Changed Seasons Chapter 6

At the GUN headquarters, Rouge was sitting in her office with that annoying sensation that she had forgotten something. She looked at her calendar over an over again but just couldn't remember what it was. She hit her head on the desk in frustration.

"Who is it?" She shouted at a knock at the door to her office.

"Um, s-sorry m-mama" It was Britney Rouge's secretary so to speak.

"Sorry Britney. What is it?" Rouge said taking on a softer voice. It wasn't fair for her to take out her problems on her colleges, and her secretary was already jumpy enough.

"Um, I need Mr. Robotnick's signatures"

"Okay, I'll bring it to him. Oh and Britney,"

"Y-yes"

"Loosen up a little before you give yourself a heart attack." She said jokingly.

She got up retrieving the forms still plagued by that annoying feeling.

She knocked on the door.

"Come in" a very bored sounding voice said.

Rouge opened the door to Shadow's office.

"You sound bored, is a desk job not active enough for you"

"Humph, what is it."

"The usual; signatures. Get excited"

Shadow groaned. "This is so boring."

While Shadow signed the many papers Rouge frowned into space trying to solve her dilemma.

"What is it?" Shadow asked not looking up.

"Don't you ever get the feeling you forgot something?"

"Oh. Have you tried meditating?"

"What! You mean that thing were you cross your legs and start flouting?"

"Actually, that's a misconception. Meditation is just means 'to think deeply'."

"Yeah, yeah but that still doesn't solve my problem."

"Try meditating. It really does help."

She didn't look convinced.

"So, what're you going to for Knuckles Birthday?"

"Oh my god, that's what I had forgotten. Err. I can't believe I forgot."

"Don't feel too horrible, I had to remind him of yours for the last two years."

"WHAT!"

"So you didn't answer my question, what are you doing for it."

"I don't know, what do guys like anyway?"

"You can't go wrong with wrestling. The guy actually borrowed my television after he broke his own, JUST to watch the Raw Smack Down thing."

"Really, Hmm"

"Yup, anyway, I'm finished."

"Thank you." She said before leaving hurriedly. She had work to do; if she was going to end up watching a wrestling match, she might as well see what to expect.

As soon as she got home she started twelve hours of wrestling matches.

"So tired," Rouge mumbled sleepily, as she Amy and Cream walked to the mall.

"That's what you get trying to watch twelve hours of television with no break." Cream said playfully.

"You didn't HAVE to come along, if its getting in the way of your health you really shouldn't force yourself; it's only a trip to the mall" Amy said sympathetically. She was only trying to do something nice for a friend, and didn't need to strain herself.

Rouge sighed.

"Nah it's to early to sleep now, if I did, then my entire sleeping pattern would be ruined"

"Hey, at least it will be worth having some fun with Knuckles." Amy said playfully elbowing Rouge.

"Your rights now let's do some shopping!" Rouge said with sudden energy.

They went all over the place. First they went to GAP, Aeropostale, and FYE, and then they went to Lunch and Borders completing their shopping spree. As they went through the mall, they noticed how so many stores were already getting ready for Christmas.

"Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier every year." Cream stated as they passed by a big Christmas tree in the middle of the court room.

"Yeah, but in a way that might be a good thing, the sooner people get ready for it the longer people are celebrating, and I guess, acting Christmassy."

"Hmm"

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?"

"I haven't really thought about it much," Amy said.

"I know, lets have a party, we could invite everyone, and have a secret Santa, and everything."

"Hmm, that would be fun,"

The girls chatted all day trying to come up with ideas of what to do for Christmas. Eventually they settled on Creams ides for a party.

With careful planning by the end of the week, everything was planned out.

To Rouge, Knuckles' birthday had snuck up on her too fast. She left her house and flew over to his place, then rung the doorbell waiting with anticipation for him to answer the door.

When he got to the door Knuckles was surprised to see Rouge. The only time he saw her was when the group was meeting up, or (even though she hadn't said anything about it in a while) she was trying to get at the Master Emerald. She may have been friendlier lately, but that didn't mean she had completely changed.

"Hello Knuckles. Happy Birthday," she said handing him a small present.

Now he felt really guilty for being so suspicious of her.

"Hello Rouge, thank you. Umm, what is it?" He said curiously.

"Open it and find out." She said playfully.

He looked at her suspiciously for a second then shrugged and opened it. For a second he stared at the present then back at Rouge.

For a second Rouge felt suddenly worried that maybe he didn't like the gift, but instead he surprised her.

"Either I am dreaming, or I have just gone crazy." He said quietly. "Do you have any idea what these are?"

"Yes I do, so do you want to go or not"

"These are tickets to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Scramble match; I would be a complete and total idiot to not go! Come on before we're late"

Before she could even reply Knuckles grabbed her hand and ran full speed.

They had gotten to their seats right in time. Basically it was a 20 minute fight, where randomly two competitors would enter first, then every five minutes another competitor would enter. When competitor scores a pin fall or submission then they become the current champion, then when the 20 minutes are up the current champion becomes the official champion.

The first two competitors were a huge white wolf White Fang, and TLC a hyena who even though was a little smaller, was still impressively big. The bell rang and they attacked each other simultaneously throwing each other back. They hit each other with so much force they were barely able to come back after taking a hit. Then White fang was on the floor as TLC attempted the first pin fall, but before the ref. could even start he was up again. He forced a blow right in TLC's face which stunned the hyena giving White fang time to send at least five strikes to the stomach. Then they were out of the mat punching and kicking. Then White Fang kicked TLC right into the steel stairs but right as he fell, the fires started, and the third participant came on. It was Legend a squirrel with the height of at least 6 foot 2 and weight of 376 lbs. He came down obvious confidence striding in as if he owned the place. He got to the ring and with TLC indisposed White fang was the target. He pulled himself in the ring and without further invitation attacked White Fang head on. White fang went down in a series of punches and kicks. Then as he was on the floor Legend jumped on the ropes of the ring and jumped on White Fang with sickening force.

Rouge could feel the emoting in the air. The fans were cheering and booing there hearts out, and Knuckles, to put it mildly, was equally out of control. The funny thing was, she was actually having fun. It was completely different from the sophisticated environment she usually was in. As Legend, after a series of punches leaving White Fang in utter defeat, focused his attention on the other opponents, Rouge joined Knuckles in his immature booing and hissing.

Then the final player was introduced. It was Venom the Kangaroo, the survivor of the earlier fights. He came limping down the aisle not having been completely recovered from his earlier fight. Legend took one look at him, and laughed loudly, then turned his attention to the remaining opponents in the ring, but venom wasn't one to be ignored. There was only ten more minutes on the clock, with White Fang as the current champion. Legend had turned his attention to White Fang that had come back to the ring with vengeance. They were dukeing it out for at least five minutes before either one of them began to slow down. Rouge noticed that while Legend and White fang were preoccupied Venom had started with TLC. It was twenty five seconds before the end when Legend became the current champion, then to everyone's surprise, literally just five seconds before the bell. The beep of a new current champion sounded-. It was Venom!

The crowd went wild.

Then with the heat of the moment before she even knew what was happening.

Rouge felt it as Knuckles pulled her into a tight embrace, and kissed her full on the mouth.

Realizing what had happened, Knuckles quickly put her down thinking he had gone to far and she was mad, but to his surprise she just smiled seductively pulling him into another passionate kiss.

As soon as Rouge got home she pounced on the phone clicking the speed dial, like, if she didn't tell somebody what just happened it would completely fade away from reality.

"Hello?" Said Amy as she picked up the phone, and then had to hold the phone a foot away as she heard the delighted squeal. "I'm guessing it went well." Amy said chuckling.

Rouge kept her up all night giving her every single solitary detail she could.

The next morning Rouge walked into her office, a lot more cheerfully than usual.

Britney, who was expecting a very grumpy boss, stuttered through the sentence;

"A-are y-y-you alright m-ma'am?"

"Yup, never better" Rouge said cheerfully as she unlocked her office.

After a few minutes she heard muffled voices outside her door then Britney, and another co-worker popped their heads in.

"Good morning ma'am, nice day isn't it?"

"Yup"

They closed the door and Rouge thought she distinctly heard whispering.

"I'm guessing your date went well." Shadow said as he entered her office.

"Yes, it went perfectly," She said going into LaLa land. "Thank you so much for the idea"

"No problem," he sighed jokingly "What would you people do without me"

Even though he had said it with no trace of emotion, Rouge had known him long enough to tell when he was joking or not.

"What ever, go back to work" she said joking.

"Hey, I thought I was the boss"

"Well to bad. So, are you going to the party?"

He mentally cringed. She knew what he felt about parties and other social gatherings.

He could see exactly what would happen if he went;

He would just be standing by the punch bowl for the whole time feeling alone and sorry for himself watching everyone else have fun, then that faker would start a fight, and lose of course, causing everyone to get mad at him, then he would leave feeling betrayed and hurt, 'Like always' He thought.

"Nope"

"Aww, why not, it'll be fun." She pleaded

"I am not going to stand around that faker and act like everything's okay." He snapped

"Oh, is that why you don't like hanging out with us?"

"No, that's not the only reason"

"Then tell me"

"No thank you"

Rouge sighed. "Fine, but if you change your mind it's going to be at Tail's house."

"I won't"

"Fine, but you'll be sorely missed" then the idea struck. "Especially by Amy"

For a second his heart skipped a beat and he hesitated.

'Gotcha' Rouge thought.

"That…doesn't change anything."

'She'll probably be all over that faker anyway' he thought glumly to himself.

Rouge smirked to her self; that should have worked. Even if he hid it extremely well, from everyone else, she could tell he still had a soft spot for their pink hedgehog friend; ever since she somehow changed his mind on the ark. At least now he'll be thinking about, and who knows, he might even change his mind and decide to go.

"Anyway, as I said earlier, you are always welcome to show up."

"Humph"

Shadow left and went to his office trying to preoccupy himself with his paper work.

But every few minutes he found his mind going back to trying to decide whether or not he should go. He cursed to himself. It was rouge's fault. All he wanted was to just be left alone, but no Rouge just had to bring something else up.

After work he went home to watch TV and eat. Then when the sky became dark and there was nothing good on TV, he just sat sulking to him self.

On one hand there was a possibility that if he went he would just stay to himself watching everyone else have fun, then, inevitable, he would get into a fight with someone, and end up leavening. Then even if Amy was going to be there she would be way to busy hanging out with her friends to even notice him. Then on the other hand, there was a very slim chance that he would have fun, and he sitting here getting worried over nothing. He sighed and stubbornly told himself he would not under any circumstances go to that party. Then he yawned as fatigue over came him, and giving up, went to bed.