The Sonic gang are waiting outside the elementary school for the children to exit, as per usual. Several of them are keeping a look out for the Babylonians. Thus far, there isn`t any sign of them.

Since there is some time yet before the kids come out of the school, Sonic pulls Amy aside where they could talk without interruption from the others. Shadow notices Amy walking off with Sonic and watches them from a distance with his arms folded. Espio`s curiosity begins to rise. Most of the time, Shadow doesn`t seem interested in anything that goes on around him but Amy and Sonic walking off has definitely caught his attention.

Still in field sight of the rest of the gang, Sonic and Amy stop and face one another. Amy feels a little uneasy by Sonic`s serious look. It just isn`t like him to look like that. She nervously asks him what he wanted to talk to her about. Sonic takes a deep breath and then answers her with his own question,"What is up with Shadow?"

Amy is now getting annoyed by being confronted with questions about Shadow. She sighs, folds her arms and then says,"What do you mean, Sonic?"

"What are you doing with such a dangerous character?"

"We`ve been friends for years."

"It`s not like you to hang around with people that could get you hurt."

"Shadow isn`t going to hurt me."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, Sonic, I`m absolutely positive about that."

The sounds of the children bolting out of the elementary school interrupt Sonic and Amy from their conversation. They walk back over to the rest of the group to greet Tails, Cream and Charmy when they come out. Both agree to not say a word to the others about this conversation until they get things sorted out.

Instead of going to the mall today like they usually do, everyone in the Sonic gang are heading to their homes. The homework load today is greater than usual and it is important to have such things taken care of. Cream and Charmy are taken home while Tails remains with Sonic. The last of the girls to be dropped off at their home is Amy. Most of the guys have gone off to their homes. So now, it is just Amy, Sonic, Shadow and Tails walking. They are heading for Amy`s home. They had planned to just drop her off but Sonic decided to hang out at her house today but then got a little frustrated that Shadow decided to do the same thing.

The four of them are in Amy`s living room. Sonic, Amy and Shadow sit on the couch in that order while Tails occupies the floor. For the most part, everyone is silent except for Tails who occasionally asks Sonic and Amy for help on his homework. Sonic sighs as he does his homework. When he asked Amy if he could do homework with her, he had planned on questioning her more on Shadow. But with Shadow here that task is impossible now. Sonic shifts his eyes to the side and looks around Amy at Shadow, trying his best to not draw attention to himself. He scowls a bit at Shadow. This guy has ruined a lot of things for Sonic now, and Sonic`s limited patience is drawing thin. Sonic turns back to his homework. His further prodding on Amy will have to wait.

Somewhere in between all the homework, the four take a break. Amy brings out for everyone drinks and home-baked cookies. These are chocolate chip. Amy likes to bake things for her friends, especially since they all enjoy it so much. Sonic accepts his drink and eats a few of the cookies. Tails is trying to eat as many cookies as he can. Shadow at first would only take the drink but with a little gentle insisting from Amy, he finally eats a cookie. After he eats it, Shadow has a small smile on his face and he quietly remarks that the cookie tasted delicious. Sonic gives Amy his classic smile and thumbs up as his approval over her baking skills. However, Tails has a mouth full of cookies when he tries to say something that Amy could only guess was him joining in on complimenting her.

After the cookies and drinks, the four return to their homework job.

Sadly, the homework for the three teens takes them a long time to complete it. Tails finishes his homework and spends some time playing before he passes out in one of the chairs. It is almost 10pm by the time the homework for the teens is finished. Amy closes her math book and exhales with fatigue,"Finally...That`s over with..."

Sonic leans his head back on the couch and closes his eyes,"This is ridiculous..."

Shadow has his arms folded and he turns to Amy,"What is the purpose of all this work we just completed?"

Amy sets her book on the coffee table as she answers him,"The school thinks that if we do all this work at home instead of in the school, we would learn more things in a shorter period of time."

Sonic lifts his head back up and his face shows his weariness quite clearly,"It`s really, though, just a waste of time."

Shadow looks back at the coffee table before him for a few moments of contemplative silence. Then he speaks up again,"It`s useless."

Amy looks at Shadow,"What?"

Shadow looks back at Amy,"This information they are trying to teach us. Most of it is useless."

Sonic begins to stand up from the couch,"Yeah, I have yet to see how knowing everything about the Romeo and Juliet play could ever do me any good."

Sonic collects Tails in his arms,"Well, I need to put this little guy to bed."

Amy yawns and stretches,"I should get to bed, too."

Amy opens up the door for Sonic since he has his hands too full to do it himself,"Good night, Sonic."

Sonic stops at the door entranceway and turns to Amy,"Good night, Amy. Come on, Shadow."

Shadow stands up from the couch,"Fine."

Sonic steps outside carrying Tails in his arms. Shadow comes to the doorway and Amy grabs his wrist to stop him. Shadow stops and looks over his shoulder down at Amy. She looks up at him and smiles,"Good night, Shadow."

He nods his head to her,"Good night, Amy."

Amy releases his wrist and Shadow walks out of her house. Amy closes the door after giving the guys a final wave goodbye.

Sonic is about to walk home with Tails when the shuffling of lots of shoes catches his attention. He turns around and sees a lot of GUN soldiers approaching Shadow cautiously. Sonic blinks. Why would the military be interested in Shadow? He can`t quite hear everything that is being said but his ears do catch the GUN soldiers calling him "Project Shadow." Project? That is definitely something big. Sonic takes a step back as he watches the scene before him.

One man that is larger than the soldiers comes forward towards Shadow. Unlike the nervous soldiers, this man seems fearless and a little angry. He locks eyes with Shadow and says something to Shadow. Shadow, as usual, seems disinterested and doesn`t seem to pay the man much attention. The last words this man gives Shadow is shouting to him that he needs to watch his step and something about three strikes. The group of GUN soldiers then begin to back away from Shadow and leave the scene. Shadow then walks to the park as though nothing has happened.

Sonic`s mouth is gaped open. Shadow must be in trouble with the government and obviously seems to have had some kind of history with them.

This was just a warning...

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