FOR YOUR HEART-BOOM

☆Ch36

"You call this 'slowpoke'?" Shadow playfully scoffed, as he quickly teleported in front of Sonic and caused him skid to a halt super hastily, so they wouldn't collide with each other.
"No, I call this cheating! Not fair, Shadow!" Sonic crossed his arms and tapped the ground with his foot while pouting, which made Shadow slightly grin.
"Deal with it, hedgehog. I can- OOF!"
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" none other but the paranoid badger instantly attacked the black hedgehog out nowhere, tackling him to the ground she began a wrestling session with him, whilst he struggled against her.
"Get off me!" Shadow yelled angrily and teleported away, only to re-appear behind her, hovering in the air thanks to his airboots.
"He's a demon!" Sticks pointed her finger at him and Sonic had enough, so he stood in front of her while offering her his hand to help her onto her feet.
"Sticks, calm down! He wasn't hurting me!" he hissed seriously and let go of her hand, when he lifted her onto her feet.
"And manipulated you to thinking he wasn't hurting you," Sticks twisted the words, not even a bit trusting the hybrid, as she brushed some dust off of her shoulders.
"Hi, guys, what's going- whoaaa, Shadow? What are you doing here?" Tails flew over using his namesakes after hearing some commotion from this side of the village. Shadow looked at Tails and rolled his eyes in response.
"I did not even mean to be here at all," he retorted quietly.
"Tails! Hey, uh, let me explain!" Sonic piped up before anyone else could say anything further, especially after noticing Sticks with open mouth ready to speak. Tails landed on the ground, so did Shadow while crossing his arms.
"Shadow and I had the talk and let's say, we managed to get on good terms with each other and well, I made him chase after me in, ya know, playful manner...? Heh," Sonic felt a little nervous and chuckled humorlessly in the end of the sentence, trying to laugh the awkwardness off. Tails listened carefully and then visibly relaxed as he nodded in understanding.
"I see. Well, welcome back, Shadow" he looked at the hybrid next to him.
"I didn't ask for acceptance," Shadow grumbled in response.
"Oh, uh.. anyways, Sonic, Amy is going to throw a birthday party tomorrow, will you come?" Tails rather quickly changed the topic, so Shadow wouldn't feel pressured any further. Sticks kept glaring at the ebony hybrid, whilst he did the same to her.

"I thought Amy's birthday is in a month?" Sonic raised a brow.
"It's for Zooey, hehe, it's her birthday tomorrow and she has never attended to her own birthday party before, so Amy suggested to throw one for her," Tails elaborated while rubbing his head, deep down feeling happy to do this for his loving partner.
"Aaaah, I see how it is. In that case, count me in!" Sonic gave his bro a soft wink while smiling at him before looking at Shadow.
"Wanna come with?" he asked with hope lacing his tone, which got crashed into pieces by the ebony hedgehog right after.
"Nah, I'll pass," was the hybrid's expected response, but despite such fact Sonic still felt a little disappointed.
"Come on, Shads. It wouldn't kill you to join us for once," the blue hero tried to convince Shadow to attend to the party tomorrow.
"Don't push my mood! I said no and that's it!" Shadow growled in response while frowning at the hedgehog.
"Finally a Shadow I can agree with!" Sticks piped up, happy to hear, that Shadow himself does not wish to be part of it. After all, Sticks isn't participating either, not being really the 'party person' herself.

"Sticks!" Tails and Sonic both yelled her name unisono, not liking the way she treated the hybrid. Sticks shrugged nonchalantly while grinning.
"What, he himself does not wish to join you, guys, so I just agree with him in that matter," she explained herself and Knuckles finally arrived too now.
"Shadow! I kindly plead you to keep a safe distance from my dearest friend!" he tried to speak politely to him and even wore a bow-tie along with a formal clothes, which made everyone question him, including Shadow, who just raised his brow in confusion, not taking Knuckles' 'polite threat' seriously at all.
"Uhhh, Knux, the party is tomorrow, not today," Tails stated while scratching the spot behind his ear.
"Come again?" Knuckles raised a brow and rubbed the top of his head.
"Yeah, today there are just some preparations, but the party itself is going to occur tomorrow," Tails elaborated and Knuckles dramatically gripped the sides of his head.
"You're confusing me!!" he yelled out of desperation before rushing to his shack, where he could change back to his original attire, completely forgetting about the ebony hybrid standing there with the others.