Chapter 2

Krystal decided, in the long run, she liked Amy. The pink hedgehog was sweet, caring and had a no holds barred attitude - especially when it came to Sonic. The grey hedgehog knew right away the girl liked him. It was cute in a weird way. Krystal never thought about love or romance, but this girl seemed to live on it alone. Krystal giggled as she heard Amy's latest story.

"You know," Krystal said. "I sometimes think he likes you too, Amy. He doesn't allow just any girl to jump into his arms and he would catch them. In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't like public displays of affection."

Amy giggled as her face turned red. She placed a hand on her cheek, "Do you really think so?"

Krystal nodded. "I think he's just shy. Give him a bit. He might come around someday." She winked at Amy earning a laugh out of her.

"I'm glad you decided to stay with me," she said. "I like the company at home. It sometimes gets lonely." She went to say something else when her doorbell rang. "Oh."

Krystal's ears perked. She never figured somebody would visit Amy. Though, she probably should have expected it. Amy seemed to be a hedgehog everybody liked at the very least. "Expecting a guest?"

"No," she said before answering the door. "Oh, Rouge! What brings you here?"

"I'm hiding from Knuckles," she said with a chuckle.

Amy placed a hand on her hip, "You were trying to steal the Master Emerald again, won't you?"

"I can't help it," sighed Rouge as she walked into the house. "I have a thing for jewels. And the Master Emerald is my dream." She paused as she spotted Krystal. "Oh, I've never seen you around before, cutie. I'm Rouge the Bat." She held out her hand for Krystal to shake.

"I'm Krystal," the young woman said as she shook Rouge's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Now, can I hide here for a few, Amy?" asked Rouge as she turned toward the pink hedgehog.

Amy sighed, "Yeah, you can stay."

Rouge grinned as she went to hide in another room. The bat paused, "Oh, and if you see Shadow, tell him I'm not here. I'm sure he'd be happy I tried to swipe the Master Emerald again."

Krystal's ears perked. Why did the names Rouge and Shadow sound familiar? Before she could think about it further, the bat disappeared to hide. Amy laughed as she sat next to Krystal.

"Sorry about that," she said. "My friends are a bit strange, but they're all good people."

Krystal smiled at her. "I can tell. You have some really good friends."

Amy went to say something else when the doorbell rang once again. She puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "How much do you want to bet that's Shadow the Hedgehog?" She went to open it. "Oh it is Shadow the Hedgehog! What a surprise." Sarcasm trickled through her words.

"Where's Rouge, Amy?" he asked her.

Krystal popped her head over the couch as she saw the hedgehog Amy was talking to at the moment. She stared at him for a moment before speaking up, "Is this Rouge a bat?"

"Yes," Shadow said as he stared at her.

"Haven't seen her," said Krystal as her tail wagged back and forth. "So, I guess you should carry on and look elsewhere."

Amy placed a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. She probably should have warned Krystal about Shadow, but it was too funny what the other female hedgehog was doing at the moment.

Shadow growled, "Where is she? I can't keep having her trying to steal jewels and jewelry." He obviously didn't seem very happy at Krystal's words. He crossed his arms as he tapped a foot waiting for either of the female hedgehogs to answer.

"Take a chill pill," said Krystal as she flipped over the couch with ease. "Why should I tell you where Rouge is?" She placed an arm around her waist as she moved the other off to her side with the palm facing up.

"I have to deal with my team's consequences," answered Shadow. "And, she tried to go after the Master Emerald - again. I can only take so much of Knuckles' ranting. And who are you anyway?"

"My name is Krystal," she chirped happy to introduce herself. "And, it seems like you don't have hold on your team very well then, do you?"

That struck a nerve as Shadow seemed to disappear before appearing behind her. Krystal made a noise as he placed a hand on her hand to push her down slightly. She winced. Ow. That hurt her side.

"My team has their quirks, but that is also their strong point," Shadow said with a snarl. "I appreciate if you don't take light of such things."

"Ow, okay, get off," muttered Krystal. She moved to grab the wrist of the hand pushing her head down before she twisted it then flipped him over her shoulder. "Thanks for listening."

The black and red hedgehog made a noise as the air was knocked from his lungs. Amy stared at her with her mouth opened. The grey hedgehog flipped Shadow the Hedgehog over her shoulder. Shadow moved to stand before Krystal placed her boot on his chest pressing him down.

"I don't appreciate the threat," she snarled fangs showing. "Your teammate is in that room hiding form apparently you and this Knuckles fellow."

Shadow stared up at her with a glare. She smirked at him before moving her foot. "Sorry, didn't mean to hit a sore spot with you. But, I don't take kindly to threats either." She was ignoring the pain flipping him over her shoulder had caused. She hoped the stitches hadn't torn.

Shadow stood straight before moving toward the door. A blur shot past him before Rouge paused to hover then winked. "See you at HQ, Shadow." She shot off into the sky afterward.

Shadow growled. Krystal laughed at his frustration. He needed to lighten up a little bit. She made a noise as he shot his annoyed glare at her. Wow, okay. He seemed a bit scary at the moment. She placed her hands in the air in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I won't laugh."

She went to turn around intending to sit on the couch before a loud bang went off that shook the whole house. She made a surprised noise as she lost her footing. Her eyes closed as she waited for the wooden floor. Krystal blinked after a few moments. It didn't take that long to fall. And, why was her stomach so warm? She fully opened her eyes before making a noise. Shadow had caught her. He helped straighten the grey hedgehog before looking toward the door.

"Stay here," he told the two of them before going to see if he could explain the bang.

Krystal huffed as she watched him leave the house. He told her to stay there like everybody else did in the city. She crossed her arms before rubbing the one. It was nice of him to catch her at the very least. She wasn't nice to him while he was looking for Rouge. He came back in a few seconds later before grabbing Amy and her wrists.

"Let's go, now."

"Wait - what?" both of them asked before Shadow warped them from their location.

A mechanical wolf appeared in the room as it sniffed around the area. It growled. She was here a few moments ago, but it would seem the grey hedgehog had disappeared. A brown fox appeared in the house a few moments later before humming. He grinned, "So, our dear agent has decided to team up with others as well, huh?" He pet the wolf on the top of its head. "Well, no matter - I'll find her eventually. Then, we'll have our way to bring the barrier down on the city."

He chuckled. "With Eggman on my side, they won't even know what hit them."