Chapter 2 Meet the rivals!

Hey, I'm back! This is probably the fastest I've ever updated! But really, I want it to be done by Christmas! I went in pretty deep with Shadow/Mina cause it's not an official couple so I wanted to explain how she got a crush on him.

Oh yeah, I'm not trying to say that one type of gift is better that another, but in this fanfic; the thought behind each gift is what counts.

Please enjoy!

"You guys excited as I am?" Sonic asked, leading the way to the annual Knothole Christmas party. Frost covered the ground leading to the Castle that morning; the snowfall not yet kicking in.

"Oh yeah! I can't wait to binge on Christmas cookies!" Tails exclaimed, laughing. "The Castle cooks always out-do themselves every year." He tugged at his red sweater anxiously.

"It will be my first Christmas." Shadow said to himself, slightly smiling.

Knuckles overhead and brought it up. "Your first Christmas?! No way!"

"Didn't you ever celebrate with Maria?" Sonic asked, walking next to the ebony hedgehog.

"Maria had told me about this holiday but I wasn't on ARK long enough." Shadow said. "I feel so awkward though."

"Don't worry, you'll catch on." Knuckles said, "This holiday isn't too hard to understand."

"We're here!" Tails shouted, as they approached the big wooden doors of the castle.

"Wow, this place looks so different when it's decorated!" Cream exclaimed, tugging on Mina and Amy's arms. "Look at the holly hanging from the ceilings; it's so beautiful!"

"Geez, Cream. I think you'll become an interior decorator when you get older." Mina said, patting Cream's head. "Decorating is all you ever think about."

"That, and Tails." Rouge remarked, causing Cream to blush.

"Have you guys spotted Sally yet?" Amy said, looking towards the staircase.

"Are you still worried about that bet with her?" Rouge groaned, rolling her eyes.

"No, I'm always this paranoid." Amy replied, giving Rouge a dirty look.

"I could believe that." Rouge replied, "But I guess you're so paranoid you just missed Sonic."

"Huh???" Amy squealed, grabbing Rouge by her jacket, "Where'd he go?!"

"Chill, he's at the food table with Tails." Rouge said. "Anyway, I'm going to take a look around."

Rouge left them and walked around the hall, spotting some kids lined up to see Santa and then a group of carolers taking a break on a green sofa. She also spotted her "red knight" walking around aimlessly, looking like a social misfit. Well, he kind of was. She started to head towards him since he saw her, until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Standing behind her was a red hedgehog girl with fierce green eyes. Her grown out quills were tied neatly behind her head and she was wearing a tight workout suit with fighter gloves. "You wouldn't happen to be Rouge the Bat?" She asked, holding out her hand.

"You found the right person, that's me." Rouge smiled. She shook hands with the hedgehog girl at first, but then suddenly the girl flipped Rouge over her back and sent her flying into one of the castle plants.

Knuckles started to push through the crowd to try to get to Rouge to see if she was all right. "Break it up! There's nothing to see!" He screamed, pushing people out of the way.

Rouge rubbed her head as she stood up, feeling a bump that would surely turn in to a bruise. When she saw the girl approach her she yelled, "What did you do that for?!" though gritted teeth, her anger growing.

"It was a little warning." The girls said, smirking. "My name is Amber the Hedgehog, top martial artist of my town. I've heard many great things about Knothole, especially about a man who could possibly match my strength."

"So I take it you're one of Sally's friends." Rouge groaned.

"Exactly, and your rival." Amber said.

Just then Knuckles arrived after successfully clearing away the crowd. "Rouge, are you all right?"

"Just peachy." Rouge flatly said.

"You must be the famous Knuckles, master of martial arts for knothole. Am I right?" Amber said, looking him up and down.

"I-I guess you could say that," Knuckles said, blushing at the complement. 'This is kind of nice, ' He thought, 'Rouge never complemented me before.'

"Hey," Rouge snapped, "Didn't you see she just hit me, Knucklehead?" Rouge yelled.

"Say, why don't we go sit over there and get to know each other better," Amber said, taking his hand.

"Sure." Knuckles said reluctantly, leading her over to the couches.

Rouge just stared open-mouthed at the scene. She couldn't think of anything to say, anything to do. And she couldn't believe what just happened either.

Mina took a seat at one of the tables set up near the fire. She sat there and watched everyone walk around and talk to each other while taking a sip of her hot cocoa. The Christmas season was always her favorite because everyone was in a happy mood. Especially the children, she loved the look on the kid's faces she baby-sat when they told her all the things they hoped to get for Christmas. Mina wondered what it would be like to have kids of her own and see their smiling faces Christmas morning as they opened their presents.

She saw Shadow talking to Hope near the food table. Although he wasn't smiling much, she could tell he was as happy as she was because his eyes seemed to sparkle. Those kinds of things always made her happy to see.

As far as she could remember since Sally had been captured and she and Sonic went to save her, she felt like her heart would never heal-Until that fateful day on the battlefield fighting against the evil aliens, Xorda. Mina had met Shadow while waiting for the signal to attack. She was so nervous but Shadow cheered her up and she was able to fight. The more and more she saw him; the more she fell in love with him. Mina hadn't talked to him much though; she felt if she pushed her feeling on him like she did with Sonic; He defiantly wouldn't like her.

A black hedgehog with long locks and brown eyes interrupted Mina's thoughts as she sat down uninvited at Mina's table. She turned up the volume on the headphones she was wearing and rested her feet on the edge of the table. Mina stared back at her in shock, thinking it was incredibly rude.

The hedgehog stared back at her for a few minutes and finally said, "So you're Mina, huh?"

"Um, do I know you?" Mina asked, warily.

The girl smirked, "My name is Shaniska. I'm one of Sally's friends involved in the bet that's going on."

"Oh really?" Mina said, "And why would you be interested in Shadow?"

"Well, just look at him." Shaniska said, pointed to him. "I sure want a piece of that. I'm surprised he doesn't have a crowd of girls around him."

Mina sighed, "It's probably because he seems anti-social."

"I see nothing wrong with that." She sniffed, "More for me then."

Mina was clearly disgusted. "How can you talk like that?"

"Humph. That's something I'd expect a goody-too-shoes to say." Shaniska said, running a hand through her quills. "And because of that I won't let you win this guy." With that, she got up from the table and walked over to Shadow and Hope.

Mina couldn't hear the conversation but it looked like it wasn't going too well for Shaniska. Then again, Shadow isn't one to reveal what he's thinking so she couldn't tell for sure. All she knew was she needed to up her game, and fast. "Hey Tails!" Cream said, gleefully. Tails was where he was every year, chowing down on Christmas cookies.

He turned around and scratched his head sheepishly as he swallowed the last of the cookies in his mouth. "Uh, Hey Cream. Sorry I'm such a pig."

Cream laughed, "It's no big deal, really. I know how good the desserts are. I personally like the pumpkin pie, although I believe my mom makes them even better."

"Your mom's a great cook, Cream." Tails said, "I'm sure you'll be able to cook really great too."

"You really think so?" Cream asked, blushing.

"Well, Sure!" Tails said.

Suddenly, a deep orange fox with purple eyes came up to them. She wore a baseball cap backwards on her head and she wore a set of tools around her waist. She smiled brightly and said, "My name is Freda, and you must be Tails?"

"That would be me." Tails said, "Have I met you before?"

"Oh, no! You've never met me." Freda said, laughing. "I'm a technician in Mercia. The best of the best! I've been hearing things about your ability to create so many things from electronics and I was very intrigued."

"Oh really, it's nothing." Tails said, blushing. "I just have a knack for making things."

"I wish I had a talent for that. I never had the talent so I had to work my butt off to have gotten where I am today." Freda noticed Cream who was watching them. "You're that cute little rabbit they call Cream, right?"

Cream nodded. "Um. If you two would excuse me, I'm going to see how Mina's doing." She used Mina as an excuse so that she could leave. She couldn't find anything to throw into the discussion so she figured she had better leave. Even though Freda was her rival, she still wanted nothing to do with the conversation.

"All right, Cream." Tails said, "I'll see you later, Okay?"

"Sure. Goodbye." Cream said, as she walked away.

Amy ran up behind Sonic and captured him a bear hug. "Oh, Sonic! I'm so glad I found you! I've been looking all over!" She squealed.

"Ugh, that's enough." Sonic groaned, peeling her off of him. He looked down at her and smiled. "You have to stop doing that. You'll kill me someday and you'll never forgive yourself for it."

"That may be." Amy started. "But I love hugging you!"

Sonic sighed heavily. He'd never get her to stop doing things like that. That, and suddenly asking for dates, crying whenever he says something negative, chasing after him all time, always getting caught by Eggman, etc. There were so many things that bugged him about her. Sometimes though, he feels that he can't live without her always being there for him, whether he needed it or not.

"Hello, Sonic." Sally said, coming up behind them.

Amy puffed out her cheeks.

"Oh, Sally!" Sonic said, smiling "I was wondering where you were."

"How about I tell you about my day over a nice fresh cup of coffee?"

"Sure." Sonic replied. He turned to Amy and smiled, "I'll see you later."

Amy ran her hands through her quills in aggravation as she watched them leave. "Oooh! She always does that to me! I can never get a private time with my Sonic!"

Amy looked toward the doorway with a smile on her face. "I will win Sonic, Sally beware!"

Kimmie: Okay, I'm done! I'm sorry Cream and Amy's parts were short, but I got major writer's block! What do you guys think should each character get their guys?