A/N: If you recognise this chapter, it's because THIS is the chapter I accidentally uploaded to Merging Lies as Chapter 2. I fail! XD I uploaded the correct chapter to Merging Lies, though, so it's all good now. =P

He knocked on the door wearily. He had had no tie to wrap Raven's gift, or drop his own doll off at his 'house', but it didn't matter much. She might think the leather case held at tea set, like he had… The only problem was that he would need to discreetly look to see which case held her doll and which held his. It would be rather embarrassing if he gave a doll to her, only to take it back later and then explain to her that he had accidentally switched them out. If this happened, her other friends would probably think he was brainless… Even though he was, he didn't like to be thought of that way.

Footsteps soon were running up to the door with excitement. As soon as they had stopped, someone immediately unlocked the door and opened it. "Eddy!" A young purple hedgehog squealed, embracing the brown fox tightly. "You're the first one here! I was worried you might not be able to come… great to see ya!"

The fox blinked. "First?"

"Yup, yup! Ooh, what's that?" Raven turned her gaze to the shopping bags Edgar was holding. Her jade eyes sparked. "Are those for me?"

Edgar chuckled, feeling slightly nervous. "One of them is for you. The other is mine, but I didn't have time to drop it off at my—"

"Well, let-me-see-let-me-see-let-me-see!" The twelve year old grabbed Edgar's arm, dragging him quickly inside the house. Edgar was mostly used to such behavior from her, but all the same, he still wondered how his friend managed to drag his weight around with so little effort.

Of course, Raven did use effort in dragging Edgar. She just was too excited most of the time to show it.

They went over to the couch. Raven plopped down on it, bouncing, while Edgar was a bit more careful because of the dolls. He slipped both cases out of their separate bags, one at a time. Before he had even attempted to open one, his younger friend gasped. "You got me a doll?"

Edgar flinched, eyes wide. "How did—I mean… n… uh…" He blinked, then shifted nervously, mentally slapping himself. She's not supposed to know what it is yet! But… if she doesn't like it… Dang. "Please tell me you like dolls…"

Raven gaped. "…Are you kidding me? I love dolls! They're so cute, and pretty, and… Hau~!" It was apparent to Edgar that she was very excited now. She didn't refrain herself from bouncing up and down even more. "Please, please, please let me see it, Eddy! Pleeaaase?"

Edgar was relieved. Unless she was super picky between boy and girl dolls, she would like her present. The one he had gotten for her seemed especially cute, and if that was all Raven cared about, it would be good enough. However, no one else was here quite yet… "Sorry Raven… I can't let you see it yet. We have to wait until everyone else is here, and everyone else has given you a present to open. There's a reason there's a 'present time' at birthday parties, right?" He gave her a playful smile.

Raven pouted for a moment, then suddenly grinned. "But I'm the birthday girl, and it's my party, so I should be able to open my presents when I want to."

She's so stubborn! Hm… "Well, I'm the one who bought the present, and I haven't given it to you yet. So… er… I'll take it back to the store if you continue to be impatient." The fox waited for his sister's reaction.

"Eddy…" She whined.

Score! Now if I can just resist her pouting… So… hard… He almost cringed. "I-I'm serious. So, you'll have to wait until you can open everyone else's presents until you get this one, deal?"

The 12-year-old sighed. "Alright big bro, it's a deal…" She was still disappointed, but she tried to pretend she wasn't. Edgar set aside the cases he was holding and wrapped her into a hug. "That's my girl!" She returned the hug more cheerfully.

"Hi Raven." A voice suddenly mumbled.

Edgar freaked. He yelped, almost jumping off the couch and knocking the cased dolls off. Raven only looked startled.

The voice's owner, a red swallow, looked entirely blank at receiving such a reaction. Edgar blushed black in embarrassment when he saw her.

He had thought the voice belonged to one of the dolls.

"Flame, how come you didn't knock at the door?" Raven demanded.

Flame blinked. "I didn't think I needed to. You left it open."

"Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Raven…

Happy Birthday to you!"

Everyone cheered as she blew out the candles on the cake. The party was somewhat small, and Edgar was the only male there, but he didn't take much mind to it.

"Did you make a wish?" Asked a phoenix.

"Yeah, of course!" Raven said stubbornly.

"Well, what'd you wish for?" A cat questioned.

Flame became a bit cross. "Don't ask her what she wished for, Icy! If you tell someone then it's supposed to never come true!"

"Never?" Raven looked shocked.

"…Are you sure that it never does?" Icy seemed uncertain.

"Yes!" Growled Flame. "People always, always told me on my birthdays to keep my wish a secret or else it would never come true!"

Even Edgar seemed a bit surprised. "Oh…"

There was silence for several seconds.

Suddenly, Raven jumped up from her seat. "It's present time!"She ran towards her living room where all the presents had been left. Edgar had managed to sneak both dolls into the bathroom earlier and sort out which one belonged to her, so there would be no confusion when she opened the case.

"But we didn't even have cake yet!" Icy protested.

Raven paused. She loved anything sweet… "…Well, we can have cake right after we open presents!" She continued to make her way over to the gifts. Normally, she might have waited on her presents, but she was dying to see the doll her older 'brother' had gotten for her.

"Raven, would ya like to open mine first?" The phoenix inquired.

"Uh…" Raven looked at the doll's case. It would be very rude if she just said 'no'. "Sure, Orenda. Which one is it?"

Orenda pointed to a neatly-wrapped box with fire print on it. "That one."

Raven took the gift. It came to be that she had opened every gift—a fashionable tomboy outfit from Orenda, some jewelry from Icy, a gift-card from Flame, and a bicycle from her real brother who hadn't been able to show up—except for one. She still hadn't seen the doll Edgar had given to her. She was nothing less than delighted when the time finally came that she could open the case up.

"Here you go, Rae. Happy Birthday!" Edgar smiled, handing the case to her. Raven was too excited to answer. She set the case on her lap, undid the latch, and opened it slowly, letting her childlike curiosity take its time to leave her.

She stared. There was silence.

"Well, what is it, Raven?" Asked Flame.

The silence was making Edgar nervous again. "…You like it, Rae?"

Oh my gosh… It's… hau~! Raven slowly scooped the doll out of its case cradling it in her arms. She couldn't even finish her thoughts. "This is the most adorable doll I've ever seen!" She squeeled. "Where did you find it? It's so cute! It's perfect! It's…" She turned the doll over, noticing the key slot. Looking back in the case, she saw the key that went with it.

"Oooh! It's windy!" She reached for the key…

"Ah-ah-ah! Raven! Hold on!" Edgar exclaimed.

She looked up. "…What's the matter, Eddy?"

Edgar scratched his head nervously. "Well, it's a really old doll, which means it's extra fragile. I'm not even sure exactly how old it is, so you don't want to do anything that can break it…"

"…So…?"

The fox sighed. "The owners of the shop also warned me before I bought it that people had returned that doll… an awful lot. That probably means that whatever it's supposed to do when you wind it… don't happen, or doesn't work right. Plus, like I said, it's fragile, so you wouldn't want the key to break it…"

Raven frowned. "So he's only for looking at, huh?"

Edgar nodded. "It's only for decoration, or very gentle play. I wouldn't risk winding it."

"Oh… alright." Raven sighed. Still, she hugged the doll and smiled at it. Raven's other friends no-doubt were wondering why Edgar would have gotten her a doll that might be broken. But Raven didn't care very much. And as long as Raven didn't mind, neither did Edgar.

"Bye Orenda!" Raven waved goodbye with one hand. The only guest remaining now was Edgar… and he couldn't help but feel happy to know that Raven had not put down the doll ever since she had taken it out of its case. The whole remainder of the party, she had kept it securely in her arms. For once, he had chosen a good gift; the perfect gift. He was proud to have done something right.

The 12-year-old turned to her older 'brother'. "Hey Eddy?"

"Yeah?"

"You brought your doll…"

Edgar sweatdropped. "Uh, I'm not the best at playing with dolls, Rae." Raven only smiled.

"Well, I was actually gonna ask ya if you could take him out. I wanna see him."

"Oh, oh… No problem… uh… Let me get it." He quickly walked from the front door to the living room, where he had left his doll on the sofa. He brought it over, in its case, and opened it up for her to see.

"Wow… he's cute too. They have lots of cute dolls over at that store, huh?" She continued to cradle her doll.

"Uh, a few…"

"…Is yours broken?"

Edgar cringed. "…No. But I thought yours was the cutest, and I didn't think the winding option would matter all that much to you… Mine… well… It really hurt me to leave the store without it… which is why I have it in the first place." Really hurt… At least she didn't have to deal with it falling on her and slamming her on the ground.

Raven's eyes sparkled again. Oh no, thought Edgar. What's she thinking?

"Well… I don't mind… but I would like to see what he's supposed to do. Can ya please wind yours?"

Edgar did not want to.

The doll had tried to kill him, and he almost thought it would be a better idea to wind her doll than his…

However, the store owners hadn't had any complaints about his doll, which controversially suggested that his was the safer one. "Uh, Raven… there's something I didn't tell you about these dolls…"

Raven looked surprised. "Like what?"

Edgar took a deep breath. "Well…" He quickly explained to her as much as he could remember about the conversation with the shop owners, and how the doll he had with him had basically attacked him three times. "I think they're both perfectly fine as long as we don't wind them up but… I'm just not sure…"

Raven looked shocked at first, then thoughtful. She looked down at her doll. "…Well, yours wasn't complained about…"

"True…"

"So don't ya think if something terrible really did happen when other people wound it, people would have complained and taken it back more?"

"…I guess…"

"So will you wind, or not wind?" The purple hedgehog asked thoughtlessly.

Edgar sighed. "Here's the deal: Don't wind yours, and stay behind me while I wind mine. If it attacks us, I'll just destroy it, and if it doesn't do anything weird, then great. How does that sound?"

Raven nodded excitedly. "I'm not scared of any possessed doll. And you're really strong, so I don't think it would even hurt you, big bro. I wanna see what happens."

Edgar smiled softly. "Okay then. Stay behind me." He set his doll's case on the ground, scooping it out and starting to wind it. Raven stepped back and watched intently. Edgar stopped when he feared he might over-wind the thing, disconnecting the key and setting it on the ground a few feet away…

Silence.

"…But that one isn't broken, Eddy, so it should do something—"

"Shhh…"

Suddenly, the doll opened its eyes. Edgar and Raven froze. The doll slowly, rigidly sat up, turning its head towards the fox.

"…Hello Edgar Marralce Alelle." Edgar couldn't move. He made no reply. "I am Katashi, the fifth doll. We are seven altogether."

Edgar was deeply disturbed that the doll knew his full name. However, since it did not seem to be hostile he managed a weak, "U-um… nice to meet you…"

Raven was still in shock. "He's moving…" She whispered.

"I know!" Edgar whispered back.

"I hear you perfectly." Katashi glared. Edgar and Raven both looked back at the living doll, confused, a bit nervous, and still surprised. "Edgar, you must take a vow or discard me."

"Um… I'm sorry?"

"Protect my heart, and I'll protect you through it. Or tonight might be the night you die."

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down! Protect… your heart? I mean… sorry dude, but if you're hanging around girls, I can't stop you from heartbreak. Especially because, well, you're like an action figure, and girls don't develop romantic relationships with those."

Katashi blinked. "… Action figure?"

Raven let go of her doll with one hand, using her teleportation powers to call her Sonic the Hedgehog action figure to her free hand. She still held her doll securely with the other. "Like this."

Katashi looked outraged. "I am not some goofy action figure! I am a special, hand-crafted doll with the rare opportunity to become alive!" He muttered and rambled for several minutes before calming down. All the while Edgar tried to apologize. "No matter… Anyway, it seems I owe you further explanation, but time is running out quickly… There are seven of us dolls, but only one of us can become Shadow; become real, as you are. To become Shadow, one of us must be able to successfully collect seven other hearts in addition to our own. Each of us has one heart. There are no extras, so we battle in order to reach our goal."

Raven seemed to be horrified, holding her doll more protectively.

Edgar didn't mind so much, but as he thought about the concept, it became more and more disturbing. "…Isn't that a bit… morbid?"

Katashi sighed. "We aren't real. We have no blood or organs. Only a Chaos Emerald heart."

At this, both Raven and Edgar gasped. "Chaos Emerald?"

"T-those were only legendary!" Edgar stammered. "No one's even supposedly seen a Chaos Emerald since photographs were invented!" Raven nodded in agreement.

"They've been hidden inside us." Katashi told the two. He looked at Raven. "You have no reason to fear for his life around me. I'd rather not fight, but some of us are very persistent; They'll do anything they can to steal the other emeralds… So, I'll ask you again: will you promise to help protect me so I can do the same for you, or will you take me back to the shop? If you do neither, you'll be risking your life."

Edgar looked stressed, rubbing his head. He mumbled. "How hard can protecting a doll be?"

Katashi waited. "That's not a straight answer."

"Sure! Fine! I'll do it!" This doll was starting to get on the fox's nerves. Katashi didn't pay attention to this.

"Good, then. We should do our best to get along." The doll tilted his head, blue eyes gazing at Raven with curiosity. "Who are you holding?"

Raven slowly loosened her grip on the doll, holding it so that Katashi could see it better. Katashi frowned. "That one… Looks like you've found the reject."

"Hey!" Raven exclaimed angrily.

Katashi continued. "It won't hurt you to wind him, but he is… needy. You may come to hate him or dislike him for his personality if you wind him up, but if you don't, and you don't pledge to him, and you don't return him, you might die."

Raven seemed hurt. "But I don't want to return him!"

"I warn you, he may be trouble for you. He was returned so many times because people could not stand him. He was a hassle for them, and will be for you. His heart is like glass, which only makes everything worse. He'll be demanding of your time and energy much more than any other of my sane brothers would be. Take only a minute to think on this, then make your decision: Will you wind, or not wind?"

A/N: Creepy Doll? Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More to come, eventually. =)