Silver Heritage

Sonic's Plan

       The rain continued to pour in heavy torrents, as the band of heroes remained inside. They had finished eating, and the sink was piled high with dishes that needed a good cleaning. Amy, being the only one to notice this, decided to take it upon herself to go wash them. However, a deep baritone voice stopped her. 

     "You've worked long enough, Rose, allow me," Shadow stated as he took the dish rag out of her hands. His lip had healed almost completely on its own, but that wasn't the only thing she noticed. Instead of the harsh glare she was used to seeing, his ruby eyes were gentle and sincere. 

     "But you just got here; it's not fair for you," she countered. He shook his head with a knowing smirk. 

     "And you've been in here all day, I assume. It's your turn to relax. I can handle a few dishes." 

    Amy smiled, and before she said anything, she gave a quick, light hug-- very different from the spine-breaking ones she gave Sonic.

    "Thanks, Shadow, you're the best," she waved and sauntered out of the kitchen. For a few moments, he just stood there with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face mixed with a crimson blush. But he quickly snapped out of it. Or, at least, he thought he did. He swiftly turned towards the mountain of dinnerware with the broadest grin imaginable.  

    He scrubbed the dishes with renewed vigor and speed, all the while resisting the urge to whistle, and his grin soon faded to a challenging smirk. It wasn't long before he had completed his task, and he quickly dried his hands before glancing into the living room. By now, he had regained his normal composure as he watched at everyone. 

     Cream and Tails were playing a board game on the floor. Sonic and Knuckles were arm-wrestling on the coffee table with Silver as a confused and slightly worried referee and Omega watching with as much excitement as a robot could muster. Blaze, Amy, and Rouge were also sitting on the couch talking lightly. They all seemed to be having a good time waiting out the storm. 

    He wasn't sure whether or not he should join them. He was always the odd one out at groups, and he sometimes got the impression that he ruined their fun. So instead, he turned back into the kitchen and decided to make himself something to drink. He could use a good cup of coffee. 

    Silver looked around at the other guests in confusion, "Where's Shadow?"

    "Last I saw, he was in the kitchen," Knuckles answered. The boys all shared a look of bewilderment and shrugged before the white hedgehog stood, 

    "I'm gonna go find him," he stated and left the group. Sonic leaned into the others. 

    "Okay, gang, we need to figure out who Shadow's bride-to-be is and fast, since Omega isn't very willing to share."

    "How are we gonna do that?" Knuckles asked. 

  "Easy. We figure out which girl he's the nicest to."

   "Besides the fact that Shadow and nice don't fit in the same sentence, it'll be harder than that. Sure, he could beat us to a pulp in a heartbeat, but I don't remember him ever laying a hand on a girl or talking rude to one. He treats them all pretty nice."

    "Well, let's try to check them off the list. Cream is too young, and Silver doesn't look like he has any rabbit in him. And Blaze is from the same timeline as Silver, so we know it can't be those two."

   "That leaves Rouge and Amy. But what if it's neither of them? What if she's one of the girls not here?" 

    "Then we can eliminate those two and keep trying," Sonic replied, as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Knuckles wasn't so sure. 

    "Shadow's going to kill you if he finds out."

   "Don't worry. I got it all under control," he reassured him.

    "I hate it when you say that."

Meanwhile

    "Hey, Shadow! What are you up to?" Silver asked. His friend and more recent mentor was sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming cup of coffee that he was enjoying. The dark hedgehog sighed before answering.

    "Nothing much, I guess. Why aren't you in there with the others?" he asked. He knew Silver was very sociable, so why he wanted to hang out with the only loner in the group puzzled him.

    "Well, I didn't see you in there, and I wondered where you were. So I came to find you!" he explained cheerfully, and Shadow smirked. The kid was a real child at heart. Silver continued, "Sonic and Knuckles were arm-wrestling a second ago. It would be cool to see you go up against them."

   The red-striped male shrugged, "Maybe. They might be done with their game already though, and it wouldn't be fair to crush them if they're not,"he finished with a devilish grin that made Silver laugh. Though he acted full of himself, the grey hedgehog knew he could carry his words out.

    There was a loud crackling boom, and Tails, Cream, and Silver jumped. But them the sound of something falling reached everyone's ears, and they ran to the back of the house. A massive tree fell right in front of the broken door, blocking anyone from getting in or out, but it gratefully didn't do any other damage to the house. It had grown extremely dark outside, and the rain hadn't lessened for a single moment.

    "Well," Sonic mused thoughtfully, "looks like we're all stuck here for the night."

   Everyone, especially Shadow, groaned. It was one thing to have a meal together. It was another to have a sleep over.

   Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other and made thumbs up poses when no one was looking.  The echidna leaned into his friend and whispered, "Should we tell anyone else about your little 'plan'?"

    "Well Tails, obviously. Rouge, too. She knows Shadow best and can read him better than we could."

    "Right," he answered, the two split up to explain the plan to their friends.  The four slipped away into the hallway for a "group meeting" as Sonic called it.

    "Are you sure about this, Sonic?" Tails asked worriedly. He didn't want to be caught on the wrong end of a chaos spear later. Rouge crossed her arms with a disbelieving frown.

   "This is the most rediculous plan you've had yet. Trying to find out who Shadow is supposed to marry in the future? What if you mess something up, and they never get together? You could wipe out Silver's existence with this crazy idea!"

    "But aren't you just a little curious?"  the blue hedgehog smirked, "I thought you always liked to be the first to know. If we figure out who the lucky girl is, maybe we can get them together faster."

   Rouge pinched the bridge of her nose, "I can't believe I'm saying this. But I'm in, but only just to make sure you don't screw this up later."

    "Me too," Tails agreed a bit more cheerfully. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious too.

  "All right then. Operation Shadow's Bride is a go!"

     "We are not calling it that," Knuckles facepalmed.

   "Well it's what I'm going with, so roll with it," he replied with a cheesy smirk, and Knuckles groaned loudly.