Chapter 2

"Where did she come from?"

"I don't know Rouge."

"Oh, come now, handsome, you had to see where she had come from," Rouge the bat said to the dark colored hedgehog. "Then, again, you did just jump off a cliff without much of a thought to catch her."

Shadow made a noise before he stared at the unconscious female hedgehog on the bed. Rouge had taken the time to bandage all her wounds including the laser wounds. She also found the dark grey hedgehog a change of clothes. Rouge hummed as she moved to check on her.

"I doubt she's going to wake anytime soon either way. She lost a lot of blood."

"There was - a spaceship crash near where I found her," muttered Shadow. "What was she doing in space though?"

Rouge shrugged. "Maybe we should tell Sonic and his merry group of friends about our find. Maybe they came help."

Shadow gave her a look which caused the bat to laugh. She knew he would tell them eventually, but her hedgehog teammate had to be stubborn.

"I don't need help, Rouge."

"Of course, of course, sugar." She went to say something else but the sound of a groan caught her attention. "Oh, you're waking sooner than I thought."

Krystal groaned as her eyes opened before shutting them once again, "Bright." The lights were bright to her before she grew used to them. Her eyes fluttered open before she moved to sit straight in the bed. Her hand found its way to her head.

"How are you feeling?" asked Rouge. "You took a pretty nasty hit. Not to mention, you had all these bumps and bruises most likely from that spaceship crash."

"I - I'm fi … spaceship!" she exclaimed. "Ryan! Oh god. I have to find him." She moved to get off the bed before a pair of firm hands caught her shoulders to keep her seating.

"Oh no," Rouge said in a stern voice. "You are not getting up. You're barely able to stay awake. Why don't you tell me who this Ryan fellow is, and I can see about going to find him?"

Krystal stared at the bat before managing to spot the other occupant in the room. She laughed a bit before rubbing her head.

"I must be dreaming of a talking bat and a hedgehog. Or I'm still out of it."

"Oh, I'm sure you're definitely not up to par to leaving quite yet," Rouge said as she wagged her finger at Krystal. "But, you're a talking hedgehog, so I'm not sure what you're rambling about."

"No, I'm not a talking hedge," Krystal paused as she remembered her reflection in the water. "N-No w-way. I'm … I don't know what's going on." She started to hyperventilate at that moment. "What is -"

"Shadow, get a paper bag!" Rouge said. "She's starting to hyperventilate. Once we get her calm, maybe she'll explain to use what's going on with her."

Shadow normally didn't take orders from anybody, but he did as Rouge requested. He handed the bag to the bat before she forced Krystal to breathe in and out of it. The female hedgehog calmed down as it helped her catch her breath. She moved the paper bag to her side.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"It's not a problem, sugarcube," the bat said with a soft smile. "It sounds like you've been through a lot. Care to explain."

Krystal stared at her before staring at Shadow. He hadn't said one word. Was he not friendly? He seemed to comply to the bat easy enough. She heard Rouge laugh before staring at her.

"Oh don't worry about Shadow. He's always moody. Not much of a talker either until you get to know him." She winked at Krystal afterward causing her to giggle.

"I'll take your word for it." She took a deep breath. "My space shuttle was hit with this weird light knocking all the instruments offline. Then, another one hit it. I passed out at that point. Then, I woke up at the crash site." Krystal paused. "I'm not - I'm not normally a talking hedgehog."

"You're not?" asked Rouge with a raised eyebrow.

"At least, I was a human at one point," answered Krystal. "I don't know what's going on. But, I have to find Ryan. My fiance would be great right about now. He was - he was an astronaut on the shuttle. I was the engineer going to fix a space station with him."

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she told Rouge all she knew and remembered. The bat stayed quiet through the rest of the explanation. At the end, Krystal was sobbing as she tried to calm her tears. She didn't know what to do anymore.

"I want to go h-home. I want R-Ryan," she sobbed.

"I know, dear," said Rouge as she pulled Krystal into a hug to comfort her. She stared at Shadow. "So, maybe you should talk to Sonic and the others after all, huh? This sounds like the work of Dr. Eggman."

Krystal stared up at her in confusion. Who were all these people she had mentioned? Rouge stared down at her before grinning. "Well, I have a lot of explaining to do myself sugar, so sit back and relax."


Krystal stared out the window of the house she was staying in at the moment with Team Dark. Her hands held a cup of warm soup. It was delicious, and she'd have to thank Rouge later for it. The hedgehog didn't know how hungry she was until she had calmed from the emotional storm she had been going through since she found herself on this planet. She sipped at it as she listened to the rain tap lightly on the window. It was soothing.

"Who is this fiance of yours?"

Krystal made a noise as she dropped the cup. She winced waiting for the hot feeling of the soup. Her eyes opened after a few seconds when the feeling never hit her. She stared at the soup as it sat in front of her face. A hand had caught it. Blue looked into red as she stared at Shadow before taking the cup from him.

"Thank you," she muttered as she took another sip of it. "What was your question?"

"Who is this fiance of yours? I need some details to find him."

Krystal stared at the male hedgehog before smiling at him. He was offering to help find Ryan. She set the cup on the stand next to the bed before moving to unclasp a necklace from around her neck. She handed it to Shadow after she opened the locket.

"This is Ryan. Though, I'm unsure if he had changed to fit this world or not." In fact, she didn't even know if the image had changed to fit this world.

"Another hedgehog," snorted Shadow. "Just what I needed."

"Oh, I guess it did change."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," replied Krystal. "You can keep the necklace if it will help you. It's the only picture I have of Ryan."

Shadow stared at her before placing the necklace around his wrist wrapping it a few times to make sure it wouldn't fall off. He disappeared from her room afterward. Krystal sighed as she looked out the window once again as she sipped at her soup. The rain pelted her window as it started to rain harder as if it was reflecting what she was feeling at that particular moment.