Shadow the Hedgehog

Hope continued until she made it to the start.

Hope could see Melody's anguish. "Er sorry about that. Slip of the tongue," she said before hugging her.

"Just try not to scream Melody. We all know how much of a scaredy-cat you are," joked Hope.

"No worries. And yeah it is. Just remember to stay close," said Hope as she walked into the house, the entrance dimly lit.

Hope looked around and saw the haunted house wasn't far away. "It's not too far now."

"I sure picked a great time to come back," thought Hope as she listened to the others.

"Bye," said Hope as she turned and went back towards the others. She could see something wrong.

"Hope you two have some fun here."

"Maybe. Perhaps she is really turning over a new leaf. Ok, will do. Thanks again. So what're you gonna do now?" asked Hope.

"I think it's a good interest. She just seems to want to know more about me." Hope smiled and took the device, putting it in her other pocket. "Thanks Ziona. I appreciate it."

"Ok at the moment. Mina's been taking an interest in me. She was kinda surprised I'm not an eternal optimist, though we were cut short by an outburst from Tikal," she whispered back to Ziona.

Hope turned around when she heard Ziona and called back to her while waving her arms.

"It's not your fault Anna. Our discussion would have got to similarly unpleasant ground sooner or later."

"That's not to say there aren't 'problematic Mobians. Only way for world peace guaranteed would be to get rid of everybody. And that's not happening any time soon."

"Pretty much. Then again I'm human. We've had a very volatile history. The Mobians are probably a lot more optimistic about world peace.

"I'm optimistic that we'll beat Eggman. But there will always be a new threat some time down the line. It's simple human nature. The only way you could ensure otherwise is a totalitarian dictatorship with mass surveillence, and no one wants one of those... well, no decent person at least."

"You'd think so, but it's simply impossible. There will always be conflict. I'm just grateful we're winning," said Hope to Anna.

"Yeah that is true. I do have her to keep me going. Truth be told I wouldn't be much use on the frontline, so I'm happier and far more useful where I am now."

"I'm involved with research and development, so I'm not directly involved in fighting any wars. I can't discuss details for obvious reasons. It's pretty tough going sometimes. Although I love what I do, the hours can be long and I don't have many people to talk to. Shadow and Rouge are up for chats when they're around, and it's nice to know some people care. He'd go ballistic if something happened to me. Still it would be nice to have other friends to talk to at work, but realistically that's not gonna happen."

"Good. Wouldn't want you to run into anything, Alright then, let's go," said Hope as she walked towards the haunted house.

"That's not to say there aren't things that go bump in the night here. They just tend to stick to very remote places."

"Don't worry, it's not really haunted. They have actors and mockups of horror fiction clichės. Ghosts, vampires, dungeons and other creepy stuff. It's just a bit of fun," replied Hope in a reassuring manner.

Hope laughed. "Pretty much. Though Rouge expresses a lot... though I'm not quite sure what they can be categorised as. Well Tikal we'll just see what's next on the route. I wonder if they have a haunted house here."

"I'd love to tell you that Melody, but I don't think I'd be telling the truth," said Hope with a chuckle. She then turned to Anna. "I wouldn't call it venomous. But you have to admit they're a little over the top. Then again I am biased seeing as I spend my time around people who don't really express those emotions publically."

Hope took the photo of three up front, and rolled her eyes when she saw Skye and Tikal's.