The Underwater Emerald

They were acting like 5 year olds fighting over a crayon they demanded was theirs. Knuckles angrily stepped forward and growled. "This Emerald is mine, Batgirl. What makes you think I'm going to let you have it?"

Rouge smirked. Yeah. Ouch, right? "Just hand it over, Knucklehead, and you can go back to your precious friends," Rouge said, outstretching her arm. That just made Knuckles step back. She sighed wearily and a smile tugged at her lips. "C'mon, Knuckles." She stepped forward. What was Batgirl up to now? "Just hand it over."

"Yeah, right," Knuckles mumbled, bending down. He slammed his fist against the dirt, watching as sand gave its way. A hole opened in the ground and Knuckles smiled.

"You don't actually plan to escape this stupid argument by digging your way out, right?" Rouge crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Knuckles looked up at her, still crouched down.

"Um, no." He held the Emerald to himself, gripping it between his hands. Rouge knew he was lying, and grinned. She just couldn't help it.

"Whoa-!" a voice cried out. Shocked, Knuckles and Rouge turned to face Sonic, whom suddenly appeared in the middle of the trees. "What...what are you two DOING?" Knuckles, confused, suddenly realized what it seemed he was doing.

"God-," Knuckles cried, stumbling onto his back. "Oh my-!"

"Proposing?" Rouge asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah right, Hotshot. The only time I'd see this echidna propose is, well, never!"

"Hey-!" Knuckles cried, jumping onto his feet. He frowned. "What are you trying to say, Batgirl?"

"You guys, PLEASE!" Sonic cried out, sighing. "Can you two just please shut up with your little fights and live peacefully and happily ever after? Even thought it'll mean you'll never see each others faces again?"

"Fine by me!" Knuckles cried, storming off. Rouge flew in front of him quickly, stopping him from going any further. "What do you think you're doing?" He tried to step forward, but Rouge just kept blocking his path. "Hey, Batgirl-!"

"You know what I want," she said, landing on the ground.

"Yeah, I DO know what you want, but you're not getting it!" Knuckles cried. When Rouge stood her ground, Knuckles moaned in agony and turned to Sonic. "Hey, Sonic! Use your super-fast speed and get this out of here, will you?" He carefully tossed him the Emerald, and Sonic caught it only when it was about to hit the ground.

"Whatever you say, man," Sonic said, disappearing into the trees. Knuckles, shaking his head, turned back to Rouge.

"Well, this is good bye," Knuckles muttered, drilling holes into the dirt with his knuckles. Rouge crossed her arms, frowning.

"That was some show," she muttered. "Getting your 'buddy' to retreat for you with the Emerald. What happened, Knucklehead? Too scared of competition?"

"Whatever," he said through gritted teeth. The Emerald was safe and he knew it. He just couldn't stand this girl. He never could. Then he suddenly stopped, as if he stopped breathing, and looked up at Rouge. She was looking around with a determined look on her face. A smile slowly made its way to her cheeks.

"I can see you looking at me from the corner of my eye, you know," Rouge said, putting her hands on her hips. Knuckles looked away, his heart beating. Rouge turned to face him. She muttered, "I'm assuming you can feel it too?"

"The Emerald nearby, yes," Knuckles replied matter-of-factly. "Anything else you might be thinking of, no." He shook his head.

"I'm going to get that Emerald before you can even find your way around this entire forest," Rouge challenged, grinning. She was about to take off, until Knuckles suddenly disappeared under the ground, surprising her. She thought, 'He's seriously into it this time...' Rouge shook her head and went off.

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Knuckles' heart was beating quickly. He emerged from the trees and was greeted by a large, vast lake. He knew the Emerald was somewhere down there. He heard a splash, looked around, then saw Rouge as she quickly disappeared into the depth of the water. Knuckles shook his head and grinned. He dove in.

Rouge quickly came into view and Knuckles parted away from her. After a few seconds of searching, he couldn't hold his breath any longer and swam to the surface for air. Sputtering and coughing, he looked around, unquestionably searching for Rouge. She wasn't there. How had she been holding her breath for so long? Knuckles continued to look around and saw small air bubbles popping not that far away. What if something had happened? Everything was happening way too fast. But one thing was planted in Knuckles' mind.

ROUGE!

Without any time to think, Knuckles swam down and looked around for Rouge. His heart was beating, faster then it had been earlier. He didn't know why. He didn't care. Where was Rouge?

Knuckles finally spotted her. Rouge's wing was caught in a treasure chest-looking box and she was struggling to escape. She turned to Knuckles, a desperate and pleading look on her face. He lifted the top of the box and quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her to the surface as fast as he could.

Rouge was coughing and sputtering out water. Had Knuckles just saved her life? One minute he was fighting with her, and another minute he was saving her butt.

"You just did that to hold me," Rouge said stubbornly, sitting on top of the grass.

"Great way of saying thank you," Knuckles muttered, sitting down next to her. "And you're welcome, by the way." He shook his head. There was an awkward silence, and Rouge broke the silence.

"Here," she said almost reluctantly, hanging him the gold emerald she had found inside the chest. Knuckles, shocked, looked from Rouge to the emerald.

"Thanks," Knuckles muttered, picking it up.

"Sorry," Rouge said, shrugging. "Sometimes I'm like that." Knuckles nodded and stood up. Rouge looked to the sky and sighed. "We...better go off now." She looked back down.

Knuckles was gone.

Rouge, slightly disappointed, then flew off into the night sky. Knuckles was watching her, near a tree. He didn't turn away until she was out of sight.

End.