It wasn't too long before the group got themselves going, showing around their feline friend, once that they learned her name, and Cmara learned theirs. She just was happy to have her regular clothes back, but Amy didn't seem to mind it, maybe not so much. Cmara kept by Knuckles' side the whole way, she just felt easy around him; since he was after all the first creature she met so far. Sonic, she thought was sometimes odd but a good guy, Tails seemed pretty cute for being so smart, Cream (with her Chao, Cheese) was a nice little mannered girl, and Amy… she'd have to decide on that, since she felt the pink hedgehog still thinking the cat would go after Sonic, but Knuckles already promised that wouldn't happen.

It was when Knuckles stopped as did the others that Cmara looked up, noticing another type of creature… a white bat, with blue eye shadow, teal-colored eyes, and a purple jumpsuit that had a heart on the front.

"Oh great, not her again," groaned Knuckles. The last thing he wanted to do was run into this woman.

"Not who?" asked the cat.

Landing, the female winged-lady smiled with her eyes always half-closed, "Hello, how's it going?" She winked, "Let me guess, you're all going shopping."

Amy growled at her, "And how do you know that?"

"Why is it every time we go somewhere, you have to follow us around?" the echidna frowned, clearly annoyed. Cmara glanced at him as if asking, which she was, 'who is that woman?' "That's just Rouge, she's a picky one so be careful with her."

"What were you saying about me?" The bat woman, Rouge, flew over standing next to him, as he scowled, "I suppose it was something sweet."

"More like something that isn't your business!"

Rouge then took a notice to Cmara, as she backed up. Somehow, the cat didn't feel comfortable around the bat just yet. "A new friend?" Rouge then started floating around the feline, seeming to point out features, "Clean ginger-brown hair… bright chocolate eyes, a small smile…nice figure on the body…"

"Knock it off!" Amy snapped, not only defending Cmara in this case but also annoyed that no one told her about having a 'nice body figure'.

Rouge then smiled sweetly, "Aw, Knuckie, is she your new girlfriend?"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Knuckles was starting to steam by this moment.

"Okay, okay!" Sonic waved his hands, "On to shopping we go! Everybody remember that!"

"What do you two say first?" Amy glared at the echidna and bat as they sighed.

"Truce, dear."

"Fine, truce."

"See, that makes everything else better. Now march." She pointed in the direction as the two left, as Cmara blinked. Amy smiled, "You'll get used to it."

"So it's normal?" the cat wondered.

"Heck, hardly anything's normal." Amy giggled, but the feline didn't understand the joke, so Amy sighed and pulled Cmara along, Come on, you might like this place we're going."

"I… guess so."

Later, inside a huge mall-like place, there clothes here, clothes there, and pretty much any type of clothing you can imagine in color, pattern, and size. Knuckles, Sonic and Tails stood awkwardly as they were inside the girls' section of, "What not to wear".

"…Anybody else think this place ripped off a TV show's title?" the fox asked his friends.

"Who knows, and who cares." Sonic just wanted to get out of here ASAP.

With the girls, Amy, Cream and Rouge showed Cmara all the best accessories as the bat was asking, "So is there any peculiar kind of style you'd like to look for? Any colors or patterns you might like?"

The cat shifted a bit, "Not sure…"

"Okay, then you leave everything to us." Amy and Rouge walked off, as Cream took Cmara's hand and smiled at her.

"I can help too, Miss Cmara." She giggled, "They'll be looking for stuff for themselves and forget why we were here instead for."

"I suppose so." Cmara followed the young rabbit.

As Rouge and Amy were searching throughout the dress section, the pink hedgehog squealed at spying something, "Ohmigosh, this is so cute!" In a flash, she was over to the boys, asking, "Sonic, did you see this?" the blue Hedgehog yelped, as Amy was holding a white spring dress with a pink sash and pink butterflies all over it. "Does it fit me? It looks very cute, and it's pink too!"

He sweat-dropped, "I'm sure it's great Amy, but aren't you supposed to be looking for something that…" Then Rouge popped up next, making Knuckles jumped as she flashed out a purple gown that sparkled, "What do you think, hon? Doesn't it make me look sexy?"

Tails wasn't impressed, "See, you girls always do the same thing. You promise to find something for somebody and instead go for what you mostly want. Some days, I just don't understand women."

"That's not until you're old enough, Tails." Amy smiled.

The echidna groaned, "Look, will you two focus already?"

As Cmara and Cream were listening from where they were standing, they could hear Rouge going, "Aw, don't be such shy boys, you two. Someday, you'll admit it to us as well."

Then, Cream spotted something as she pulled it out to show the cat, "Will this look pretty on you?"

Cmara stared… then smiled and nodded. At least this young bunny had some sense to remembering why they were here. During that time, Amy had pulled a banana-yellow dress, "So which one do you like better, this one or the one I had before?"

The boys grew uneasy, as Rouge waved her hand revealing a silver gown, winking, "Knuckles, let's try this again. Does this make you want me, tell the truth."

Having enough, Knuckles and Sonic broke to outside, as the hedgehog yelped, "We'll see you outside!" The boys sighed in relief, as Sonic frowned, "those girls are crazy."

"You'd think?" The echidna scowled.

Of course, it was Cream who got Amy and Rouge to settle down as she had told them, she had found a good outfit for Cmara, and they were smiling at how she looked. We'd show the readers too, but let's not spoil it just yet.

"I knew it was pretty." Cream smiled, as Cheese flew around.

"I'll agree on that." Rouge nodded.

Even Amy gave thumbs up, "You look just fantastic!"

Afterwards, the girls came outside, as they met up with Tails, Knuckles and Sonic. The hedgehog sighed, "I assume you finally found something for our guest?"

"I did, Mr. Sonic." Cream smiled, "She likes it very much."

Knuckles chuckled quietly, 'It might be something like Amy's, always girlish, but if it was Rouge who chose it, it would look not so right at all, she doesn't look the type to be…' Then his train of thought stopped short as Cmara came up slowly, wearing… a white dress with a long skirt, strap-sleeves that were fuzzy, a golden gem in the center of the collar and even had a special white flower clip in her hair, that was worn down.

"So…" She smiled blushing, "How is it, guys?"

Sonic and Tails looked stunned, and Knuckles… he briefly had to wipe drool from his mouth for some reason. This was a little embarrassing.

"It's… it's not that bad." Sonic grinned. Amy scowled but smiled at the same time, making it look creepy.

"Yeah, it's good." Agreed Tails.

Cmara twirled a bit as she walked over next to Knuckles, who stared dumbly. Amy, unable to help herself, rushed behind them… making a breeze to lift the skirt a bit but Cmara quickly pushed it back down, asking franticly, "What was that for?"

"Oh sorry, are you not the type that likes the skirt blown upward?" Amy shrugged.

Tails shook his head, "Amy, you're just not showing any good examples at the moment." He look at his echidna friend, who seemed like he was drunk and still staring dumbly, "Knuckles, what do you keep staring at?"

Knuckles shook his head with a funny sound, "Uh, n-nothing."

The cat just shrugged and smiled as she pulled something out of the collar, still around her neck… the necklace. She smiled deeply, unaware of hearing most of the voices, but a poking from the echidna got her attention, "Huh?"

"You might want to put that away again." Knuckles made a gesture, "Rouge is also known to like pretty gems."

"Gems?" Cmara then yelped as Rouge was flying over to them and quickly stuffed the necklace away.

"You got that right, honey." Rouge landed, smiling, "I couldn't help noticing that pretty little neck thing there."

"But…"

"Oh, no worries, it's not like I will break it." She held out a hand, "I'd just like a little look at it."

"I can't take it off."

"You mean it's stuck."

"I mean, I WON'T." The cat hissed.

"Oh this is going to be bad." Sonic saw where this might be going.

"Bat girl, let's not, okay?" Knuckles wanted this to end as soon as possible.

The bat however frowned at the rudeness from the feline, "Really, we get you the outfit and that's how you'll be talking to us now?"

The cat frowned, "I made a strong promise that this necklace never comes off ever, no matter what the situation."

"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt for one second would it?"

Cmara began to shake, "Gerald will not allow, I can't and I won't."

Rouge however managed to grasp the necklace as it hung from the cat's neck, "It's a very nice beauty darling. I'm sure that this Gerald won't mind at all, now will he?" But that seemed to be a big mistake and the last straw as Cmara slapped away Rouge's hand, clutching back the necklace. Rouge flinched a little at the sudden slap as the cat was still shaking, tears beginning to form in the corner of one eye.

"This is my only treasure, I made a promise I want to keep!" Cmara then cried, "You don't know what had happened! Gerald is gone, so is my Aunt Maria and my brother…" She fell to her knees, "I don't even know if he's alive! You don't know how it feels for me right now, okay?"

Rouge frowned, starting to feel bad already. This cat must've gone through a lot and she didn't seem to be helping out at all. Knuckles glared, "I think you've done enough, Rouge."

"I should say so." As she flew off, Knuckles just stared after her and turned back to Cmara, who was silently weeping now. She must've been hurt badly, with memories from the loss of her family… he placed a hand on her back, not knowing why as he patted her back softly. She in return, also unknowing the purpose, embraced him, leaning against him. The others just decided not to look for one, it was a moment for the cat to have, and two, Knuckles might yell at them later for it.

Much later, back at Amy's house, Cmara and Sonic sat from each other on large boulders. The cat was feeling a little better by now and kept glancing at Sonic, as he was watching. The third time she glanced, he sweat-dropped, "You know you might not wanna keep looking over here." She turned away. "Amy just has this thing about girls who keep staring at me."

But the fourth time she glanced, he frowned and then thought when they just met, she got the wrong scent… the wrong somebody else…thinking it wasn't a good question but having to know, he wondered, "…Do I remind of anyone by the way?"

She quickly glanced away, "No, never mind." She shook her head.

Sonic shrugged, "If you say so, kid." Cmara still looked upset to herself, still thinking… where was he, her brother? Her only family left?

Later that night, it's dark and no one else is around except for a certain flying figure, Rouge. She silently moved along, pouting, "That Knuckles can be such a bully. All I asked was to look at one gem and that young feline breaks down about it. She should be happy we're trying to help her out, even me." But that talking-to-self seemed to slowly cease as she notice something… it looked like smoke.

"Funny, the Doctor wasn't even out today." Curiously, she flew over and stopped short in hiding to get a good look. It didn't look like anything that would relate to the person she just spoke of… more like… an escape pod, broken in half and a figure was hanging halfway out of it… a hedgehog, with fur that was black as ebony, red markings on most parts of his body and he seemed to be shaking. Rouge gasped a little as she flew over having spotted something on his side. Carefully, she turned him over, resting his head in her lap as he breathed softly but with a cringe once or twice. She was right, for there on the left side of his body… was a large cut, it was still fresh and blood was slowly seeping.

'How long has he been out here?' Rouge looked up to the skies, 'Maybe the Doctor will know what to do, even if he's not that smart…'

The hedgehog just breathed, murmuring something under his breath… "Maria…"

Back at what seemed to be an old ship, that had a lab and other rooms inside it, it was floating along through the air. We can see the hedgehog… Shadow, resting on a large bed, cringing still… his head swam around with images…

"But…"

"We got to go!"

"Shadow-!"

"NOW!"

"This can't be right! We haven't done anything to the humans and they already attack us!"

"Young ones, you must understand, my time has come, and I've lived for such a long time."

"MARIA!"

"Everyone's fate… depends on…both of you…"

"Brother!"

That last cry awoken him, he breathed hard as his vision blurred a little. Where was he now? All he could recall was being inside the escape pod…

"Ah, I see someone's finally woken up."

Scarlet eyes shaking, he glanced to try and focus on the figures appearing next to the bedside, a large man with a bald head, glasses, and a red suit. Then there was the female bat, and three robots. One gray, one yellow and the other, looked more like a kid with pointed horns and a backpack. He groaned as he began to sit upward and hissed at the pain on his body, which had been wrapped around by a large bandage.

"Careful now," Rouge said calmly, not to scare him, "Don't try getting up yet." He stared at her a little, and then at the others.

"Rouge said she found you somewhere by the river." The yellow robot with the long head began first, "The only serious injury you had was on your side."

The gray chubby-looking robot then asked, "Can you tell us who you are and why you were inside an escape pod in the first place?"

Shadow stared, and then held his head. It hurt so much, "I don't… I mean, I can't…" He hung his head a little, shaking.

"You mean you can't remember a thing?" Rouge looked worried. Not only did he get a large cut, maybe he hit his head.

"I do, but… everything, it happened so fast…"

The little robot, smirking, flew up as he looked Shadow up and down, "Yeah right, you can't fool us this time!"

"What?"

The young robot just grinned, "Don't try and fool us, Sonic! We know you anywhere and anytime!" He received a hit on the head from Rouge, "Ow!"

"Will you stop being to annoying? Does he look anything like that other Hedgehog?" The bat scolded. Shadow just blinked, people were sure strange on the Earth.

"Well, how rude of my robots to not introduce themselves to our patient." The man finally spoke, as Shadow got a good look at him… it couldn't be Gerald, he just saw the man get shot. And even… no, he didn't want to think about that right now, it hurt too much… then he focused on the man again as he continued, "You should thank the young lady since she helped you here to my ship, that of myself, Doctor Ivo Robotnik."

"It says 'Eggman' on there." Shadow pointed to a small sign, making the man groan, "Fine, I'm also Eggman."

"And I'm Rouge, we'll make it our pleasure to help you rest up, sir…?" She paused.

"Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog." He spoke, remembering his manners as best as he could.

"Well, this here is Decoe," the long-headed yellow robot waved, "Bocoe," the gray robot just nodded, "And then there's also…"

"Bokkun! The name is Bokkun!" He then asked, "Are you sure that's not Sonic we're talking to?" the others glared at him, except Shadow. He then looked up out the large glass window, seeing a large city. Eggman and his robot companions looked out it as well.

"Ah, Station Square." Eggman smiled a crooked kind of grin.

"It's very busy down there, Doctor." Decoe was agreeing.

They turned slightly as they heard Rouge asking, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay in bed?" She asked this, since she was already helping Shadow off the bed and assisting him to standing, since one of his legs seemed to have already quit on him. Despite that, he walked over slowly with Rouge holding him around the waist, careful of his injury. "Is something wrong?" The bat asked.

Shadow just frowned, in half anger and concern, "For some reason… I feel there's someone out there that I must search for…"