Okay, to tell you the truth, I have shunned FF.net for a while now. I have never written anything here before, but I have read a lot, so I'm not exactly a newcomer. ...I hope you enjoy my story, I really love writing. I can't think of anything else I'd need to say, so you can go ahead and read it.

Welcome The Ghost Hedgehog

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She put a clawed, gloved hand out into the pouring rain, feeling the cold dampness seepng through to her skin. She sighed pleasantly, and shivered... although she was used to it. She looked down, down at the city below her.

She tapped the wet floor of the balcony she was sitting on with a nail, and let her lips curl into a mischievous grin. She blinked her dark brown eyes and put her lavender-colored gloves together. Her sharp nails stuck out of each finger of both gloves, which she used as weapons when necessary. "Soon..." Her voice was quiet and mellow, but with a sense of mischievousity in it. "Very soon, this city shall know that there IS such things as ghosts. I can promise it that."

She could promise it that because she was one. That was one thing she knew for sure. Most things about herself were unknown to her, though. For one thing, she had no clue what had happened to her to make her a ghost in the first place. She didn't know anyone, either. But...

She got up and walked back into her bedroom. She picked up a photograph from her dresser and looked at it. It was of a cheerful pink hedgehog girl holding some type of hammer. "Amy Rose, you are my only family, that I know of... but are you ready to meet your long-lost niece yet? Because I am her, and I am here." She put the photo back down and stood in front of her mirror. She smiled slightly at her reflection. By just looking at her, you couldn't tell she was a ghost. She looked like an ordinary brown hedgehog. Well, mostly brown. Strangely, her left arm and ear were both purple. The tips of her quills, which resembled shoulder-length, spiky hair, were also purple. But only the tips. She was dressed pretty normally... a red shirt accompanied with a black skirt, along with black slip-on shoes and plain white socks.

...But, no. No, she wasn't normal. She chuckled. "Yes, I am here... and I hope you're ready. Because soon you shall, all of you shall know me. You shall know Kaiya the Ghost Hedgehog."

~~

The next day, there was some sort of commotion at the city mall. People were all in a fluster, blocking the entryways and exits and going this way and that. Most of them had no idea what was going on, however. A few people had gotten into a fit over something, and it eventually started a chain reaction. The employees were trying to calm down the masses, but it didn't seem to be working out too well.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A female voice called out. The owner of the voice came out of a dressing room wearing a black dress much too long for her. The girl was, in fact, Amy Rose, the girl that had been in the photograph. She looked startled as everyone was crowding around each other, making it practically impossible for her to get anywhere. Which is probably how the chain reaction had started in the first place.

"Hey, Pinky! Is it Halloween already?" Amy looked up, and staring back at her was another hedgehog that she had never seen before. Amy looked down at her dress, noticing for the first time that it was much too long. She looked embarassed and disappeared back into the dressing room.

Kaiya folded her arms, waiting for Amy to come out. When she did, she was in her regular outfit, which was a short, white-rimmed red dress. She looked at Kaiya in annoyance. "What right did you have to come up to me and insult me like that?! We don't even know each other! How rude!"

"I'm sorry, Amy. But I---"

Amy looked spooked. "How did---how did you know my name?!"

Kaiya sighed. "I'm your long-lost niece, okay? I don't know my family, so I decided to meet you, all right? Yadda-yadda, blah blah blah."

Amy seemed unsure. "Oh, yeah? And how do I know that for sure? Give me one good reason why I should believe you!"

Kaiya looked sad. "Well, to tell you the truth, I know practically nothing about myself. I've lived in this abandoned apartment building since I can remember. One time when I searched my room, I came across a family album. Naturally, I looked to see what was in it. But all I found was a picture of... you." Kaiya reached into her left glove and pulled out the picture from earlier, giving it to Amy.

Amy looked at the picture in astonishment, then turned it over. On the back was written one word: "AUNT". Amy was speechless. "I... I'm not sure..."

"You see? You're my aunt." Kaiya insisted. "I'm your niece."

Amy blinked. "But I never heard anything about having a niece before..."

Kaiya quirked a brow in annoyance. "What part of 'long-lost' don't you understand?"

Amy glared at Kaiya. "Excuse me, but you've been rude ever since you spoke to me, uh... wait, you never did tell me your name."

"It's Kaiya." Kaiya replied simply.

"It's nice to meet you, Kaiya." Amy shook Kaiya's hand rather stiffly, narrowing her eyes at her. "At least I think."

"Hey! Look! That's her! That's the ghost that was pulling pranks on me all day!" A guy pointed to Kaiya, mouth agape. Everyone stopped short, their eyes frightfully upon Kaiya. Including Amy.

"G-ghost?" She quickly took her hand away and backed up. "You're a---"

Kaiya gasped upon realizing that her cover was blown. Instead of giving Amy an explanation, she disappeared into thin air before her very eyes!

"Oohh..." Amy looked about ready to faint. But she shook it off, putting on a determined face. She then proceeded to race through a crowd of confused people. "Outta' my way! Ugh!"

~~

"So, you're telling me that you met another hedgehog girl at the mall, she claimed to be your niece, was accused of being a ghost then disappeared into thin air? You've seriously been shopping too much!" The famous blue hedgehog Sonic sat on a beach chair listening to Amy tell her story.

"Sonic! It's true! You know ghosts are real." Amy reminded Sonic. "Remember King Boom Boo and all those other spooky ghosts?"

Sonic immediately got to his feet. "You don't think she's one of them, do you?"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know. But the whole thing seems pretty suspicious to me. She's probably not even my niece."

"Well, if she was causing trouble at the mall, then she probably IS with those spooks. And she must've had a motive for claiming to be your relative. Because of that, she'll probably be back, possibly with a posse. And when she does, I'll be ready for it." Sonic nodded determinedly.

Amy threw her arms around Sonic. "Oh, Sonic! You want to protect me! You DO care!"

"Amy! Hands off!" Sonic nudged Amy away. "We have to stay focused. I must find that troublesome ghost before she does any more damage!" With that, Sonic sped off.

Amy sighed. "I know Sonic loves me. ...He just needs a little help along the way!" She happily chased after Sonic, as always.

~~

Kaiya bounced along the beach on the tips of her shoes. She smiled to herself, then it faded, and she stopped short. "I am so close to having a family..." She shook her head. "But no one seems to care..." She looked upwards, as if questioning the sky. "Who... who am I, really? Will I ever have the answers to my questions...?" She looked forward, and suddenly noticed something blue rushing her way at incredible speed! Before she could even blink, it knocked into her, and she fell down.

"Sorry. You okay?" Kaiya looked up and noticed a blue hedgehog holding out his hand to help her up.

"Sure. Sure, I'm all right. Thanks for your concern." Kaiya, out of sheer politeness and nothing more, allowed Sonic to help her up. She brushed off her skirt, which now had sand all over it. Then she looked back to Sonic. "You're fast! What's the hurry?"

Sonic sighed. "It's a long story. Basically, I'm looking for someone."

"Someone in particular?" Kaiya asked curiously, before Sonic could rush off again. "Tell me. Maybe I can help." She moved up and down on the tips of her shoes as she waited for an answer.

"Well, I have this friend who thinks she saw a ghost. And because of some problems we had with spooks a while back, I thought I should go looking for the ghoul. You haven't seen anything like that, have you?" Sonic tapped his foot, waiting impatiently for Kaiya's reply.

Kaiya tilted her head to it's side, her brown eyes wandering in all different directions, contemplating whether or not she should tell Sonic the truth.

But Sonic was growing restless fast, and Kaiya's silence didn't help. "C'mon! Do you know anything or not?"

Kaiya figured she should;everyone would figure it out eventually. "...I'm the ghost..."

"Please don't joke around. This is serious, and if you really know something, then I would appreciate your help."

"No, I'm serious!" Kaiya insisted. "Why do you not believe me?"

"Well, I crashed into you. If you were a ghost, I would've gone through you."

Kaiya nodded. "Yes, but... while that's true, I am able to solidify myself. I'm that way normally, actually. But I can resort back to my ghostly form any time I want to. You want proof?"

"Listen, I don't have time to---"

"Just trust me." Kaiya closed her eyes and concentrated. Then the sun started to brightly shine right through her! She held her hand up to Sonic. "G'head. Put your hand right through mine."

Sonic held up his hand, too, then put it to her's---then right through it! He backed up. "Whoa! You ARE the ghost!"

Kaiya nodded. "Uh huh." Then the sun stopped shining through her, as she solidified herself again. She put her head down. "Lemme guess. You're gonna' run away from me too, right?"

"Ha! You wish." Sonic took on a battle pose. "Okay, you troublemaker! Bring out your minions so I can take you all out!"

"Minions?" Kaiya tilted her head again, looking confused. "No... you're mistaken. It's only me. And I don't like to fight. I only do if I have to."

Sonic seemed to soften somewhat, but he still looked suspicious. "You're not putting one over on me, are you?"

Kaiya shook her head. "No." She sighed. "What's the use? People either run away from me, or they don't trust me. Either way, it's always just me. But perhaps it's better that way. It's not like I trust anyone, either. I thought maybe I could find out more about my family now that I've found Amy, but I guess I was wrong..." She heaved a sigh, and started to walk away. "Goodbye..."

"No, hold on."

Kaiya turned her head slightly. "Yes?"

Sonic walked in front of her, seeming to be studying her somewhat. "Just because you're a ghost, doesn't necessarily make you evil... but you'd save me a lot of time and trouble if you'd quit causing mischief in public places. If you do it again, I'll have to put a stop to it. Understand?"

Kaiya nodded. "Yeah. I do. ...Friends?" She held out her hand.

"Friends." Sonic agreed, and they shook on it.

~~

That night, Kaiya again looked down at the city from her balcony. But this time, it wasn't raining. Although Kaiya seemed to be enjoying herself just as much, maybe even more. She put her arms out, as if welcoming the night air. "It's dark out... and when it's dark out..." she smirked, "the ghost hedgehog comes out to play." At these words, she flung herself over the balcony, but instead of falling, she held herself in mid-air, the moonlight reflecting off of her ghostly body. She continued to smile at the city below, then swooped down and landed lightly on her feet. She then ran soundlessly across the grass and quickly hid behind a tree when she heard voices. Her grin grew wider, and she could feel the excitement rising within her due to the nighttime air. She chuckled softly. "Whoever they are, they'll never know what hit them..." She disappeared out of sight and followed the voices.

"So, anyway, as I was saying, we should---" A female voice was saying, then stopped. "Hey---is it starting to get a little more chilly around here, or is it just me?"

"Try and stay focused. We have to concentrate on---hey, what is it? Why do you look so spooked?" A calm male voice asked.

"Look--look behind you."

And there, floating in mid-air, was an apple. A single, solitary apple just hanging in the air. Seconds later, more apples got picked off of a tree and joined it. Then there was a laugh. A childish, high-pitched, ghostly laugh.

"All right---who's there? Show yourself." The male voice said calmly, although somewhat aggressively.

The apples dropped to the ground in response. Then silence.

"...Are they gone?" The female voice asked.

"I don't think so..." The male voice replied. "Okay, whoever you are, come out! And I mean it. You don't want to mess with me."

Feeling the sharpness of his voice, Kaiya appeared, holding her head down. She blinked her eyes upwards, somewhat meekly. "Um... hi?"

The owner of the male voice came closer to Kaiya. He was difficult to see in the dark, but Kaiya could tell what he was. A black hedgehog. He seemed to study her carefully, his eyes transfixed with her's in an icy glare. "Who are you?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you?"

"My name is Kaiya." Kaiya answered without emotion. "And I'm a ghost hedgehog."

"What do you think? Should we trust her, Shadow?" The owner of the female voice stepped forward, looking at Kaiya curiously. She was easier to see;a white bat girl.

"What exactly are you trying to pull?" Shadow continued to question Kaiya.

Kaiya sighed. "I told you. I'm a ghost. When it's dark out, I like to have a little fun."

Shadow chuckled. "You call making apples float in mid-air scary? I would think a ghost could do better than that."

Kaiya pouted. "I was just getting warmed up." Then she smiled confidently. "Besides, most of these people get frightened at the slightest thing. All you have to do is scare one or two of 'em, and the whole crowd goes into a frenzy. It's delightful."

"Yes... people can be idiots sometimes..." Shadow looked Kaiya over once more, looking thoughtful. "Listen, we are waiting for someone here. Once he gets here... do you want to join us?" He had a glint in his eye.

Kaiya blinked. "Join you? On what?"

"I'll let you know when he gets here." Shadow replied simply. "But I promise you, your mischievous cravings will be quenched. ...So, what's your answer?"

Kaiya licked her lips and considered it carefully. It was hard to pass up an offer like that. As a ghost, she enjoyed nothing more than playing pranks and scaring unsuspecting people. She grinned, forgetting the promise she had made to Sonic. "Sure. I'd be happy to help in any way that I can."

~~~~~



To Be Continued

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Well? Was it good? Please review. If you didn't like it or have something against my writing, then I'd appreciate it if you'd either leave me alone about it or state your opinion nicely. Thanks... and I'll continue this if you think I should.