Broken. Angry. Bruised. Miserable. Bloody. Uncooperative.
These words described 20 year old Knuckles the Echidna and 22 year old Rouge the Bat one fateful day in Angel Island’s Mushroom Hill Zone. And this is what one Shadow the Hedgehog found himself looking at. He was beyond disappointed in the both of them (not that he had much room to talk).
“So…let me see if I’ve got this straight. The two greatest treasure hunters in the world couldn’t come to terms for one day, because of a disagreement on hieroglyphics?” Rouge nodded as much as her neck brace would let her. “You know how we bicker, Shadow. It was just an escalated argument.” Knuckles just growled.
Shadow wasn’t convinced. Over the past few weeks, he had learned to ready body languages, something he was forced to pick up in order to keep two steps ahead of his increasingly unpredictable lover. And what he was picking up from his “sister” and his…lesser rival only served to annoy him. The pent up aggression, the lack of eye contact from the echidna, how the bat was increasingly impatient for him to leave. The two hunters were hiding something.
“'An escalated argument' huh? Well, if Amy hadn’t had a random psychic vision of you to coming to blows over these hieroglyphics from, what was it again, Knuckles?” The guardian muttered, “The Gigan Rocks, asshole.” Shadow twitched at the insult but let it go. “Ah, right. Well, you two clearly were about to kill each other over this ‘argument’, and if it hadn’t been for Amy, you would have. You’re also fortunate I had enough Chaos Emeralds on my person to get here and stop you.” Rouge rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, yes, we’re both very grateful to you both for keeping us alive. Now, if you’d just whip out the Heal Cannon, we can put this little matter behind us.”
“I’d like to, Rouge,” said Shadow with a glare, “but I think I need a second opinion.” At that moment, Knuckles and Rouge were lifted into the air, surrounded by a teal-colored aura. “Aw, crap,” muttered the echidna, as Amy Rose appeared from the trees, floating towards them in nothing but a tank-top and shorts with her quills tied up by her old, childhood ribbon. The two rivals blinked in confusion. “We were…busy…when I got the vision,” Amy explained in an agitated tone. Shadow blushed and scratched his nose.
“A little too busy if you’re here like that, Amy,” Knuckles said crudely. “Now, now, Knuckles,” Rouge said, grinning through gritted fangs, “our friends came all this way to save our lives. We mustn’t upset them, must we? In the condition we are in?” Knuckles just glared at her not getting the message or caring. “Why don’t you just shut your damn-”
“Why don’t you, asshole?” Shadow spat. “Or what, Ultimate Dick?” Knuckles fired back, “You’ll kill me? Go ahead, I dare you!” The hedgehog growled, “I might just do that if you keep pissing me off!” Rouge yelled, “Shadow, you’ll do nothing of the sort! And you stop egging him on, Knucklehead!” Knuckles countered, “Who’s gonna stop me, bitch? You? Because last I checked, you’re in no position to do shit! In fact, it’s your fault we’re in this mess!”
“Oh, here we go! I was trying to help your balls drop, idiot! You’re the one who didn’t want to share your workload!”
“You MADE me! I had no choice in the matter, especially after you kicked me to kingdom come!”
Amy interrupted, “I thought this was about hieroglyphics.” Knuckles and Rouge flinched and quickly said in unison, “It is.” Shadow rolled his eyes and was about to say something else when he noticed something. Amy looked calm, but her body was beginning to twitch a little. He had a good idea why…and he got nervous. And so did Knuckles, who had known Amy for a lot longer. “Shadow?”
“Yeah, Knuckles?” he responded. “Is Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer still in Soleanna, as per her training?” the echidna asked. Shadow nodded slowly. Knuckles then asked, “Good. So why does her twitch still freak me out?” Rouge was puzzled, and still rather angry. “Ok, what is going on?” Knuckles calmly explained, “I know it doesn’t look like it, Rouge, but I think we pissed her off. Big time.” Rouge gave him one of her “you dumb ass male” looks and asked, “And how do you figure that?”
Straining to look at her, Knuckles told Rouge, “A few Christmases ago, when Amy was still obsessed with Sonic, she planned an elaborate attempt to get him to kiss her. She pinned mistletoe all over Station Square, in every spot she figured he’d be. A lot of people got some action as a result, but Sonic didn’t even notice. Finally, she got him underneath one, and was about to jump him when Eggman showed up with a frickin’ army, accidentally torching the mistletoe. After that, she started twitching…brought out her Hammer…and trashed Eggman’s robots, his mechs, and an entire city block. And when Sonic let slip that he avoided all of the mistletoe on purpose, she chased him all the way to South Island!”
Rouge gave him another look that clearly stated she wasn’t buying it, and then looked back at Amy, whose eyes were hidden beneath her bangs. “He’s kidding, right?” she asked incredulously.
“Stubbornness…” she said.
“What was that?” asked Rouge.
“One thing I’ve always hated; people who can’t say what they mean because they just don’t want to.” As Amy explained, her twitch got worse, and her initially subtle ESP aura began to grow. It was then that Rouge began to sweat.
“Worse; people who keep lying to themselves and each other out of embarrassment, deception or pride…” Shadow tensed up. “Amy, calm down.” She ignored him and continued, “You two. You are the worst. You go on and on, proudly running around in circles. But, unlike Sonic and myself, you know it and just keep on doing it, refusing to be honest with each other, or us!!” Rouge nervously said, “Amy, honey, you’re beginning to scare us! Just put us down and let’s-”
Amy’s twitching got worse. “All because you don’t want to admit what makes you weak or vulnerable. Instead of dealing with your issues like adults, you just keep them within and bicker until you’re blue in the face, never getting anywhere.” Knuckles called out, “Now look, Amy, it’s not like that at all! We’re just-”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Knuckles. You’re just too…”
“I said calm down, Amy!”
“…damn…”
“Seriously, Amy, chill!”
“STUBBORN.”
With that word, Amy raised her head. Her pupils vanished and she stretched out her hands: her right towards Knuckles and Rouge, and then her left to keep Shadow from stopping her. She then looked straight at the two wounded hunters and said, “SHOW ME. NOW.”
Their own pupils then disappeared. It was as if they had been rendered comatose otherwise. Shadow had no idea what was happening, but he knew he had to do something! But, no matter how much he struggled, he could not move. Still, he tried and tried, for fifteen minutes, until finally, when he was about to give up, he was released, as were Knuckles and Rouge, who had fallen to the ground. Amy, however, was still in “Maiden Mode”, as Shadow wryly put it.
“Shadow”, she said. “Fire the Heal Cannon.” Judging from her current state and the way her voice echoed, he decided to just nod and ask questions later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly, Knuckles got up, feeling woozy. Right away, he noticed that his wounds were gone, concluding that Shadow and Amy had healed him at some point. He adjusted his pants and tightened his belt, feeling pretty good. He then saw Rouge and his mood soured a little. She was still in her tight hunter suit which had been torn up from their fight. Her wounds had been healed as well, which, if he had to be honest, didn’t surprise him. What did, however, was the horrified look on her face. He then followed her line of sight and froze.
Amy was still exuding power…and still very, very angry. ‘You two…are an absolute disappointment.' Knux opened his mouth to deny that claim, but thought better of it.
‘Knuckles, you were so desperate to assert your place that you treated this bat, the woman you had come to fancy, like garbage, as if she were no better than Dr. Eggman, whom you have had no problem cooperating with in the past. You did not even allow Rouge an opportunity to earn your trust. And when she finally lashed out and gave you your just desserts, you shut down, following her every command like a grounded child. You allowed her to take what was yours without truly taking it, all because your dumb ass didn’t know how to handle an assertive woman, for ANY woman, for that matter. This is still your home, Knuckles, and still your responsibility. All you were asked to do in the first place, was allow her to help you.
‘Rouge, you had every right to strike back for his cruelty, but do not forget that he had every right not to trust you. And, by the way, you’re right: we don’t trust you, either. Not me, not Knuckles, not Tails, Sonic, no one. Even Shadow is prepared to kill you if you stab him in the back.’ Upon hearing this, Rouge turned to the hedgehog she had considered family and asked, “Shadow, i-is this true?” He crossed his arms and - with a growl towards Amy and a very heavy sigh - said, “...Yes, Rouge. It’s true. And as long as we’re on the subject, you should know that Omega has a self-installed fail-safe program for the moment you either abandon Team Dark or betray us for personal gain.”
Rouge sank to her knees. “Is that why he keeps his digits sharpened?” Shadow grimly nodded. “Partly.”
“I see.”
‘I hope so,’ Amy said coldly, ‘because it gets better. After you kicked Knuckles’ disrespectful ass to the curb, you almost considered taking the Master Emerald to spite him, knowing damn well you’d be confirming all of our suspicions. But, you didn’t. You decided to heal Knuckles and then, somewhere along the line, dominate him in his moment of confusion and weakness.’
Rouge tried to argue, “I didn’t-”
‘BE QUIET!! You emasculated him, Rouge! You may as well have ripped his dick off and thrown it off the island!’ Rouge gasped and Knuckles sputtered, “Shadow, when the hell did she start talking like that?!” Shadow simply scratched his nose in embarrassment again. He was wondering that himself. He was then slapped by PK, as were the two hunters. ‘ONE MORE INTERRUPTION AND I BLANK OUT ALL YOUR MINDS, IS THAT CLEAR?!?!’ They all nodded.
‘Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Rouge, when you finally realized what you had done to Knuckles, you chose to bring the man you admired and cared for back from the brink in the most idiotic way: pissing him off, which led to the four zone hunt and the brawl that nearly destroyed Mushroom Hill! All of this, because you two refused to be honest with one another and compromise. What does that sound like to you, Shadow?’
Before he could answer, Knuckles beat him to it, and stomped the ground in frustration, the subsequent tremor toppling Mushroom Hill’s final healthy tree. “Pathetic.”
These words described 20 year old Knuckles the Echidna and 22 year old Rouge the Bat one fateful day in Angel Island’s Mushroom Hill Zone. And this is what one Shadow the Hedgehog found himself looking at. He was beyond disappointed in the both of them (not that he had much room to talk).
“So…let me see if I’ve got this straight. The two greatest treasure hunters in the world couldn’t come to terms for one day, because of a disagreement on hieroglyphics?” Rouge nodded as much as her neck brace would let her. “You know how we bicker, Shadow. It was just an escalated argument.” Knuckles just growled.
Shadow wasn’t convinced. Over the past few weeks, he had learned to ready body languages, something he was forced to pick up in order to keep two steps ahead of his increasingly unpredictable lover. And what he was picking up from his “sister” and his…lesser rival only served to annoy him. The pent up aggression, the lack of eye contact from the echidna, how the bat was increasingly impatient for him to leave. The two hunters were hiding something.
“'An escalated argument' huh? Well, if Amy hadn’t had a random psychic vision of you to coming to blows over these hieroglyphics from, what was it again, Knuckles?” The guardian muttered, “The Gigan Rocks, asshole.” Shadow twitched at the insult but let it go. “Ah, right. Well, you two clearly were about to kill each other over this ‘argument’, and if it hadn’t been for Amy, you would have. You’re also fortunate I had enough Chaos Emeralds on my person to get here and stop you.” Rouge rolled her eyes and said, “Yes, yes, we’re both very grateful to you both for keeping us alive. Now, if you’d just whip out the Heal Cannon, we can put this little matter behind us.”
“I’d like to, Rouge,” said Shadow with a glare, “but I think I need a second opinion.” At that moment, Knuckles and Rouge were lifted into the air, surrounded by a teal-colored aura. “Aw, crap,” muttered the echidna, as Amy Rose appeared from the trees, floating towards them in nothing but a tank-top and shorts with her quills tied up by her old, childhood ribbon. The two rivals blinked in confusion. “We were…busy…when I got the vision,” Amy explained in an agitated tone. Shadow blushed and scratched his nose.
“A little too busy if you’re here like that, Amy,” Knuckles said crudely. “Now, now, Knuckles,” Rouge said, grinning through gritted fangs, “our friends came all this way to save our lives. We mustn’t upset them, must we? In the condition we are in?” Knuckles just glared at her not getting the message or caring. “Why don’t you just shut your damn-”
“Why don’t you, asshole?” Shadow spat. “Or what, Ultimate Dick?” Knuckles fired back, “You’ll kill me? Go ahead, I dare you!” The hedgehog growled, “I might just do that if you keep pissing me off!” Rouge yelled, “Shadow, you’ll do nothing of the sort! And you stop egging him on, Knucklehead!” Knuckles countered, “Who’s gonna stop me, bitch? You? Because last I checked, you’re in no position to do shit! In fact, it’s your fault we’re in this mess!”
“Oh, here we go! I was trying to help your balls drop, idiot! You’re the one who didn’t want to share your workload!”
“You MADE me! I had no choice in the matter, especially after you kicked me to kingdom come!”
Amy interrupted, “I thought this was about hieroglyphics.” Knuckles and Rouge flinched and quickly said in unison, “It is.” Shadow rolled his eyes and was about to say something else when he noticed something. Amy looked calm, but her body was beginning to twitch a little. He had a good idea why…and he got nervous. And so did Knuckles, who had known Amy for a lot longer. “Shadow?”
“Yeah, Knuckles?” he responded. “Is Amy’s Piko Piko Hammer still in Soleanna, as per her training?” the echidna asked. Shadow nodded slowly. Knuckles then asked, “Good. So why does her twitch still freak me out?” Rouge was puzzled, and still rather angry. “Ok, what is going on?” Knuckles calmly explained, “I know it doesn’t look like it, Rouge, but I think we pissed her off. Big time.” Rouge gave him one of her “you dumb ass male” looks and asked, “And how do you figure that?”
Straining to look at her, Knuckles told Rouge, “A few Christmases ago, when Amy was still obsessed with Sonic, she planned an elaborate attempt to get him to kiss her. She pinned mistletoe all over Station Square, in every spot she figured he’d be. A lot of people got some action as a result, but Sonic didn’t even notice. Finally, she got him underneath one, and was about to jump him when Eggman showed up with a frickin’ army, accidentally torching the mistletoe. After that, she started twitching…brought out her Hammer…and trashed Eggman’s robots, his mechs, and an entire city block. And when Sonic let slip that he avoided all of the mistletoe on purpose, she chased him all the way to South Island!”
Rouge gave him another look that clearly stated she wasn’t buying it, and then looked back at Amy, whose eyes were hidden beneath her bangs. “He’s kidding, right?” she asked incredulously.
“Stubbornness…” she said.
“What was that?” asked Rouge.
“One thing I’ve always hated; people who can’t say what they mean because they just don’t want to.” As Amy explained, her twitch got worse, and her initially subtle ESP aura began to grow. It was then that Rouge began to sweat.
“Worse; people who keep lying to themselves and each other out of embarrassment, deception or pride…” Shadow tensed up. “Amy, calm down.” She ignored him and continued, “You two. You are the worst. You go on and on, proudly running around in circles. But, unlike Sonic and myself, you know it and just keep on doing it, refusing to be honest with each other, or us!!” Rouge nervously said, “Amy, honey, you’re beginning to scare us! Just put us down and let’s-”
Amy’s twitching got worse. “All because you don’t want to admit what makes you weak or vulnerable. Instead of dealing with your issues like adults, you just keep them within and bicker until you’re blue in the face, never getting anywhere.” Knuckles called out, “Now look, Amy, it’s not like that at all! We’re just-”
“That’s what I’m talking about, Knuckles. You’re just too…”
“I said calm down, Amy!”
“…damn…”
“Seriously, Amy, chill!”
“STUBBORN.”
With that word, Amy raised her head. Her pupils vanished and she stretched out her hands: her right towards Knuckles and Rouge, and then her left to keep Shadow from stopping her. She then looked straight at the two wounded hunters and said, “SHOW ME. NOW.”
Their own pupils then disappeared. It was as if they had been rendered comatose otherwise. Shadow had no idea what was happening, but he knew he had to do something! But, no matter how much he struggled, he could not move. Still, he tried and tried, for fifteen minutes, until finally, when he was about to give up, he was released, as were Knuckles and Rouge, who had fallen to the ground. Amy, however, was still in “Maiden Mode”, as Shadow wryly put it.
“Shadow”, she said. “Fire the Heal Cannon.” Judging from her current state and the way her voice echoed, he decided to just nod and ask questions later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slowly, Knuckles got up, feeling woozy. Right away, he noticed that his wounds were gone, concluding that Shadow and Amy had healed him at some point. He adjusted his pants and tightened his belt, feeling pretty good. He then saw Rouge and his mood soured a little. She was still in her tight hunter suit which had been torn up from their fight. Her wounds had been healed as well, which, if he had to be honest, didn’t surprise him. What did, however, was the horrified look on her face. He then followed her line of sight and froze.
Amy was still exuding power…and still very, very angry. ‘You two…are an absolute disappointment.' Knux opened his mouth to deny that claim, but thought better of it.
‘Knuckles, you were so desperate to assert your place that you treated this bat, the woman you had come to fancy, like garbage, as if she were no better than Dr. Eggman, whom you have had no problem cooperating with in the past. You did not even allow Rouge an opportunity to earn your trust. And when she finally lashed out and gave you your just desserts, you shut down, following her every command like a grounded child. You allowed her to take what was yours without truly taking it, all because your dumb ass didn’t know how to handle an assertive woman, for ANY woman, for that matter. This is still your home, Knuckles, and still your responsibility. All you were asked to do in the first place, was allow her to help you.
‘Rouge, you had every right to strike back for his cruelty, but do not forget that he had every right not to trust you. And, by the way, you’re right: we don’t trust you, either. Not me, not Knuckles, not Tails, Sonic, no one. Even Shadow is prepared to kill you if you stab him in the back.’ Upon hearing this, Rouge turned to the hedgehog she had considered family and asked, “Shadow, i-is this true?” He crossed his arms and - with a growl towards Amy and a very heavy sigh - said, “...Yes, Rouge. It’s true. And as long as we’re on the subject, you should know that Omega has a self-installed fail-safe program for the moment you either abandon Team Dark or betray us for personal gain.”
Rouge sank to her knees. “Is that why he keeps his digits sharpened?” Shadow grimly nodded. “Partly.”
“I see.”
‘I hope so,’ Amy said coldly, ‘because it gets better. After you kicked Knuckles’ disrespectful ass to the curb, you almost considered taking the Master Emerald to spite him, knowing damn well you’d be confirming all of our suspicions. But, you didn’t. You decided to heal Knuckles and then, somewhere along the line, dominate him in his moment of confusion and weakness.’
Rouge tried to argue, “I didn’t-”
‘BE QUIET!! You emasculated him, Rouge! You may as well have ripped his dick off and thrown it off the island!’ Rouge gasped and Knuckles sputtered, “Shadow, when the hell did she start talking like that?!” Shadow simply scratched his nose in embarrassment again. He was wondering that himself. He was then slapped by PK, as were the two hunters. ‘ONE MORE INTERRUPTION AND I BLANK OUT ALL YOUR MINDS, IS THAT CLEAR?!?!’ They all nodded.
‘Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Rouge, when you finally realized what you had done to Knuckles, you chose to bring the man you admired and cared for back from the brink in the most idiotic way: pissing him off, which led to the four zone hunt and the brawl that nearly destroyed Mushroom Hill! All of this, because you two refused to be honest with one another and compromise. What does that sound like to you, Shadow?’
Before he could answer, Knuckles beat him to it, and stomped the ground in frustration, the subsequent tremor toppling Mushroom Hill’s final healthy tree. “Pathetic.”
“Yes, Knuckles,” said Amy, now speaking vocally, “that’s it exactly. You’re both among the most pathetic people I’ve ever known, including Dr. Eggman. And, formerly, Sonic and myself.” Hovering closer to them both, she asked, “So, tell me, what needs to happen now?” Knuckles stomped the ground again and answered, “We work together instead of against each other.” Amy nodded. “Correct. And how is THAT going to happen?” This time, still shaken, Rouge answered, “We be completely honest with each other, and earn one another’s trust.” Amy said, “Correct again. Well done…Scarlet.’
Rouge whipped her head up and looked straight at Amy. ‘In my anger,’ Amy projected, directly to Rouge, ‘I saw more than I meant to. I’m truly sorry about that and the losses you’ve suffered, but you’ve got work past it now instead of burying it in lies and possessions. You have more than that now, right? Don’t you want to keep it?’ With a sad expression, she asked, ‘Don’t you want to keep us? Any of us?’ Slowly, Rouge nodded. “Yes, I do. All of you.” The hedgehog nodded also. ‘Good answer. Toní would be proud of that one, I bet.’ Rouge chuckled. “Yes, I suppose he would.”
Knuckles had no idea what they were talking about, and looked to Shadow for an answer. The black hedgehog shrugged in puzzlement.
Amy smiled, revealing her eyes and sitting down in front of Knuckles and Rouge, dropping her ESP aura with a loud exhale. “I’m sorry for being so mean, guys, really, but enough is enough. You two have got to come to terms, not just to defend against Eggman, but for yourselves. And not just as friends.” The two blushed and began to object before shutting their mouths. “So,” Amy asked, “are we going to be okay now?”
Knuckles looked over at Rouge, who looked back. They then said to Amy, “Yes.” The hedgehog girl let out a small squee and hugged them both. “Great!” Getting up, she said, “Now, Knuckles, give her a chance, but don’t let her walk all over you. That’s not your style. And Rouge, don’t let him push you around, but lower the bitch factor. Can you guys do that for me?” They gave her the affirmative as they got up. “Ok, then! I guess my work here is done. Ready to go, Shadow!”
Said hedgehog said, “About damn time. All this drama annoyed the hell out of me.” Knuckles said, “Yeah, I bet. I’m sure you’d rather get back to ‘training’.” Shadow blushed and growled, “We were training!” Amy giggled and said as she walked up to him, “Now, Shadow, let’s not get all dark and scary now.” She gripped his chest fur and added, “Save that energy for me.” Rouge gasped, “Oh, my God, you two really were…” Shadow’s face reddened and he yelled, “We weren’t!” Rouge looked at Amy, who said, “Relax, Rouge, we haven’t gone that far...though not for lack of trying…” Shadow just said, “Goodbye, guys,” and warped himself and Amy off the island.
Rouge whipped her head up and looked straight at Amy. ‘In my anger,’ Amy projected, directly to Rouge, ‘I saw more than I meant to. I’m truly sorry about that and the losses you’ve suffered, but you’ve got work past it now instead of burying it in lies and possessions. You have more than that now, right? Don’t you want to keep it?’ With a sad expression, she asked, ‘Don’t you want to keep us? Any of us?’ Slowly, Rouge nodded. “Yes, I do. All of you.” The hedgehog nodded also. ‘Good answer. Toní would be proud of that one, I bet.’ Rouge chuckled. “Yes, I suppose he would.”
Knuckles had no idea what they were talking about, and looked to Shadow for an answer. The black hedgehog shrugged in puzzlement.
Amy smiled, revealing her eyes and sitting down in front of Knuckles and Rouge, dropping her ESP aura with a loud exhale. “I’m sorry for being so mean, guys, really, but enough is enough. You two have got to come to terms, not just to defend against Eggman, but for yourselves. And not just as friends.” The two blushed and began to object before shutting their mouths. “So,” Amy asked, “are we going to be okay now?”
Knuckles looked over at Rouge, who looked back. They then said to Amy, “Yes.” The hedgehog girl let out a small squee and hugged them both. “Great!” Getting up, she said, “Now, Knuckles, give her a chance, but don’t let her walk all over you. That’s not your style. And Rouge, don’t let him push you around, but lower the bitch factor. Can you guys do that for me?” They gave her the affirmative as they got up. “Ok, then! I guess my work here is done. Ready to go, Shadow!”
Said hedgehog said, “About damn time. All this drama annoyed the hell out of me.” Knuckles said, “Yeah, I bet. I’m sure you’d rather get back to ‘training’.” Shadow blushed and growled, “We were training!” Amy giggled and said as she walked up to him, “Now, Shadow, let’s not get all dark and scary now.” She gripped his chest fur and added, “Save that energy for me.” Rouge gasped, “Oh, my God, you two really were…” Shadow’s face reddened and he yelled, “We weren’t!” Rouge looked at Amy, who said, “Relax, Rouge, we haven’t gone that far...though not for lack of trying…” Shadow just said, “Goodbye, guys,” and warped himself and Amy off the island.
A long, uncomfortable silence followed. Knuckles didn’t dare look at Rouge who, for the first time in a long while, found herself quite bashful. “So,” she spoke, “will this place recover?” Knuckles responded, “Didn’t I tell you that during my, um, episode?” She replied, “Yeah, but Amy erased it, and all of the other intel you gave me about this place. Probably wants me to earn it.” Knuckles crossed his arms, and spat, “Smart girl. You DO have to earn it.” He then thought for a moment and eased up, “Er, of course, I need to be willing to give you a shot.” Rouge nodded. “Yes, you do, and I need to be willing to give you a reason.”
“Where do we start, then?” Knuckles pondered. “This crap is beyond me, honestly.” Rouge knew that and said, “I think we should start slow, just be real, like you said.” Knuckles shrugged, and began the trek back to the shrine. “OK. Sounds fair. Guess I’ll begin, then. The Master Emerald sustains all life on the island. As long as a few shards remain, then every zone can recover from all disasters, natural or not.” Rouge replied as she followed him, “I see. And if it’s, um, not here?” He answered, “Then not only will it never reach the skies again, but it’s only a matter of time before the island becomes uninhabitable, or so I was taught.”
Suddenly, she felt like crap for swiping it all those times. “By who?” she asked, “Your parents?” Knuckles grunted, “I don’t remember, and I’m uh, not comfortable talking about that…yet.” Rouge read his face as they started climbing a wall. He wasn’t trying to be an ass again. Something about his childhood didn’t register as pleasant, and it seemed that even he couldn’t recall it. But, she didn’t want to push, so she chose to meet him halfway. “I understand, Knuckles. Then how about I take a turn telling you something about me?”
They traversed the wall and Knuckles chuckled. “What, you’re gonna tell me that your name isn’t really Rouge?” She smirked and said, in her smooth, native accent, “Exactly.” He nearly slipped on a rock. “The hell?! You sound different!” She giggled, “This is my true accent.” He blinked. “Seriously? It sounds, um…nice. Like, really nice.” Rouge smiled. It felt good sharing this part of herself with him. “I’m glad, because you’re the only one who will hear it.”
Rad Red replied, “I don’t know what to say. It’s an honor, I guess. Oh, and if you want to keep this from the others for personal reasons, that’s OK, too. You can tell them yourself. Not that I’d toss you under the bus or anything like that, I’m just saying that… Agh, damn it. I suck at this…” Knuckles meant what he said, but couldn’t help fumbling over himself.
Rouge saw that he really was trying and put a finger over his lips. “C’est bien, mon amour.” Knuckles tilted his head, still confused as hell (especially since he didn’t understand a word of that), but came to the conclusion that she wasn’t upset. He also concluded that he really, REALLY liked her real accent. “Um, thanks. So, is ‘Rouge’ a codename or something?”
“Qui, Knuckles,” she answered peacefully, subtly stretching a wing behind him as they continued their journey. “My real name is Scarlet Lupin II. I was born in Marseille…”
“Where do we start, then?” Knuckles pondered. “This crap is beyond me, honestly.” Rouge knew that and said, “I think we should start slow, just be real, like you said.” Knuckles shrugged, and began the trek back to the shrine. “OK. Sounds fair. Guess I’ll begin, then. The Master Emerald sustains all life on the island. As long as a few shards remain, then every zone can recover from all disasters, natural or not.” Rouge replied as she followed him, “I see. And if it’s, um, not here?” He answered, “Then not only will it never reach the skies again, but it’s only a matter of time before the island becomes uninhabitable, or so I was taught.”
Suddenly, she felt like crap for swiping it all those times. “By who?” she asked, “Your parents?” Knuckles grunted, “I don’t remember, and I’m uh, not comfortable talking about that…yet.” Rouge read his face as they started climbing a wall. He wasn’t trying to be an ass again. Something about his childhood didn’t register as pleasant, and it seemed that even he couldn’t recall it. But, she didn’t want to push, so she chose to meet him halfway. “I understand, Knuckles. Then how about I take a turn telling you something about me?”
They traversed the wall and Knuckles chuckled. “What, you’re gonna tell me that your name isn’t really Rouge?” She smirked and said, in her smooth, native accent, “Exactly.” He nearly slipped on a rock. “The hell?! You sound different!” She giggled, “This is my true accent.” He blinked. “Seriously? It sounds, um…nice. Like, really nice.” Rouge smiled. It felt good sharing this part of herself with him. “I’m glad, because you’re the only one who will hear it.”
Rad Red replied, “I don’t know what to say. It’s an honor, I guess. Oh, and if you want to keep this from the others for personal reasons, that’s OK, too. You can tell them yourself. Not that I’d toss you under the bus or anything like that, I’m just saying that… Agh, damn it. I suck at this…” Knuckles meant what he said, but couldn’t help fumbling over himself.
Rouge saw that he really was trying and put a finger over his lips. “C’est bien, mon amour.” Knuckles tilted his head, still confused as hell (especially since he didn’t understand a word of that), but came to the conclusion that she wasn’t upset. He also concluded that he really, REALLY liked her real accent. “Um, thanks. So, is ‘Rouge’ a codename or something?”
“Qui, Knuckles,” she answered peacefully, subtly stretching a wing behind him as they continued their journey. “My real name is Scarlet Lupin II. I was born in Marseille…”
Proudly powered by Weebly