Crystals Of Tranquility

Yeah, so I decided to make another story. Why? I'm just getting a little bit bored with Sonic Truth Or Dare Tournament. Anyway, this is not a ShadowxRouge fic. They are just mission partners and friends. Got that? Please don't ask me to put Shadouge in it. The answer will be no. If I decide to put romance in, it will be Knuxouge. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sonic Team. I only own my OCs.

Chapter 1. Hooded mysteries

"... And then we danced all night!" Rouge was saying.

Shadow was in Club Rouge, sitting at a small table in the corner of the room. The room was huge, it had a big dance-floor with a disco ball above it. The DJ was on a platform, playing the music. There was a neon sign above her and it read 'Club Rouge: It's the place to be'. The bar was on the left side of the entrance, near to where they were sitting. It really was the place to be.

He was talking to the owner of the club, Rouge. She was talking about how Diva Night went last night. Diva Night was when they played the best girly songs of all time. It happened every month.

"So, what've you been up to then, hun?" She asked.

"Not much." He mumbled. "Anything happened here while I was gone?"
Rouge started to look a bit worried. "Well, there is one thing..." Shadow nodded at her to continue. "You see, every day for almost five days, these people come in. Strange people."

Shadow frowned. "What kind of strange?"

"They wear hooded black robes, so you can't see their faces." She replied.

"Hmmm..." Shadow concentrated. "They sound like trouble."

Rouge nodded. "Yeah, that's why I want you to stay the night." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Please? I need you to see them!"

Shadow sighed. "Fine. Just one night won't hurt, I guess..."

Rouge clapped her hands. "Good! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dance with my loyal customers!" She then winked and walked away.

Shadow groaned. 'Just when I needed some relaxation, something else comes up! I bet I won't even get a bed, probably have to sleep on the couch.'

He decided to go over to the bar, maybe get a drink. Nothing alcoholic, he didn't want to be drunk if the 'hooded people' came in. While he walked over there, he noticed what Rouge had done to the place since he last visited. She'd put up lots of neon signs, saying things like 'bar' or 'bathroom'. He also saw that she was now serving things like chips or burgers.

When he got to the bar, he saw a red echidna. She rolled his eyes. 'Just the place where Knuckles would be.' He thought.

Knuckles turned around. "Yo, Shadow!" He called. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Heh, I guess so." Shadow replied.

"So, where you been all this time?"

He shrugged. "Here and there."

Knuckles sighed. "In other words, you don't want anyone to know."

Shadow nodded.

Knuckles remembered something. "Oh yeah! Did Rouge tell you the good news?"

He shook his head. "No, what?"

"I live and work here now!" He replied.

Shadow's eyes widened. "You idiot!" He hissed.

Knuckles looked confused. "What?"

"What about the Master Emerald? It's your job to guard it!"

He shrugged. "Oh, that. Tails has taken care of it. He put an electrical shield around it. Anyone who touches it, gets a nasty shock. However, if I touch it, it doesn't hurt me." He explained. "And anyway, I was getting mighty bored up ther by myself, guarding it."

Shadow shook his head. "Ah well. I guess as long as it's safe... But if it gets stolen, you're getting the blame!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Pfft, yeah right. Like that'll happen!"

"It could..." Shadow trailed off. Then shook himself. "Anyway, has anything... strange happened recently?"

Knuckles thought for a moment. "Well, now that you mention it, there have been some hooded people coming in recently. They look strange, and like trouble."

Shadow looked interested. "And what do they do?"

He shrugged. "Just sit at the same table, every day. They stay for around twenty minutes, then they just leave."

Shadow frowned. "Rouge told me about them too. That's why I'm staying the night. I want to see them myself."

Knuckles shrugged again. "You'll be on a couch." He warned.

"It doesn't matter. I've been worse. A lot worse."

Later that night...

Shadow was sitting at the table with Rouge again, this time Knuckles had joined them. They were drinking some soda. They didn't want to get drunk tonight.

Rouge looked at her watch. "They'll be coming soon." She informed them.

"How do you know?" Knuckles asked.

"They always come at the same time, 10:30pm. Dead on." She replied.

"Hmph, seems like they're up to something." Shadow said.

The door to the entrance opened and two figures walked in. They were wearing hooded black robes so you couldn't see their faces.

"It's them!" Rouge whispered.

Shadow looked over to the door. Sure enough, he saw the figures. They walked over to a table next to them and sat down. Shadow decided to create a conversation.

"So, uh... how's everyone been?" He asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "Not bad. Eggman is no more."

Rouge nodded. "Yeah, apparently he had a major heart attack. Sonic went over to his base the other week and found him laying dead on the floor." She shuddered. "Must've been terrible for him to see someone lose to him dead. Sure, he was evil but... he did kind of help us a couple of times."

"He took him to the hospital." Knuckles went on. "The doctors said that he died of a heart attack. Probably because he was overweight."

Rouge started to look uneasy. Shadow sensed it.

"What's up?" He whispered.

"The figures... they keep glancing over here!" She replied worriedly.

Shadow looked over to the figures. They were whispering about something too. He strained his ears to listen but he only picked up snippets of their conversation.

"...The one... prophecy... treasure..."

He couldn't make out what they were talking about.

"What are they saying?" Rouge asked.

Shadow frowned. "Something like 'the one', a prophecy and treasure."

Rouge gasped. "They're after my treasure!"

Shadow chuckled. "I don't think that's it, Rouge."

She rolled her eyes. "It's possible."

"But probably not true!" Knuckles interrupted.

The figures suddenly got up and walked to the door. Shadow jumped up as they reached the door, intending to follow them. When he go to the door, they were gone. Like they had just vanished into thin air.

He frowned. How could they have gone that quick? He slowly walked back to the table where Rouge and Knuckles sat there, confused.

"What was all that about?" Rouge asked.

"I was going to follow them." Shadow explained. "But when I got outside, they had gone!"

"What, like just disappeared? Into thin air?" Knuckles asked.

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. Not even I could go that quick... unless they had a chaos emerald."

Rouge frowned. "But we have all of them! Sonic has the red, blue and dark blue ones..."

"And I have the purple, green, silver and yellow ones." Shadow finished.

"Can't you teleport in any other way?" Knuckles asked.

Shadow shook his head. "No... at least, not that I know of."

"But you might still be able to?" Rouge pressed.

Shadow shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they had a device." He shook his head. "We're never going to find out."

Rouge sighed. "It's time to close the club anyway. Knuckles, can you help the bar clear up as usual?"

Knuckles nodded. "Sure."

"Should I help?" Shadow asked.

Rouge shook her head. "No, you can go and check out the apartment upstairs. Here's the key." She handed him a silver key and walked away.

Shadow walked up the stairs and unlocked the door. Once he got inside, he smiled. Rouge's apartment was filled with luxury items.

The couches were made of real black leather, must've costed her a fortune. Her kitchen/diner had a small table draped in a soft red cloth and her appliances were the best you could get. He walked over to a rather large bedroom. It had a king sized canopy bed with red satin bedsheets and curtains to go around the bed. She had a massive vanity which he noticed was full of makeup and jewelery. Her wardrobe was probably one of the largest you could get, and yet it was still full of clothes. Her outfits mainly consisted of skinny jeans and tube tops.

Shadow chuckled. Her apartment reflected her personality completely. He soon noticed another door, but it was locked.

He shrugged and sat on one of the couches, waiting for Rouge and Knuckles to get in.

After a few minutes of waiting, they came through the door. Rouge walked up to Shadow and hold out her hand. Shadow looked confused.

Rouge sighed. "Key, please."

"Oh." Shadow quickly handed it back.

"Thanks Hun." She said as she put it on a small coffee table. "So, do you like my apartment?"

"Yeah, but surely it costed you a fortune!" He replied.

"It would've done but... G.U.N. owed me a lot of favors so they agreed to decorate my apartment for me." She explained.

Knuckles stretched and yawned. "I'm kinda sleepy. Maybe we should go to bed."

Rouge nodded. "Hmm, I guess so." She turned to Shadow. "I'll set up a couch for you."

Shadow nodded. "Alright."

Knuckles chuckled. "I have to sleep on a couch too. Rouge still hasn't got me a bed yet."

"Don't you need blankets?"

Knuckled scoffed. "I've been sleeping outside nearly all my life, in any weather."

Shadow shrugged. "I guess. I just want to be comfortable."

Rouge came back with a pillow and a blanket. "Here ya go!"

"Thanks..."

"It's okay! Just make sure you get some rest. It's been a busy night."

"...You're not my mother." Shadow joked.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I know that! I'm just saying." She walked out of the room.

Knuckles lied down. "When you're ready, could you turn out the lights? They're right next to you."

Shadow looked to his left and saw the switch. "Yeah, sure."

He set up a bed and turned out the lights.

Knuckles yawned. "G'night."

"...'Night." Shadow replied.

He slowly closed his eyes and thought about the hooded figures. He felt tired though, and soon a black wave washed over him and he fell asleep.

Ooooh, who could the figures be? Yeah I know, not much in this chapter but this is the introduction. They have a habit of being short and boring. If you liked it, please tell me! I don't know if I should continue it. I'm having a bit of a writers block with Sonic Truth Or Dare Tournament, so please bear with me. So um, I'll try to update this and the other one as soon as possible! Thanks for reading and I promise future chapters will be longer!