"Chapter Two:
Trust and Reunions"

Sonic was about to start asking Knuckles if he wanted to go to Great Goods, but the echidna waved him off, saying he was going anyway, so there was no point in asking. Amy had returned with a Shadow who had been hit on his head a few times until he gave up, and decided to go with them.

Now, they were walking to Great Goods with Tails, Cream, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, and Team Chaotix. "So, Knuckles, why did you decide to go with us?" Tails asked with curiosity. The echidna was happy, and dazed off, so he practically didn't care about being there, but Tails could only question it.

Knuckles looked down at the young fox. "Truth?" He asked. Tails nodded. Everyone turned to Knuckles, anxiously, even Shadow was listening in to see what reasons he could possibly have. Knuckles let out a sigh, put his arms behind his head, a smile kept firm across his face. "It's because I made a new friend, yesterday, and I'm meeting her at Great Goods, with her sister. She was hoping she could meet you guys, so I figured why not." He replied.

Vector was chuckling. "Knuckles got a girlfriend." He teased.

"I DO NOT!" He yelled at Vector, releasing a growl under his breath. There goes the good mood.

"You so do, I can't wait to meet her! She probably dressed up, and everything. Maybe a luscious skirt, or a frilly pink dre-" Vector suddenly found himself meeting the sidewalk as a rock bashed into his head.

Everyone looked forward. Right there was Rough, wearing a long sleeved, blue dress shirt, black skinnies, and brown combat boots with her regular pair of gloves. She was wiping the dust from the dirt off her hands, while glaring down at the crocodile. "Man, I hate bastards like him!" She muttered, angrily, trying not to explode. She cleared her throat, before looking at Knuckles. "Hey, Knuckles!" She greeted.

"Hey, Rough!" He returned the greeting, pounding his fist against hers. They chuckled. "Guys, this is my friend, Rough Blackout! She's new in town." He introduced her.

"Hey! What's up?" She said, smiling. Everyone could have sworn they were looking in a mirror when they saw the smiling duo.

Espio walked around Vector, before making his way to Rough. "Excuse Vector! He always jumps to conclusions like that." He claimed.

"I hope he doesn't do that with my sister. She'll kill him!" Rough commented with a smirk on her face.

He chuckled nervously. "Right. Um, I'm Espio!" He introduced, holding out his hand. Rough shook it with a strong grip, nearly making Espio cry out in pain, but still wincing at the tight grip. They chuckled at Espio, who was gripping his, thought to be now, bruised hand. "I see why you're called Rough!" He commented.

The two friends chuckled. "Don't sound so surprised! I couldn't even pin him, and we both put on a good fight." She commented. Knuckles was still chuckling while the others gave him stares of disbelief and shock; even Shadow was a bit baffled.

"You two fought each other?" Rouge asked.

"Right at the gym. Some guy named Mighty owned it. We were both lucky just to hit the other!" Rough answered. They stared in total shock; everyone knew how hard it was for Knuckles to miss, so they figured the girl was a pretty good fighter.

Knuckles turned towards her. "So, where's your older sister, anyways? You said she'd be here, when I called." Now, of course, Vector was getting a hoot out of it, but Knuckles stopped him with another rock.

"My sis? Oh, yeah, she'll be here soon!" Rough answered. They were about to start walking again, until things just felt a little colder. They stopped, abruptly, preparing for anything. "Relax! It's just my sister!" Rough told them. They looked around until Rough pointed straight ahead.

Further on, they saw a ghastly looking swerve of shadowy energy rush straight towards them. Rough walked forward a few steps, and waited patiently for the rouse to stop. It stopped in front of her by a few feet, and faded away.

In its place was a female hedgehog, with night blue eyes, and what seemed to be, very dark purple fur. She was wearing a white tank top with a black broken heart on it for decor. Her jeans wear ripped up the pant legs, and her dark green trench coat shimmered with its leather shim. Her boots shined black, and her gloves struck out white. The girl indeed looked threatening, and she was ready for about anything, and they could easily tell, since they all could see her glare meant: 'Mess with me, and you die!' All but Shadow, and Rough were even slightly phased by this.

"Hey sis!" Rough called over to the very creepy hedgehog.

"That's her sister?" Rouge muttered.

"That's a girl?" Sonic mumbled.

Knuckles shook off most of his shock, and stunned expression. "You were right! I wouldn't believe you two were related, and I kinda don't." He admitted, his voice only slightly shaken.

"Can't say I didn't warn ya." Rough replied with a shrug. The supposedly-female hedgehog advanced towards Rough, slowly; her arms crossed, and her face only carrying one expression: annoyance. "You met up with someone on the way here?"

"Yes!" She answered dully.

"Tried being sweet?"

"Hn!" She grunted out.

"You give him a good talkin' to?" The older sister smirked alongside her sister, and they let out a few chuckles.

"As I always do!" She replied, happily, cracking her knuckles. Everyone there was officially spooked by the two, except for the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow stepped forward, arms crossed, and a smirk firmly placed upon his face. "It's not everyday you see the same bitch two days in a row!" He spoke up. They all turned to him, including the sisters.

She was both smirking, and somewhat glaring at him. "Shadow, I recall." She proclaimed. He nodded. She snickered, shaking her head. "It's not everyday you see the same bastard, either!" She commented.

Shadow only snickered. "Too true, Phase!" He replied. The two smirked at each other, a challenge clearly seen in the midst of it all.

"Well!" Knuckles said, after a long glaring contest, catching their attention. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Knuckles!" He introduced, holding out his hand.

Phase looked at the hand, then Knuckles himself, a look of suspicion. She looked past him, and at her sister, pointing a finger at him. Rough nodded at her. Phase chuckled, nervously. "Knuckles the echidna?" She questioned. He nodded. She grabbed the hand, however, instead of shaking it, she had flipped the echidna, bringing his face to the sidewalk, pinning him down. She brought herself closer to his ears (wherever they r), and began to speak to him in a whisper. "Understand one thing, just one thing! If anything happens that's out of bounds with my sister, how I should put it, then you will find yourself to be a very dead echidna. Got it?" She questioned.

Knuckles, slightly hurting from the grip simply nodded against the pavement; very painfully, if I may add. Phase, feeling satisfied, let him go, and stood up, turning to the others who were chuckling. "You're no different!" She threatened, walking off.

Rough, feeling very awkward, slowly picked up the echidna, and began to look over for any damage. Besides some minor scratches from the landing, and his action, it wasn't bad. "Don't feel bad, it takes awhile for her to trust much of anybody." She explained.

"Oh joy..." He thought as they followed the sister.

sry for the long wait! hope you've enjoyed.