A/N: Thank you all for such a positive response the last chapter. Because of it, I've been unusually motivated to do a second chapter, and here it is.
Like the last chapter, I need reviews (read: goading) to continue this story. Positive response, constructive commentary, and flames (yes, even flames), are always welcome.
Enjoy.
WOMAN
Chapter 2
Suddenly, Knuckles felt very, very sober.
"What?" he asked, reeling backwards into his temporary living quarters. To his horror, Amy Rose's smile did not falter, and she stepped in after him. "What?!"
She giggled and pushed the door shut behind them, causing his nerves to jump erratically. He wasn't sure what his course of action should be - shove her and tell her to get the heck out of his room, or make a quick suicidal dive out of the window before she could properly react.
"Oh come on Knuckles, don't give me that look," she scolded good-naturedly. The scarlet guardian's eyes flickered back and forth, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. "You're the one who suggested it, after all."
"I.. I WHAT?" He asked, his voice rising in pitch. He shook his head and clamped one huge gloved hand over his mouth. Oh for God's sake, some girl he barely knew was making the moves on him and he sounded like he was going through puberty...
"Geez Knuckles, you look like you're about to have a massive coronary," Amy said, watching him with eyebrows arched so high they were nearly lost into her hairline. "Take a breath, will you?"
Knuckles sucked in a huge amount of air in an attempt to calm himself down. "Listen Amy, I think.. you've really got the wrong idea about me..."
Amy arched one eyebrow quizzically in confusion. "What?"
"...You're a nice girl and all, but I hardly know you and...."
"What?" she asked again, loudly. She was fixing him a look as if he was completely incompetent. As he continued his babble in an attempt to lighten the blow and escape potential destruction, she blinked rapidly a few times, a little lightbulb seemingly going off in her head. "OH!" Her face then proceeded to turn as red as a cherry - so red, in fact, that it distracted Knuckles enough to fall silent.
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Amy gushed suddenly, and made a little gasping sound. One hand went to cover her mouth, and, although Knuckles couldn't see how it was possible, her face turned even more red.
"Knuckles," she squeaked, looking completely embarassed. "That's totally not what I meant."
Knuckles breathed a huge sigh of relief, and then blinked. "Wait, it isn't?"
"Not at all," she said, removing her hand. "I well, I ido/i want you to go out with me," and here her eyes twinkled mischeviously, "but only for revenge!" She wiggled her fingers deviously for empathesis. "Remember?"
It startled a laugh of Knuckles. "Oh," he said, as further realization donned. "Oh! Oh, oh, oh." He laughed again, mostly out of embarassment. Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait, why me?"
"You mean other then the fact that you suggested it?" She winked at him, her previously hot face cooling. The red radiance that lighted her cheeks had dimmed considerably, settling on a nice shade of pink. "Well, I thought to myself, 'Amy, what better way to get back at Sonic then hanging off of the arm of his friendly nemesis?' I thought it was pretty brilliant myself."
"Well, I'll give you that," Knuckles said with a half smirk, "but be serious here Amy, I can't..." he faltered here, and turned away.
"What? Be boyfriend material?" Amy snorted and put one hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn and look at her. She moved her hand, looking sheepish, but eventually it melted away into a smile. "Really, Knuckles, it doesn't matter if you're boyfriend material or not. We're just playing pretend. Besides," she twirled around, grinning. "Any reason for Sonic to get his panties in a knot is a plus for you, isn't it? A taste of his own medicine?"
Knuckles had to agree grudgingly. "Well, yeah, but Amy.. I... I..." he waved one hand, fumbling for excuses. "I don't even really know you."
"Who cares if the idea is believable!" Amy exclaimed, hopping up and down. "Come on Knuckles! You're putting way too much thought into this. Just say yes, and worry about the specifics later. I've got everything covered."
Knuckles gave it one last shot. "But what if you're like... a.. serial killer.. or..."
"Oh, now you're just making excuses," Amy huffed, glowering at him. Knuckles smirked.
"I was making excuses to start with."
"You're more a killer then I, Mister Pointy Fists," she pointed at his barbed fists for empathesis, and Knuckles visibly tensed.
"Come on, Knuckles!" Amy pleaded, ignoring his look. "Think of it as.. an opportunity.. to get to know me better! Make new friends--"
"Friends? I am unfamiliar with this vocabulary."
"--Oh, shut up, you! Like I was saying, you only have to be out with me in public ever so often and you can think of me as like.. a tour guide.. or something?"
"Public? Did you say public?" Knuckles looked seriously ill.
"I'm sorry," Amy said with a huge air of sarcasm, "Is this going to effect your social standing in any manner? Being seen with a cute girl?"
"Amy..."
"You don't think I'm cute!"
"I didn't say that!" Knuckles snapped quickly, and suddenly turned an even deeper shade of red then usual.
"Oooh!" Amy cried, delighted. "Are you blushing?"
"You're very... uhm..."
"Adorable? Pretty? Drop-dead gorgeous?"
"Loud."
Amy opened her mouth and then shut again, realizing percisely how loud her voice had been escalating in volume over the past few sentences. He had a point - he was only a foot away from her, after all, but she was just so.. so..
"Sorry," she said, lowering her voice. "I'm just.. giddy, that's all."
What an understatement that was! She had never felt so bubbly in her life! She felt as if she were simply going to burst at the seams, simply explode from a sudden overflow of girlish glee! Oh man oh man, she couldn't wait to see the look on Sonic's face when she came parading out with Knuckles at her side!
"So please, Knuckles?" she said, getting down on one knee dramatically, as if proposing. She grabbed him by the hips, staring up at him with what she hoped were puppy dog convincing eyes. "Please? Pretty please? With sugar on top!"
"Oh, alright already!" Knuckles said, wiggling out of her grasp. Amy pumped one fist up into the air in victory and then leapt to her feet excitedly.
"Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you! And I promise to be the best Station Square tour guide EVER."
"Yeah, you better," Knuckles grumbled, and then he sighed. "So, when, uhm, do you figure you'll be.. showing me off?"
"As soon as possible!" Amy chirped cheerfully, and his frown grew. "So like... tomorrow, maybe?"
"You're asking me?" Knuckles asked, with a hint of disbelief. He snorted. "I have a choice?"
"Well.... no, you're right, you don't."
He laughed. "Thanks, Amy."
Sometime later she fell backwards onto her bed, feeling eurphoric. When she had first left, she was a woman with a job to do, and that job was to get Knuckles to agree to her little plan, or else feel the wrath of Amy Rose and her pico pico hammer! With this accomplished easily enough and misunderstandings between them forgotten, Amy felt dazed and lost in a world of dreaming, but not in a bad way.
"Oh wow," she said, hugging herself as she stared up at her ceiling fan. The blades swung round and round, dizzingly, making a faint swishing sound. "This time next week," she cackled to herself, "Sonic will be mine!"
"What the heck is this?"
"It's a doughnut."
"What's the doughnut?"
"The thing you're holding."
"Oh." Knuckles stared down at the baked good Amy had plopped into his hand upon arrival. The two of them were sitting at the small table in his dainty hotel room kitchen, a white bag (which had came with Amy), and condiments (left by the hotel staff) between them. Knuckles was studying the roll in his hand with an awful amount of concentration. When he looked up, Amy had already bitten into her own, which had some kind of chocolate coating with sprinkles. "Why does your's have a hole?"
"Huh?" Amy asked, through a mouthful of food. She coughed. "Oh! Because your's has filling, mine doesn't."
"What kind of filling?" Knuckles asked with narrowed eyes.
"Strawberry," Amy responded. "Hey, what's with the look?"
"Why are we doing this, anyway?" Knuckles grunted, sniffing the doughnut before taking a cautious bite out of it.
"What do you mean?" Amy asked innocently. She reached across the table, shoving her hand into the bag and pulling out a little bottle of orange juice, which she set in front of her.
"You know, this." He made a face as he took a bigger, more adventerous bite. "Yeech! This doesn't taste like strawberry! It's all.. gooey..."
"Artifical flavoring?" Amy shrugged, popping the cap of her drink and taking a sip. "It's a jelly filling."
"What's up with you people and your substitute fake flavoring?" Knuckles asked in disgust and wiped his face on his glove. "And you never answered my question."
"What?" Amy Rose asked, and Knuckles shot her a look. "Oh. Uh.. we're.. bonding," she said. "And setting out rules before we go out."
"Rules?" Knuckles said, with a hint of amusement. "You haven't laid any down yet."
Amy glared. "Yeah well.... I haven't thought of any yet..."
"So there's guidelines I have to follow?" Knuckles continued, wrinkling his nose. "A specific way I'm supposed to act?"
"Well... yeah!" Amy said, and Knuckles looked offended. "Oh come on Knuckles, I don't know how you interact with people, for all I know you go around headbutting strangers for absolutely no reason at all."
"Well, it's fun!" Knuckles protested.
Amy stared at him in horror, but then she realized he was just joking. "Yeah well," she giggled, "you can't be doing that anymore. We have to act like a real, geniune couple!"
She wondered if it was the trick of a light, or if Knuckles really did look a bit apprehensive. "Dare I ask," he muttered, "how couples act?"
"You mean you don't know?" Amy asked, aghast. She finished up the rest of his doughnut, staring at him, but he was looking down at his own, unfinished doughnut. "Well.. like, they.. hold hands and stuff."
"Is that it?"
She sighed deeply and took another, larger drink of her orange juice. "How about, you just keep quiet and stand by me while I do all the talking?"
"What, we have to talk too? Just being with me isn't enough?"
"Well, Sonic isn't going to pick up the hint with something so.. subtle."
"Amy," Knuckles said flatly, "We don't even interact, usually. I'm sure Sonic will notice the difference, and if he doesn't, well.."
"Well," Amy said, looking at one of the many clocks that were scattered about in the room. "We're about to find out. In ten minutes Sonic's due out to the pool for his usual Wensday sunbathe."
"You've memorized Sonic's weekly schedule?" Knuckles said, disgusted. He looked a bit confused. "Somehow, Sonic doesn't strike me as a kind of sunbather."
"Well, he is." Amy said, standing. "Do you have swimming trunks?"
"Swimming trunks? What the heck are those?"
"You swim in them!" Amy said, exasperated. "Sheesh Knuckles, do you know anything?"
"I resent that," Knuckles said, snorting. "Besides, why would I put on clothing when I don't wear any in the first place? And just to get wet, no less?"
Amy couldn't argue against that. "Well, I don't run around nude, so I do need to get ready." Her hand once again reached into the white bag on the table, this time pulling out a two piece bathing suit.
"EEEW!" Knuckles said, jumping out of his chair. "That was in there with my FOOD?!"Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Station Square and the self-proclaimed fastest thing alive, found himself lounging around by the pool. He had one blue leg crossed over the other, idly flipping through a magazine, shades pulled down over his green eyes. After a few minutes of relaxing silence laying out in the sun, he heard the sound of automatic doors coming from the lobby, and the sound of familiar, girlish laughter.
With super quick reflexes he was on his feet, preparing to block off what was surely going to be an oncoming onslaught from Amy Rose. What he did not expect, however, was for her to swagger past him without so much of a glance in her two piece bikini, followed by a rather grumpy looking Knuckles the Echidna. Wait.. what?
Sonic flipped up his shades, giving the two individuals a double-take. Even then, he wasn't entirely convinced. "Knux?" he inquired.
"Yeah?" Sure enough, the echidna turned around, arching an eyebrow.
"What are you doing here, knucklehead?"
"Out for a swim, what does it look like, hog?" Was the aggitated response. This kind of attitude was customary with Knuckles, and usually would have been easily waved off or parryed with a sharp-witted retort, but Sonic found himself at a loss.
"With.. Amy?"
"Yeah, with Amy," Knuckles reiterated for him, glaring. "You wanna make something out of it?"
Sonic raised his hands in defense. "Calm down there, tiger." He went back to his chair and resumed his lounging, but was unable to tear his eyes off of the two.
"Knuckles, darling," Amy said in a sickly sweet voice, lying stomach-down on a spot she had chosen. "Would you put some sunscreen on my back and shoulders, please?"
Knuckles eyes widdened, and Sonic surpressed a chuckle. Hoo boy, what is she trying to pull? Much to his surprise (and further confusion), however, the echidna proceeded to do just that; getting awkwardly down on his knees beside her and using those big clumsy hands to smear tanning oil all over her body.
When he was finished she patted an open space beside her, and he sat down next to her, rather then lay down. Knuckles then pulled off his huge clog-hopper-for-shoes and yanked off his socks. Satsified, he rolled over onto his stomach as well, complaining under his breath about how hot the lawn chair was.
For a while there Sonic just sat there, staring there, mouth slightly ajar. With every passing moment, the situation made less and less sense. Eventually Amy looked in his direction, and, seeing his chance, Sonic waggled his eyebrows at her. Amy, much to his utter and complete disbelief, snorted and turned her head in the other direction.
That was the last straw. Sonic once agian swung onto his feet, this time bothering to walk over there and confront the situation himself. Once he was standing over there, he tapped one foot impatiently, waiting for Amy to acknowledge his precense. She never did.
He cleared his throat, and Knuckles looked up, then looked away almost immediately. Sonic was quickly becoming impatient. "Yo, Amy!"
"What?" she snapped, before bothering to glance up.
"So, uh.." he gestured vaguely to the two of them. "What's up?"
"What's up with what?" Amy didn't seem to have the faintest idea as to what he was talking about.
"Don't play dumb. What's the deal with you two here?"
"Who?" Amy said. Then a smile slowly spread across his features. "Ooohhhh! You mean us?" She pointed to Knuckles and then to herself.
"Yeah, yeah," Sonic said quickly. "You two. Let's have an explanation, pronto."
"Excuse me?" Amy smirked, shifting slightly on her elbows. "I don't believe it's any of your business who my current love interest is, Sonic."
Sonic's muddled expression morphed into one of a person incredibly amused by someone else's joke. "What?" he asked, letting the laughter seep into his voice.
"Something funny, twerp?" Knuckles growled suddenly, and Amy just shook her head.
"Wait, am I hearin' this right?" Sonic asked, looking at them critically. "Wait wait, hold up here," he laughed again, loudly. "Are you tellin' me you two are an... item?"
"Yes," Amy said, smiling broadly.
Sonic couldn't contain himself. He went into a hysterical fit of laughter, complete with knee slapping and an inability to breathe. "You.. and.. Knuckles?"
"Yes," said Amy, her smile fading a little.
"Hahaha! Come on, Amy, yer killin' me here! You and echitard?"
"Hey, Sonic, you hungry?" Knuckles snarled, getting up onto his knees. "Because I'm about to make you eat your words."
"Yes, Knuckles and I are going out," Amy said, holding up her hand to keep Knuckles at bay. "See, I realized I should stop wasting my time on losers--"
"--So you opted for a bigger loser, am I right?"
"WHY YOU LITTLE--" One barbed fist lashed out and collided right against the side of Sonic's face, knocking him backwards onto his butt.
"I think you missed," Sonic snarled, rubbing the little scrape where Knuckles' fist had grazed him.
"Your fat head is a hard target to miss," Knuckles glowered, standing over him and raising a clenched fist. Amy sqwacked angerily behind him, but neither of the two were paying much attention.
"I hope you got a good shot in," Sonic raged, shoving himself off of the pavement to stand. "Because it'll be the last chance you'll get before I break your arm!" And with that, he balled up his fists and swung.
Knuckles managed to dodge, stepping backwards into the lawnchair. He swore under his breath, kicking the unoccupied one out of the way and readying his fists. "Yeah right," he seethed and struck.
Sonic was on guard this time, and managed to evade the blow with ease. Narrowing his eyes, he suddenly launched himself off of the ground and on top of the other teenager, hammering down on him with both fists while Knuckles tried to fend him off.
"Boys! BOYS!" Amy roared as the two boys proceeded to attempt to tear each other apart. "CUT IT OUT!" When no one complied, she jumped off her chair and into the battle zone, shoving her way between them and narrowly avoiding Knuckles' fist and Sonic's spines.
She bodily forced the two apart, the only defense keeping them from killing each other. "Stop behaving like hethens!" She commanded, while one glared at the other hatefully. "Sonic, stop provoking him," she narrowed her eyes at the hedgehog before rounding on the other, "And Knuckles, is he really worth your effort?"
"Hmph, I guess not," Knuckles said before taking a step back and turning away from them. Sonic, breathing heavily and tense, relaxed a little and stepped back.
"Fine!" he threw his hands up and snorted. "Hope you two are happy together." And with that, he whirled away from them and stalked off.
END CHAPTER TWO.
A/N: review.