Sonic the Hedgehog

Gratitude

"Perhaps we could spend our time doing something more productive," Shadow says, standing across from Rouge as she eyes an aisle of tops in varying colors and sizes.

"And do what exactly?" she asks, taking interest in a skin-tight black shirt with light purple decorative traces. "You saw the flyer, we can't exactly investigate this fight club until tonight. Might as well take some time to relax. Besides, we're in Starlight, loosen up will you?"

Inside the well-lit, fairly large shopping center, the three emerald hunters stand out like an unwashable stain does a white shirt. Passing by shoppers eye the three with fascination, and sometimes bewilderment. Like in Metropolis, Omega is the one their eyes always glue to, not that the machine takes much notice.

Rouge's eyes perk with interest as she pulls a grey, buttoned coat from the rack.

"Not really my color," she observes, placing it below neck height to see how it looks. "But it just speaks to me."

She turns to face her reluctant co-shoppers.

"What do you think, boys? Yay, or nay?"

"DO YOU SEEK HONESTY OR VALIDATION?"

"Ideally, both," she mumbles.

"ERROR. YOUR REQUEST IS CONTRADICTORY."

"Duly noted," she sighs, placing the coat back where she found it.

"Did you even bring any money with you?" Shadow asks as the pair resume walking through the store.

"Honey, I ALWAYS have money on me," she grins. "And even if I didn't, you act as if that would stop me. Hey, look!"

The smiling bat approaches a vertical rack of sunglasses and surveys it for a brief moment before finding the right one. She picks it up, walks up to Shadow, and before he has a chance to refuse, she slips the temples of the eyewear onto his ears.

"Perfect!' she says, taking a step back to admire the black hedgehog with his new and improved fashion sense. Even through the black lens shrouding his eyes, it's very clear he's not amused. "Personally, I see this as a massive improvement. Fits with your whole dark vibe."

"Tch, please," Shadow says, crossing his arms. "I assure you, I don't-"

"IS THAT SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?!" a young girl shouts, startling Rouge and Shadow.

To their right is a young, brown bunny barreling through the store with her wolf friend who appears around the same age following closely behind.

"Oh wow, it's really you!" the bunny says in excitement, stopping in front of the black hedgehog. The wolf catches up to his friend, whose eyes dazzle with excitement as she looks up at her hero.

"You look so much cooler in person!" the wolf remarks.

Shadow notices Rouge suppress a laugh.

"Are you kids color blind? You've mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh, we're sorry, mister!" the girl says, visibly surprised.

"Are you guys doing cosplay?" the boy asks.

"HOW DARE YOU, YOU TINY, UNDEVELOPED, FLESHLING. I AM E-123 OMEGA. PROUD SOLDIER OF THE GLORIOUS DOCTOR EGG-"

"Yes!!" Rouge interrupts, frantically nodding her head. "We're cosplayers, kid. The theme today was classic literature. If you may excuse us, we're late for our group meetup."

Annoyed, Rouge takes E-123 Omega's hand and leads him out of the store, with Shadow taking his sunglasses off and tossing them to the floor.

Now outside, the group makes it about ten feet from the store when Rouge finally lets go of Omega's hand.

"For artificial intelligence, you really are as dumb as a bag of rocks, aren't you, Omega?" she grunts.

"I WILL NOT STAND FOR SUCH A BASELESS ATTACK ON MY CHARACTER."

Sighing, Rouge facepalms. It's only after hearing a familiar jingle that she looks up, eyes wide. She could identify that obnoxiously catchy tune from anywhere. Just a short distance in front of them on the sidewalk is a parked, white truck, with an impressively constructed ice cream cone mounted on the top of the roof for display. The line to the window of the truck is only made up of two teenagers and one adult.

Remembering something, Rouge hurries over to the truck and finds a spot in line, earning a sigh from Shadow who leans on the storefront of a cafe'.

"She's quite the shopper," he says. "She just ate not too long ago."

"HOW CURIOUS. YOU ORGANICS NEED SUBSTNANCE TO SURVIVE, AND YET, IT CAN ONLY BE PAID FOR THROUGH MEANS OF CURRENCY. WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU HAVE NONE?"

"You starve."

"SO THE STRONG SURVIVE AND THE WEAK PERISH. I HAVE A NEWFOUND APPRECIATION FOR MOBIAN CULTURE."

After only a few minutes, Rouge begins making her way back to the others, with a large ice cream cone in hand.

"A fan of frozen treats, bat?" Shadow asks.

"It's for you," she says, extending it to Shadow.

This catches him off guard. He unfolds his arms and stares at Rouge, taken back by the offer.

"And the name is Rouge," she corrects once again.

"For me?" Shadow asks, accepting the cone in his gloved hand. He looks at it, unsure of where he's supposed to start.

"You go top to bottom," Rouge says, recognizing his confused expression. "I wanted to get something more eye-catching, but vanilla is not too bad of a starting point."

Hesitantly, Shadow leans in and takes a small bite of the unfamiliar, cold dessert. At first, he doesn't know what to think of it. It's such a bizarrely sweet flavor. However, after taking another, the creamy richness sets in, as does the amazing texture. He looks back at Rouge and smiles.

"Thank you, Rouge."

…