RED VS RED PT III
Knuckles sat on the altar of the Master Emerald with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He had one black eye and his left arm had white cloth wrapped around it. "Stupid Shadow..." he growled under his breath. Knuckles then looked down at his arms and his expression softened. Even though it was a week ago since he held her, Knuckles' arms still felt as if they were holding Mary in them. He missed her a lot. And he missed Rouge. But no matter what, Shadow was still gonna be on her and his tail. Still looking down at his arms, Knuckles grew a smile. Mary was very light for a baby and she had silky and smooth fur. She also had a pleasant smile that could easily charm him. She must've inherited it from her mother. Knuckles' train of thought on his daughter was cut off when a hand was planted on his shoulder. "What's the matter?" said a voice. Knuckles turned around to see a pink echidna named Julie-Su, his girlfriend. "Nothing." he said. Julie raised an eyebrow at him while her arms were crossed. Finally, she spoke up. "Alright. Well, I'm going to see the doctor. I'll be right back." she said and walked down the altar and disappeared into the forest. For a while, Knuckles stared off at the forest until they focused back at his arms. Sooner or later, his arms were probably gonna end up with him holding his and Julie-Su's child. He wasn't really happy about this since he already had a family with Rouge the Bat and his baby girl Mary. Julie was a great girl and all, but he was happier with Rouge and Mary. About 8 hours later, it was night-time and Julie was still gone. What's taking her so long? Knuckles thought to himself. Suddenly, he saw a pink figure coming towards the altar. It was Julie-Su. Oddly, she was a bit red. Finally, she was standing in front of him. "Hi, Julie. How was the doc-" but before he could finish, Julie punched him in the gut. He landed right on his back, his hands gripped on the spot where she hit him. "ICANTBELIEVEYOU!" she shouted at him. Knuckles got up to his feet again with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?" he asked. Julie then began to punch him repeatedly as he tried to push her off. "!" she screamed. Knuckles finally pushed her off and pinned her down on the ground. "What's wrong!" he snapped. Julie calmed down a bit, but was still furious. "WHEN I GOT TO THE DOCTORS THEY SAID I WASN'T PREGNANT! BUT I DON'T CARE BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? I EXPLAINED TO THE DOCTOR HOW I WANTED TO HAVE A FAMILY WITH YOU, AND HE SAID THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE A FAMILY WITH THAT STUPID BAT NAMED ROUGE!" she yelled at him. Knuckles just stood there with a far-away expression. Julie began to cry a bit and she still looked at him. "Knuckles? Is. It. True?" she weeped. Scratching his head, Knuckles sighed. "Yes. But it was an accident! It was before you became my girlfriend! I SWEAR!" he explained. Julie wasn't convineced as shown as she slapped Knuckles across the face and stormed off.
Rouge's Apartment
Rouge sat in her arm-chair as she held Mary, who was sound asleep. Mary was wrapped in her usual pink blanket with her muzzle buried in the blanket and ears drooping down. Rouge held Mary close to her chest as she held her, one hand soothing her head. But Mary's eyes shot wide open when a knock at the door was heard. She didn't cry, just laid in her mother's arms as her mother walked to the door. Rouge opened the door a crack to see who it was. It was Julie-Su. "Open the door!" Julie demanded. Rouge cocked an eyebrow at her, still holding Mary. "Why?" she asked. Just then, Julie grabbed the door in a death grip. "JUST OPEN IT." she growled. Rouge opened the door wide open for Julie. Julie just instead stood there and looked at Mary. "Huh. The doctor was right. Knuckles DID impregnate you." she said, crossing her arms and then walking in. Rouge closed the door behind her as she turned to Julie. "What are you doing here?" Rouge asked. Still staring at Mary, Julie tapped her foot on the wooded floor. "Nothin', just to see my boyfriend's daughter." she said. Rouge looked down at Mary, who was widely awake and her eyes darting around the room, wondering what was going on. This made Julie confused. "Is there something wrong?" Julie asked. Rouge drooped her eyes and clutched Mary, but not too hard. "Loud noises make her nervous. She's blind so noise is the only thing she can use to notice things." she explained to Julie. Julie's angry and serious expression was quickly replaced with pity and sadness. "Oh. I..had no idea. That she was blind. I'm sorry." Julie said, looking down at her feet. That same minute, Julie-Su left. An hour later, she put Mary in her crib and went to bed. That morning, she was woken up by something on her shoulder. Opening one eye, she was shocked at what she saw: Knuckles. "Morning." he said, grinning. In one arm, he was holding Mary. Just the sight of that made her smile. "How did you get back here without Shadow killing you?" Rouge said. Knuckles adjusted Mary up a bit as she began to play with his dreadlocks that looked like hers, only hers were curly and had bangs that looked like Amy Rose's. "Shadow? Peh. He won't bother me any more. And he's not gonna bother you either. He apologized for his actions and said that if I saw you again, I could tell you he said sorry." Knuckles pointed out, stroking his thumb on Mary's cheek. "How come he didn't say it in person?" Rouge asked, sitting up straight a bit on her bed. "He added that he thought you hated him and would kill him if you saw him." Knuckles added. Rouge giggled a bit. "That hedgehog can read minds." she teased. Outside, Shadow was looking up at Rouge's window.
EPILOGUE
Rouge and Knuckles did get committed (Knuckles believes in commitment, NOT ceremony) and they now live happily with Mary!
