Shadow the Hedgehog

Crowley attempted to comfort Mina. "It's through no fault of your own Mina. It's just... affection and other such feelings are not in my nature. And I am over twice your age regardless."

"And that is why I will continue performing my craft for years to come," muttered Crowley.

Crowley gave Red a look of disgust.

"Well that was certainly an interesting experience Mina. I suppose it's nice to know I have devoted 'fans'," said Crowley.

Shadow walked over. "Need a hand there Crowley?" he asked, still smirking. "I can still breathe so I should OK for the moment," said Crowley, looking rather uncomfortable.

Crowley teetered slightly but remained upright, gently hugging her back. "Not at all, my dear," he said in his usual suave voice.

"Do it before I change my mind," said Crowley.. "Ouch! You sure it's not serious?" asked Hope in a concerned tone.

"Let her go Red. Might as well get this over with," said Crowley. Hope jumped when Melody let out the yelp. "Are you OK?" she asked.

Crowley gave out a sigh and braced himself, fairly certain of Mina's next move.

Shadow walked over to his Moebius counterpart, who was looking perplexed at Mina's reaction. "Look on the bright side Crowley, she hasn't thrown herself at you yet," he said with a smirk.

Shadow couldn't help but laugh at Mina's worshiping of Crowley and Red, pausing only to to take a swig from his flask.

"We are friends, yes. Though don't worry, it doesn't go beyond that," said Crowley.

"A pity. It's such a nice quality to have," said Crowley.

"Yes quite. Now do we have any clue on where we need to go?" asked Crowley.

"He was on holiday and I didn't want to ruin it. Plus I'd have to get my superior's approval for it. No doubt they'd have given it but time was of the essence. In retrospect that would've been a lot easier," said Shadow.

Crowley laughed. "Well it certainly has nicer leisure spots than Moebius. And occasionally an interesting hit comes up here as well, so it helps to have contacts in the know," he said, as he took a glance at Shadow.

"Thank you. Naturally I have no such reputation in the Prime Zone. Though I suppose that helps in some ways with my occupation."

Crowley stepped forward triumphantly. "I am perfectly real, I assure you. I must say this feels rather odd; most people who meet me aren't exactly pleased about it."

"How cute," replied Shadow sarcastically, as Crowley caught up with him, looking surprised when he saw Mina. "Very true Melody," replied Hope.

"Yes. Why, did you miss me?" he asked. "That could work," said Hope.

"I see your point Melody. Maybe I should put in a random algorythm to... sorry I'm thinking out loud again, aren't I?"

"Don't worry Hope. We'll be out of here soon enough," said Rouge.

"It's a deal," said Rouge, as Hope walked over to them. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I just want to wake up. Maybe then I can reverse engineer this machine and have nice dreams without giant monsters barging in."

"I think so too," said Rouge. "Alright, let's get moving," said Shadow as he headed towards the forest.

"Well there always is regime change." joked Rouge. "Though that's more Shadow's department. And Crowley's I guess." Not hearing Rouge and Melody's conversation, Shadow concentrated on Skye and Dylan. "I see. That certainly makes things easier. I wonder how those two are handling that creature." he said.