After reading all of your awesome reviews and thinking about it, I give you a second chapter! This is shorter compared to the first one but I hope you guys will like it ;)

NOTE: I OWN NOTHING! ALL CHARACTERS ARE FROM SEGA AND PARAMOUNT PICTURES!

Sonic and Shadow woke up at around 10 AM. Tom had already gone out to do his daily patrol around town. Maddie cooked them a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast with fruit before heading to the clinic. The two hedgehogs were free to explore the town and chat with the people.

Crazy Carl (or, as Sonic liked to call him, "Super Observant Carl") was fascinated with Shadow's red stripes. He'd noticed that Sonic's blue fur was pretty uniform in terms of color and the direction each quill pointed downward. But Shadow's dark fur and quills were streaked with red, the red stripes marking the edges of his eyes and running down his arms and legs. Not to mention the fact that four of Shadow's quill bunches seemed to defy gravity.

"That run in the family? The red stripes and upturned quills?" he asked Shadow as they hung out on his front porch.

"Uhm…" Shadow chewed at his lip. "Kind of…?" he replied, not quite meeting the elderly man's eyes. There were some things about him that only he and Sonic could know.

Crazy Carl hummed, stroking his beard. Beside him, Sonic tested out the binoculars the guy had given him. "So, Carl, what've you been doing these past few months? Can't be chasing after me 'cause you already know who I am," he said with a smile.

"Looking for the Thunderbird, Sonic." Carl looked up at the sky. "Huge bird. Bigger than a vulture. Wingspan of 15 to 20 feet. Folks often mistake the sound of its wingbeats for thunder, but I know there's gotta be one flying around here. Been settin' up cameras in the woods. You and Shadow wanna check 'em out?" he asked the two hedgehogs.

"Bird-watching sounds nice." Shadow grabbed his own set of binoculars while Sonic whooped, "Nature walk!"

With Carl leading the way, both hedgehogs trekked into the forest. They kept their binoculars trained to the skies and checked each of the cameras Carl had set up.

"Okay, that's the fourth one…" Sonic mumbled as he took out the memory card from one of Carl's cameras. A rustling in the tree canopy made him grab his binoculars. "Hang on, I think I got something… Oh, no, wait. That's a squirrel," he muttered.

Shadow climbed up another tree, deftly hoisting himself up the branches until he reached the top. He scanned the area and kept his ears tuned. No thunder. No sign of a Thunderbird.

"Have you tried looking for it during a rainstorm?" he hollered down to Carl.

"Haven't done that since I got a pretty bad case of pneumonia! You might be on to something, though, boy!" Carl hollered back.

While they didn't find a Thunderbird, Shadow and Sonic were able to find some neat treasures. Like a small nest filled with eggs that they left undisturbed. Shadow was surprised and delighted to see a live Earth deer drinking at a stream.

"Pretty impressive sight, huh?" Carl grinned as he and the two hedgehogs watched from behind some bushes.

Shadow nodded, watching the deer with wide eyes. It was a young male, its antlers just beginning to grow. It lifted its head up then, to the black hedgehog's amazement, looked in his direction. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments. Then, with a graceful toss of its head, the deer turned around and bounded into the depths of the forest.

"That was fun," Shadow said as they left Carl's house later that day.

"Glad you're enjoying your time here, Shads," Sonic said, slinging his arm over Shadow's shoulder.

"Everyone's so nice… And there's no major crime being committed whatsoever. You had a peaceful life here." Shadow looked at Sonic, his cheerful expression morphing into a concerned one. "What made you decide to go back?" he asked.

Sonic sighed, looking around at all the townsfolk going about their day as they walked down the streets. "I didn't want to go back. Not at first. Then Tails told me that our world was dying. And… I just had to do something. Sure, Longclaw told me that people will always want to steal my power and to never stop running. But I couldn't stop thinking about all the good people back there on Mobius who were getting hurt because the world was dying around them. I didn't know them but they needed help, and I wanted to help them. And then, of course, Eggman decided to take up residence. I have to keep him from coming back here. I'm not letting him return to Earth so he can destroy it," he said with a determined gleam in his eyes. Then he looked down, his voice going real quiet that Shadow could barely hear it.

"I want my parents to be safe from the Doctor's clutches. I can't let him come back here otherwise they'll get hurt…"

Shadow smiled and pressed his lips to Sonic's cheek. "Don't worry, Blue. The Doctor's not gonna lay a finger on you or them as long as I'm around," he reassured the Blue Blur.

Sonic chuckled and nuzzled his cheek against Shadow's.

They met up with Tom at the police station to grab a quick bite then sped over to the speed trap to race.

"Come on, Shads! Is that all you got?!" Sonic laughed as he dashed past his boyfriend.

"Not even close, Faker!" Shadow shouted. He didn't miss the excited gleam in Sonic's eyes and activated his jet skates roaring to life. He flashed Sonic a devilish grin as he sped past him then whooped as he took the lead.

But then another sound entered Shadow's ears, accompanying the whooshing of the wind. It sounded like engines roaring…

"Shadow!"

Suddenly Sonic caught up to him and grabbed him by the arm then yanked him to the side of the road. Shadow opened his mouth to protest against what he thought was his boyfriend cheating but was quickly silenced by the nervous look on Sonic's face. Keeping his mouth shut, Shadow followed Sonic to a small shrub. Hiding behind it, the two hedgehogs watched as a dozen motorcycles sped down the road.

'Bikers…' Shadow thought, noticing the black leather and spiffed-up bikes.

"Time to lay low," Sonic mumbled. He knew the drill. As soon as outsiders came to Green Hills, he had to stay hidden. The townspeople usually alerted him, Tom, and Maddie whenever strangers from out of town came to visit. He watched the motorbikes speed off towards town, breathing a sigh of relief.

Good. No one had seen him and Shadow racing on the road earlier. Now came the hard part: sneaking back into town.

"We're gonna have to take the long way through the woods if we wanna get back to the house," Sonic said to Shadow.

Shadow, to his confusion, smiled. "Or we could just use this," the Ultimate Lifeform told him, reaching into his quills and pulling out a Chaos Emerald.

Sonic stared at the jewel in his boyfriend's palm, mouth agape. "You had one this whole time? Seriously?" he asked, giving Shadow a deadpan look.

"You didn't ask for it so I didn't say anything." Shadow tossed the Chaos Emerald from one hand to the other. He pulled Sonic closer to him and smirked. "Ready?"

Shaking his head, Sonic chuckled and nodded. Holding on to Shadow, he felt the familiar pull of the Emerald's power.

"Chaos Control!"

There was a brilliant flash of light. Then, all of a sudden, their surroundings changed from dry scrublands to the cozy interiors of Sonic's room. Sonic quickly bolted over to the skylight and closed it then drew the curtains. 'Can't be too careful…' he thought as he peeped through the window. Once he was sure no government agents were walking up to the house's front porch, he let himself relax.

"Okay. Coast is clear. Ooh, I should probably call Mom and Dad. Let them know we're staying indoors for the rest of today," he said to Shadow before dashing downstairs.

Shadow chuckled, making himself comfortable on the beanbag. Five minutes later, Sonic returned, smiling.

"Good news! Donut Lord and Pretzel Lady are letting us have free rein over the house until they get back this afternoon," Sonic informed him, grabbing a comic book from his personal collection.

Shadow hummed as Sonic sat squished next to him, his eyes drifting occasionally to what the latter was reading. They played ping-pong next, laughing as they trash-talked each other while they played, then headed downstairs to make popcorn and heat up some Hot Pockets. They sat on the couch and, after playing three rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors, decided to watch The Fast and the Furious.

Halfway through the movie, the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Sonic said, picking up the phone. "Wachowski Residence. Sonic speaking."

"H-Hey, Sonic…" Wade Whipple's voice answered, sounding nervous. "Your Dad and I are kind of held up here at the station. A biker gang's been tearing up the streets, disturbing the peace. But he told me to call you and tell you that he's doing fine. He's just gonna be a little late coming home from work today and… Oh crap, Maddie's out there with him and she's really laying into the gang leader…" he muttered.

Sonic's quills bristled. He had to get out there! "Okay, Wade. Thanks for letting me know. Okay, gotta go! Totally not gonna go out of the house to check on my parents, byyyyyeee!" he said before hanging up.

"Sonic? Everything okay?" Shadow asked, peering over from the couch.

"Those bikers we saw earlier are at the station harassing my parents. They need back-up," Sonic told him, looking up and down at Shadow. He ran upstairs and came back three seconds later with some clothes. "We're gonna need to blend in. Try this one," he said, handing Shadow a black hoodie.

Pulling the hood up to hide his quills, Shadow glanced at Sonic who was donning a large red polo shirt. For some reason, his boyfriend decided to wear a large red cowboy hat to hide his bright blue quills. Like that would make him inconspicuous…

But it was kind of adorable.

"All right. Move out, Shads!" Sonic grinned his signature cocky grin and sped out of the house.

Shadow couldn't help but shake his head in amusement before following suit.

'So much for a lazy Saturday,' Tom thought as he stared down at the head of the biker gang. Beside him, Maddie was glaring with all the intensity of all the fires of hell.

The guy currently seething at him was a familiar face from the Piston Pit. And he did not look happy to find out that Tom was the sheriff of the town he and his crew decided to tear through.

"Utter disregard for town property." Tom nodded his head to the skid marks the gang's motorbikes had left on the roads. "Exceeding speed limits that could have led to colliding with pedestrians… and attempted duck slaughter," he added, gesturing to the small duck family that was currently being herded away from the scene by Crazy Carl and a few of the neighborhood kids.

"What have you got to say for yourselves?" Tom folded his arms across his chest.

"We're passin' through, sheriff. You don't have to arrest us. We're not gonna be here long," One of the bikers piped up.

"We saw you and a couple of your friends run several stoplights. You could have hit somebody!" Maddie told them.

"Not our fault folk around here are slow." The lead biker shrugged.

Sonic and Shadow slowed down as the police station came into view. Spotting his parents, Sonic jogged over to them and stood in front of the lead biker.

"You and Dr. Wachowski all right, sheriff? These guys bothering you?" Sonic asked his father, glaring at the man in front of him.

"You… I remember you." The lead biker looked down at the poorly-disguised hedgehog. "Hipster," he snarled.

Sonic cocked his head at him. His green eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh! Ol' Bear Head! Hey, buddy! Long time, no see!" He grinned cockily at him. Seeing the bikers assembled around Bear Head, he snickered. "Wow, how long has it been? Like, seven years? Hey, remember that time I tried to break a beer bottle over your head?" he managed to say before he was roughly grabbed by the collar of his shirt.

But before Bear Head could move another muscle, before Tom and Maddie could make a move to protect their son, a black blur came charging in.

Sonic yelped as Shadow grabbed him away from Bear Head. They teleported to a safe spot behind Maddie and Tom. Then Shadow teleported again, reappearing before Bear Head. Around him, the time had slowed down to a crawl and everything was frozen.

Cracking his knuckles, Shadow got to work. There were 12 motorcycles in total, with 11 of them having riders. His enhanced strength came in handy. Zipping from one bike to the next, Shadow carried and arranged them into a tidy cluster. He dashed into the police station next. He knew where Wade kept a coil of rope for emergencies. Running back outside, pausing for a split second to adjust Sonic's hat for him, Shadow tied the bikers and their bikes together. Then he returned to his original spot before Bear Head.

And punched the guy right in the jaw.

Everything went back into real-time the moment Shadow's fist met Bear Head's face. The bikers yelled and cursed as they fell over on top of another as they tried to escape from the rope. Tom and Maddie lunged for Sonic only to find their son standing behind them.

Bear Head groaned, glaring at Shadow before the hard edge left his eyes. The black hedgehog's fierce glare was enough to make Bear Head gulp.

"If I untie your crew now, will you guys leave and never come back?" Shadow asked him coolly, although every fiber of his being wanted nothing more than to teach the bastard a lesson.

Bear Head nodded, cradling his broken jaw.

"Good answer." Shadow zipped over to Bear Head's crew and freed them and their bikes. He glared at Bear Head as he hobbled over to his motorcycle then held up a hand to stop him.

"You break your promise, you come back here and bother these people again, you come back and so much as lay a finger on that guy…" Shadow pointed to Sonic, who was watching the entire scene unfolding with wide eyes.

Bear Head felt like he was two seconds away from wetting himself as Shadow glared at him.

"…I will make sure that you'll end up in the ICU. Got that?" Shadow snarled.

Bear Head scrambled to get his bike started and sped away, followed by the rest of his crew.

Sonic went to Shadow's side. For a moment, he watched the bikers leave Green Hills. As the rumble of motorcycles faded away, he turned to Shadow and smiled.

"That was so cool! Shads, you really showed Bear Head who's boss!" He whooped, running around his boyfriend in giddy circles.

"Just trying to help your people out. No big deal," Shadow said, blushing.

"No big deal? Shadow, you just saved the whole town from those jerks!" Sonic cheered then embraced the Ultimate Lifeform. "And you protected my family… Thank you…" he whispered.

Shadow chuckled and hugged him back. "Anything for you, Blue," he murmured.

Shadow's heroics were the talk of the town that night. The Ultimate Lifeform was bashful as people went up to thank him. Sonic was more than glad to tell kids more about Shadow's heroic deeds back on Mobius, only slightly exaggerating the details.

Tom went over to Shadow, the black hedgehog grateful to get away from all the attention. "You take care of my son, okay, Shadow?" he asked with a fond smile.

"I will, Sir," Shadow replied, smiling back at the sheriff.

"Come on, Mr. Ultimate Lifeform. No need to be formal. Call me Tom."

"All right… Tom."

It was safe to say that, on that day, Shadow the Hedgehog officially became a part of the Wachowski family.

The next day was Sonic and Shadow's last day on Earth. After lunch, the two hedgehogs would return to Mobius.

Maddie woke up early and found Shadow relaxing on the open balcony. The black hedgehog happily accepted her invitation to join her in doing yoga. For the next hour, the two stretched and went through the different poses in comfortable silence.

"Hey, Shadow. I want to ask you a few things," Maddie grunted as she got up from her mat, having just finished her yoga routine.

"Sure thing, Maddie. Shoot," Shadow replied, holding his arms out to the sides parallel to the floor in the Warrior II pose. Sonic had convinced him to try yoga with him before and it was pretty relaxing. But Sonic was currently upstairs in his room, sleeping, while Tom was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for everyone.

Maddie rolled up her mat and set it aside. "You and Sonic have been dating for almost three years, right?" she asked.

Shadow nodded, getting in one final stretch before straightening up. Maddie's brown eyes gazed into his crimson orbs.

"Have you two ever talked about taking the next step?" Maddie asked him, tilting her head curiously.

'The next step…' Shadow's eyes widened. "Oh, you mean… marriage?" he squeaked, his muzzle turning as red as his stripes.

"Yeah. I mean, is it allowed back on Mobius?" Maddie asked him.

"I-It is. We've talked about it in passing. But we never entered a serious discussion about it…" Twiddling his thumbs, Shadow looked down at his feet. "Our friends back on Mobius are actually betting on which of the two of us is going to propose to the other, in fact," he admitted, eliciting a chuckle from Maddie.

Marrying Sonic… Being Sonic's husband…

Shadow quite liked the idea.

With a shy smile, he glanced at Maddie and asked, "Would you and Tom give me your blessing for when I propose to him someday?"

"Of course, sweetie," Maddie readily replied, going over to Shadow and giving him a hug. "It's clear to Tom and I that you love Sonic. And if being with you makes him happy, then we're more than glad to see the two of you happy together," she told him.

"Thank you, Maddie," Shadow mumbled, his cheeks still red.

The two then heard Tom announcing that breakfast was ready, followed by the sound of Ozzie's barking.

"Ozzie, wait up!"

Shadow and Maddie looked at each other and smiled before heading back inside to have breakfast with the rest of the family.

After lunch and grabbing a few souvenirs and saying their goodbyes to the townsfolk, Sonic and Shadow were ready to go back to Mobius.

"Hey, maybe the next time I visit… you two can come with me to Mobius for a while. Tails and I have been wanting to show you Green Hill Zone for ages," Sonic offered, giving Ozzie one last belly rub before embracing his parents.

"Green Hill Zone, huh? Is it a sleepy little town where Maddie and I can relax?" Tom asked teasingly, already familiar with Sonic's tales of the colorful zone filled with loop-de-loops and bounce pads from previous visits.

"Well… there are a few spots where you guys can enjoy some peace and quiet. Most of the time though, it's total chaos out there." Sonic laughed, hugging his parents tightly.

"Well, it sounds wonderful. Maybe we will next time, sweetheart," Maddie replied, kissing Sonic on the forehead.

Sonic sighed, melting into his parents' embrace. "I'll try to come and visit more often," he promised.

"And we'll be here waiting, buddy." Tom ruffled his quills as Shadow joined them.

"All right, Blue. Time to go," Shadow told his boyfriend who nodded. Taking out a ring, Shadow tossed it into the air. A portal opened, showing the flower field he and Sonic had tended to ever since they became a couple.

"Hey." Tom lightly patted Shadow on the back. "Keep him out of trouble for me 'kay?" he requested.

"Aye aye, Donut Lord," Shadow replied, playfully saluting. Beside him, Sonic laughed at hearing him use Tom's nickname.

Tom rolled his eyes then lowered his voice so Sonic wouldn't hear. "So Maddie mentioned something to me about you possibly proposing to my son someday… When's that 'someday' going to be?" he asked.

Shadow felt his cheeks grow warm. For a minute, he didn't say anything. Then, looking Tom in the eye, he mumbled, "Oh, you know… soon."

Chuckling, Tom ruffled his quills. "All right. Let us know when," he said.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Bye, Ozzie! See you around!" Sonic waved goodbye to his family before he and Shadow held hands. They jumped through the portal, landing among the flowers.

"Bye, Sonic!" Maddie and Tom waved back, beaming, as the portal started to close.

Once the portal closed, the two hedgehogs left the field hand-in-hand.

"Oh, hey, Shads… What did Dad ask you earlier before we left?" Sonic suddenly asked, making his boyfriend's slightly red face turn even redder.

"Huh?! O-Oh… N-Nothing…" Shadow stuttered, averting his eyes from Sonic's gaze.

Sonic blinked, confused, then shrugged. Then he smiled and nuzzled Shadow's cheek. "My parents really like you, Shads," he told the Ultimate Lifeform.

"I like them, too…" Shadow said, looking at Sonic and smiling gently. "Can I come with you the next time you visit them?" he asked.

"Of course! You are part of the family now, Shadow! They'll be glad to see you." Sonic grinned, kissing Shadow's cheek.

Shadow chuckled. Then he grinned mischievously. "Race you to Station Square!" he challenged Sonic, who grinned back.

"Oh, you're on! 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Ah, well this was a good chapter to write. It's definitely shorter than the previous one but I'm glad with how it turned out.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and wished for a continuation. Hope you guys like it. Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!

-GuardianDragon98