on me, but... If I had let that power fall in Nega's hands... There's no telling what he would do." The tears finally started running across her face, but she was quick to wipe them and try to maintain a serious expression.

"There's not a day that I spend in this dimension that I don't regret coming here. Please don't get me wrong, I really like coming here... But my people need me right now, and here I am, hiding like a coward. I hate myself for it, because I know that at this exact moment, Nega is in control of my kingdom, and there's nothing that I or anyone from my dimension can do to stop him. That's why..." She slowly raised her head to everyone's direction. "I need your help. I need... To protect my people."

There was a deadly silence as Blaze finished her words and went back to letting tears escape her eyes. As much as she tried to remain composed, she was clearly struggling to do so, and her shoulders started shaking and her face threatened to make crying faces. Amy suddenly hugged the sobbing cat while Shadow silently studied her.

At first he had a few doubts that her story was real, but now he wasn't so sure. He couldn't think of a reason why she would lie, and everyone else seemed to trust her. Still, it was hard to accept all of a sudden that his waitress was from another dimension. Not just that, but a queen. Still, Shadow had a strange certainty that she was telling the truth, and somehow the sight of her trying not to cry was, at the same time, amusing and painful to him. He admired her stubborness in remaining strong, but for some odd reason, seeing her sad made his heart ache. "What's going on with me...? I don't even have a heart... What's with this pain?"

Shadow was taken back from his reveries when Sonic got up all of a sudden. He had a very serious expression, and his fists were clenched.

"Don't worry. I'll help you, Blaze." He said, with seriousness that was new to everyone.

"I'll help too." Tails soon got up as well.

"Count me in" It was Knuckles getting up this time.

Cream and Amy also got up, but instead of saying anything, they just nodded at Blaze with a determined face. Blaze felt a sudden urge to cry, this time out of happiness. She turned to Shadow, who remained silent and sitting down. Soon, many gazes found their way to his direction, and he ended up closing his eyes.

"Leave this to me." He said, not getting up or changing his serious expression. Yet this single statement gave her a lot of reassurance. She smiled at him as she finally felt unable to keep holding her tears back. Sonic approached her and hugged her with one arm, all the while offering his usual smile.

"Don't worry Blaze, if we work together we'll get rid of Nega in no time!" He said, his usual confidence reassuring the cat even more, who was now helplessly crying. "Now, why don't we celebrate our reunion?" The blue hedgehog said as he raised his glass of beer. Soon, others also lifted their glasses and they touched each other with a loud cling.

While everyone enjoyed each other's company, Shadow suddenly got up and adjusted his clothes.

"Where ya going, Shads?" Sonic asked offering a friendly smile. "Back to the boring work?"

Shadow, however, just grunted at the blue hero. "That's none of your concern faker." He then turned his back at everyone and left for the kitchen. Blaze looked at him, then at her friends, then at him again. She felt uncertain if she should stay or if she should follow him and go back to work. She figured she should go with him. After all, what kind of employee sits around with customers and has fun with them while everyone else stuggle in the kitchen?

"Wait, Shadow! I'm coming back too." She said. She then motioned that she'd get up to leave too, but Shadow stopped on his tracks and slightly turned back.

"No. I'll let you stay and do whatever you want with them." He said, already turning back to the kitchen.

"But-"

"It's ok. Just have fun with them, or whatever." He gave her his usual smug smirk. "You should be thankful that I'm in a good mood today."

She maintained her uncertain expression for a few moments before sighing and relaxing her body. She then turned to Shadow with a forced smile.

"Are you sure it's ok...?"

"Yes."

She flashed him a smile before bowing slightly "Thanks, Shadow..." She sat back at her place. The last thing Shadow saw before hurrying back to the kitchen was Sonic hugging Blaze with one arm, while the others at the table stared happily at them.

Shadow closed the kitchen doors behind him and sighed. He couldn't really understand why, but he felt strange. He still wasn't used to seeing them, much less to being considered their friend. He had a lot on his head, and barely focused on what he was doing. His thoughts wandered from Sonic, to Eggman, to himself and, finally, to Blaze. Could she really be a queen? Did she really come from another dimension? What were those Sol emeralds? There were so many questions in his head that he could feel his mood changing. And it wasn't to a better one.

But there was something else bothering him. Something he couldn't quite explain, but he knew it had something to do with Blaze. He felt weird as he remembered Sonic hugging her, and for some reason he felt like punching the blue hero. "No surprise there... I always feel like beating that faker up. But..." Shadow grunted as he tried to focus on the pans in front of him. He stared emotionlessly at the boiling red sauce, watching in silence as the surface of it was full of bubbles. He got a spoon got a small taste of the sauce before turning to one of the cooks.

"It needs more salt."

"Yes, Mr. Shadow." Without wasting time, the cook hurried to the counter and got a bag of salt. Shadow watched every move he did, which only made the cook a bit more nervous. But for some reason, today of all times, Shadow didn't feel like watching newbies and scaring them like usual. When the cook accidently put too much salt and nearly ruined the sauce, Shadow started to get angry.

Before he could yell at the man, however, somethign caught his attention. He saw someone familiar on the back door's windows.

"What the-...?" Shadow questioned himself and, without second thoughts, his legs started moving on their own. On his way, he picked a random used order and started writing something on it. He then approached Zeff.

"I have something to do, so I'm leaving."

"Then go, midget. I don't need you in this kitchen." Zeff smirked at him, while Shadow simply grunted and handed him the small piece of paper.

"Do this for me if I don't come back."

Zeff looked at the paper with confusion, but Shadow was already gone.

Before he knew, he was already outside of the restaurant. He looked around and soon spotted the same silhouette from before, covering herself with a hooded cape. But from the looks of it, the silhouette was running from him.

"Hey, wait!" Shadow snarled as the person started to run. He followed right after, not bothering to use his full speed. The person then turned into an empty alley, but when Shadow did the same, the person wasn't there.

"Where did-" Before Shadow could finish that question, he heard a noise from above, and he saw that the person was now at the top. Hissing, Shadow jumped and kicked a wall, lauching himself to another wall. He kept doing so until he was at the same spot he saw the mysterious person. But of course, she wasn't there anymore. Instead, she was a few meters away, jumping from one roof to another. Shadow followed, but as he jumped to one building, the person was already at another.

Eventually they were both at the top of one building, and there were no others to jump to. Shadow approached the person with anger, but was surprised when two large wings appeared from the person's back and she flew away.

"Are you kidding me." Shadow muttered to himself, boiling with anger.

Now far from him, the person dodged a few incoming builings as she flew, and eventually she found a safe place to land. Now, much to her surprise, she found a very angered hedgehog standing right in front of her.

"You got the nerve to make me use my powers to chase you. Now tell me what this is about, Rouge!" Shadow roughly pushed the person's hood from her face. Yet, what he found wasn't a person at all.

"What the-" Shadow stared in confusion at the metallic version of his friend Rouge, trying to figure out what was going on. The robot stared at him right back, with glowing pixeled green eyes. A certain voice brought understanding to him.

"Heeeehehehehe. It's been a long time, eh, Shadow? Did you like my robot?" The dark hedgehog turned back to find none other than Eggman himself, floating with the help of one of his machines.

Shadow's expression had 'displeased' written all over it. "Eggman." He said cooly. The fat doctor frowned.

"Is that how you treat your beloved doctor after so long? After all the sadness I've been through when I thought you were dead? After all the-"

"Cut the bullshit, Eggman!" Shadow hissed, still quite angry from before. His tone made Eggman flinch. "Just tell me what you want, because I'm not in the mood for any more games!" The hedgehog yelled, yellow electricity running through his body.

After a moment recovering, Eggman adjusted himself of his flying machine and tried to adopt a serious tone. "Eh... Ahem, very well then... I'll go straight to business."

"You better." The hedgehog crossed his arms, maintaining his angered expression. The doctor frowned at his creation's arrogance, but ignored it.

"You see Shadow... I need you to ally with me."

Shadow got suspicious "It's just as Rouge said... He's up to something..."

"What for?" The hedgehog asked.

Eggman started playing with his mustache. A devious grin on his face "I'm very close, Shadow. I finally came up with a plan so that I could finally conquer this world! But for that to happen, I need you help. I assure you that not even Sonic would be able to stop us. Not with the secret card I have in hand."

"What are you talking about." Shadow demanded. Somehow that talk felt different from the other times. For some reason, Shadow actually believed Eggman was planning something dangerous, specially after that talk with Rouge.

"I cannot give you the details unless you agree to join me. So, my dear Shadow, are you in or not?

Shadow frowned. "Not interested."

Eggman stared at Shadow in silence, before letting out a loud sigh and looking at the hedgehog with disappointment.

"How unfortunate. However, I don't think I can accept that answer. You could be a problem to me in the future..." Eggman's expression suddenly turned darker, and Shadow immediately got defensive. What he wasn't expecting, though, was an attack from behind.

"URGH!" Shadow groaned in pain as he got impaled on his back, mentally cursing himself from forgetting about the robot behind him. He stumbled forward, bringing his arm to the weapon on his back and pushed it out. It turned out it wasn't a weapon, but a very large needle. And from the weird green substance inside, Shadow knew he had been injected with something.

"Eggman... you...!" Shadow tried to get up, but suddenly his body felt ten times heavier and he fell to his knees. He widened his eyes, pushing the ground with his hand so that he wouldn't fall completely. With difficulty, he raised his head so he could face a grinning Eggman. "What... have you done... to me?"

Eggman feigned ignorance, shrugging. "What's wrong Shadow? Are you feeling unwell? Need me to call an ambulance? Hahahaha!" Eggman got himself into a fit of hysterical laughter. "Just give up, Shadow! No one is here to save you now!"

"I don't need anyone else...!" Pushing his weakened body to it's limits, Shadow punched the ground, forcing himself up and cracking the floor. "I'll make... you pay for this!" He hissed, panting as he struggled with all his might not to fall.

Eggman smiled with malice to him. "We'll see about that." He then turned to the robot behind Shadow "Metal Rouge?"

Almost forgetting about the robot once again, Shadow tried to turn back, but what met him was a hard mettallic fist to his face, which sent him flying several meters and crumpling to the ground like mincemeat. He coughed some blood, forcing himself up again. Before he could react, the robot was already next to him delivering another blow, sending him away again. This time, however, before he could fall to the ground the robot had already reached him, delivering a powerful kick upwards, sending Shadow several meters from the ground. Once again, before he could do anything, the robot was already next to him again, and this time it did a powerful blow downwards using both hands, sending Shadow down at an amazing speed, only to fall down on the street with so much force that a large cloud of dust formed around him.

Eggman and the robot landed near the place Shadow fell, and as the cloud subsided, it revealed the hedgehog laying on a large crater, grunting in pain but too wounded and weakened to move.

"I see you're still alive." Eggman stated. "That was to be expected since my grandfather made you immortal. But..." Eggman's evil smile returned "You're not healing so soon."

Shadow slowly opened his eyes. His vision was slightly blurred, and everything was spinning. Even so, he still managed to gather the strenght to stand, even if with great difficulty.

"You can still stand? I must say, I'm impressed. Your will power hasn't changed a bit. But It's about time I knock you out." Eggman once again turned to his robot. "Do it."

The robot simply extended his arm and suddenly it started to deconstruct itself. It was, in a matter of seconds, turned into a cannon, which was aimed at Shadow. Shadow's eyes widened when green energy suddenly started to form inside of the robot's cannon. The loud noise of energy being charged echoed in the empty streets, and it only grew louder and the light itself became brighter and bigger. Soon the light was already enough to illuminate the entire area they were.

"Goodbye, Shadow!" Eggman said and soon his floating machine enveloped him into a hard iron ball, protecting him from the large blast that was to come.

"Move dammit! Move! I can't lose here, not to him!" Shadow yelled to himself on his mind, but he couldn't move an inch. He was putting all he had into standing out of pride, so moving was totally out of question. His body was petrified, and soon he came to understand that he wasn't escaping from that.

But he didn't care. He knew he wouldn't die. He knew Eggman wouldn't capture him so easily. The dark hedgehog stared emotionlessly at the blinding light. For some reason, memories kept flashing on his head. His memories in the Ark, memories with faker and the others, memories with black doom, memories at his restaurant and, finally, Blaze came to his mind once more. Something like a smile appeared on his face.

"Hmph... bring it then..." Shadow muttered, and seconds later a large ball of light found it's way to him...

"W-Whoa... did you guys hear that?" Tails asked, trying to look outside of the window. Amy and quite a lot more people at the restaurant did the same.

"I wonder what was that?" The pink hedgehog asked, her heart still beating fast since she totally wasn't prepared for that loud noise, consequently being scared to death for a few seconds.

"That sounded like an explosion..." Sonic said. "I should go check it out. Someone might have been injured."

"Come on. That sounded more like a thunder to me. Look at how cloudy the sky is. It's probably just going to rain soon." Knuckles said, somewhat annoyed that everyone made such a big deal out of a noise.

"It sounded like an explosion to me, so I'll check it out. Bout time for the restaurant to close anyway, right Blaze?" Sonic immediately looked at the clock, prompting Blaze to do the same.

"Y-Yeah..."

"So, I'm off. See you later guys!" Sonic was about to speed off when he reminded something. "Oh yeah, you're coming with me Tails. Or else you'll have no one to take you home!"

"But I don't want to g-" Before he could finish, Sonic grabbed his hand and dashed out of the restaurant, leaving only a blue streak behind. The others at the table sighed.

"That Sonic..." Amy sighed. "He wasn't sure if it was an explosion and even so he went there... What a hero...!" The pink hedgehog spoke to herself, while the others just sweatdropped.

Blaze looked outside of the window with uncertainty on her face. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this...?" She asked herself

"I'll go check on Shadow for a while. He might be needing me in the kitchen." She told the others.

Knuckles shrugged "He gave you a break, why would you want to go back there and work?"

"Shut up Knuckles!" Amy frowned, then offered a sweet smile to Blaze. "Go ahead Blaze, we'll be right here."

Nodding, the cat got up and entered the kitchen. After some time scanning it, she noticed a certain someone wasn't present.

"Excuse me, Chef Zeff." She approached her boss, who looked at her with amusement.

"Well, if it isn't Blaze. I told you already, there's no need to be so formal towards me." He smiled. "Shadow told me he gave you a free day, so don't worry. You've been doing a great job so I have nothing to complain."

Blaze felt happy at those words. "T-Thanks. I means a lot to me."

Zeff shouted a random order to some cooks. "Haha, no problem, my dear. Now, is there something you need from me?

"Actually, I was wondering if you saw Shadow? He doesn't seem to be here."

Blaze could swear she saw Zeff's expresion to darken. She had never actually seen that man serious, and that face only raised her anxiety.

"About that..." He started. Blaze gulped. She wasn't sure why, but something deep inside her was telling her that something wasn't well after all.

End of Chapter 5

Well, this is it for now. Sorry again for taking so long. Please don't forget to review!