Hello! Thanks for reading my story. I really appreciate your thoughts and comments! But enough of my talking. On with the story!

Chapter nine: Surprise!

"Sonic!" Amy yelled, jumping onto Sonic as he entered the living room.

"Amy," Sonic said through choked gasps. "I… can't breathe."

Shadow rolled his eyes and looked at Silver. "Does she always do this?"

Silver nodded. "Yes. She thinks one day she and Sonic will get married!" He chuckled. "That'll never happen."

Amy's ears perked up at the young hedgehog's comment. She whirled around, her Piko-Piko hammer suddenly appearing in her hands. "What'd you say?"

Silver smirked. "Nothing."

"Guys," Sonic said, "you're going to scare away our new member!" He looked around the room. "Where is she?"

"Knuckles and Tails are showing her around," Amy replied, smiling sweetly at her crush.

Sonic snapped his fingers. "I got it!" He turned to Shadow. "Shadow, how would you like to be a part of the Freedom Fighters?"

Shadow frowned. "Freedom Fighters?"

Sonic smiled. "It's our nickname. So, would you like to be an official member?"

"But, I'm… not an orphan."

Sonic was about to reply when someone opened the front door.

"So," Knuckles said as he entered the room. "What'd I miss?"

Sonic smirked. "Not much."

Everyone became quiet when a purple cat with golden eyes walked in behind Knuckles.

She glanced timidly at the ground. "Hi."

Knuckles sighed. "Yeah. She's not much of a talker." He laughed when the cat blushed with embarrassment.

Silver stared at the newcomer, remaining silent.

Amy noticed Silver staring and smiled. "You should try talking to her. You're shy too, so I'm sure she'll like you."

Silver glared at Amy, a turquoise-colored aura appearing over his hand. "How about you mind your own business for once," he said through clenched teeth. "Before you get hurt."

"Bring it on, tough guy!" Amy yelled, swinging wildly at Silver with her hammer.

Sonic rubbed his temples, trying to remain calm. He smiled at the cat. "So, what's your name?"

The cat looked up at Sonic, smiling weakly. "Blaze."

"Do you have any powers?"

Blaze backed away, shaking her head furiously.

Sonic looked at Knuckles. "Did I say something wrong?"

Knuckles frowned. "Maybe she doesn't want to talk about that," he whispered. "Try changing the subject."

Sonic nodded. "Well, I'm Sonic. Sonic the hedgehog. You know Knuckles, and," he pointed to Shadow. "This is Shadow."

Shadow waved at Blaze.

Sonic and Knuckles frowned when Blaze waved back to him.

Sonic cleared his throat. "And the two fighting are Amy and Silver." He elbowed Knuckles in the side, not wanting to scare Blaze by sounding upset. "Where's Tails?"

"Working in his shop," Knuckles replied. "So, have you made your final decision yet, Blaze?"

Blaze nodded. "I'll stay… for now."

Sonic smiled. "Great to have you. There's a spare bedroom upstairs." He looked at Shadow. "Have you made your decision?"

"But I'm not a-"

Sonic shook his head. "You don't have to be an orphan to join."

Knuckles frowned. "But Sonic, you said-"

"He doesn't need to be an orphan, Knuckles."

"But you made that rule."

Sonic glared coldly at the echidna. "Well I'm changing the rule. You should show Blaze her room."

"What's wrong?" Shadow asked once Knuckles and Blaze left.

Sonic sighed. "Nothing. So, have you been going through tough times at home?"

Shadow abruptly looked away from Sonic. "No. What makes you think that?"

Sonic smiled. "Look. I'm your friend, and friends help each other through hard times."

"There's nothing wrong at home, okay?"

Sonic slowly nodded, knowing that Shadow was lying. "Okay."

"I've made my final decision."

Sonic's ears perked up. "Really?"

Shadow smirked. "Yeah. I've decided to become a Freedom Fighter."

Wow, this is short. Well I didn't really aim to accomplish anything besides revealing our new team member. Hopefully the next chapter will be longer. I was wondering if I should make a new story called Hope. It would include some of my fan characters as well as Sonic, Shadow and Silver. It would be about… well I'll just give you the summary:

Seventeen-year-old Silver has been sick with leukemia since he was diagnosed at five. His older brother Sonic is an extremely popular senior in high school with a big secret: he's gay, and he has been secretly dating college student Shadow the hedgehog. Sunkist is busy trying to find a part-time job that pays enough to afford food and shelter for her and her sister Sunshine (since their parents passed away.) However, her hotheaded and stubborn attitude keeps her from getting one, so she decides to resort to… rather drastic measures. Can Sonic and Shadow keep their high school/ college relationship alive? Will Sunkist and Sunshine ever be able to live without constantly worrying about food and money? Can Silver win his deadly war with cancer?

Sonic cracked a small smile. "Life… isn't always perfect. There will usually be an event or problem that you don't necessarily want to occur, but it's not in your control to stop it from happening. You can't stop someone from dying when it's his or her time, or stop your friend from moving away. But you can hope. Hope that someone who you love whose sick gets better and hope that your friend doesn't have to move away." He felt a stray tear escape from his eyes and roll ever so slowly down his cheek. He felt it, yet he didn't wipe it away. "When everything else is gone, just hope."

Well that's all I have for now. Please comment! And if you do comment, tell me weather I should write Hope or not. I probably will, anyway, but it's nice to hear your honest opinion! Bye!