Chapter 9: Shadows Collide
I licked my ice cream happily as Knuckles came into the room with his.
"Knuckles, we should have a party!" I suggested. He looked at me with a weird look on his face.
"Oh, what for?" he asked, licking his ice cream.
"Just for having a party, I wanna meet people!" I exclaimed.
"You wanna have a party right after Rouge's death and Reala's, just to meet new people?" he questioned.
"A party in their memories" I murmured.
"That's what the funeral home does dear" he assured me.
"Please Knuckles?" I asked again.
"A party!" Mighty exclaimed as he came rushing down the stairs "That's sounds like an awesome idea!" Knuckles glared at him as he marched in, crunching up an empty bag of potato chips. "I think this gal's on to something" he snickered.
"I'm trying to teach her about waiting for proper timing…" Knuckles grumbled.
"Timing, shiming" Mighty replied, rolling his eyes at him as he took a seat beside me "I like how you think kid, we'll invite a whole bunch of people from central city, or even better, we'll have an open house party!" he exclaimed. I thought for a moment.
"Well my birthday's coming up" I admitted.
"Great, there's no better reason to party then a birthday!" Mighty chuckled. Knuckles glared at him as he walked into the kitchen. Mighty and I spent the next few hours making posters and invitations to his house on my birthday. We made big pink posters, cute heart-shaped posters and even some paper party decorations. Once we finished, Mighty leaned back on the couch and wiped his forehead.
"Phew, looks like we got most of it done, how's about some drinks?" he asked.
"I'll get them!" I cheered. I got up just as I heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it!!" I exclaimed running to the door. I pulled it open "Hello!!" I cheered. I paused and looked up at the figure in a dark blue colored armor.
"Are you Jenn?" she asked, looking down at me with glowing pink eyes.
"Yes, who's asking?" I replied, putting my hands on my hips. Before I could even blink an eye, she grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and pulled my over her shoulder.
"Jenn, who is it?" Mighty asked from the living room. He looked around the corner and his eyes shot open. "Jenn!!" he exclaimed and came running, Knuckles not far behind him. The girl in armor jumped back and landed in the middle of the road.
"Get back here you creep!!" Knuckles roared as he and Mighty came running at her. She paused before looking to her left. She leaped back as a large truck rushed past her. She bolted down the road as the truck past. I looked back to see Knuckles and Mighty loose sight of her.
"Let me go!!" I cried, waving my arms and legs in the air, trying to get free.
"As soon as Shadow hands me the Chaos Emerald, I'll let you go" she assured me. She stopped in front of Mr. Shadow's house and pointed at the door. Suddenly the door bell rang. After a few minutes Mr. Shadow pulled open the door and looked over at us.
"Ya, who is it?" he called over.
"I'm here for the Chaos Emerald" she told him, putting her hand out to him. Shadow put his hands on his hips.
"And what makes you think I'll hand it over to the likes of you?" he smirked. She held me up to him by the neck and squeezed tightly.
"Pick, her or the emerald?" she ordered. Shadow shrugged and looked to the side.
"The emerald obviously" he answered. She paused and then tossed me onto the sidewalk and dashed at Mr. Shadow. He looked back at her and jumped as she threw a punch at him. He looked down at her dived a kick at her. She leaped back as he landed and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Surrender the emerald Shadow" she repeated "I don't want to hurt you, but I need that emerald!" Shadow snickered.
"Maybe you'd like to see my friends first?" he told her. Mephiles floated out from behind him floated by his side. Shade looked above her shoulder and nodded, looking back at Shadow.
"You have a pair of Shinigami" she announced. Shadow looked to his opposite shoulder and looked back at her.
"You only have one" he grinned "looks like you're out numbered." She glared at him and made another dash at him. Mephiles drifted over and grabbed her right arm, holding her back. Her other arm was in a similar position. I ran over and dived at her leg.
"Hi-ya!!" I cried as I pulled back on her leg. She struggled to pull her arms free as Shadow walked over to her slowly.
"Looks like you won't be getting this" he teased, holding a purple gem in front of her. She glared at Shadow and flipped backward, kicking Shadow and sending me flying into him. I heard the gem drop to the ground as I landed on Shadow. He grunted in pain and pushed me off. I looked back to see the armored lady grab the gem and leap backward.
"Emerald captured" she said coldly "Chaos Control!" She suddenly vanished in a blue blur. Shadow got to his feet and clenched his fists, slightly shaking.
"Shadow, are you alright?" Mephiles asked as he floated over by Shadow. I pulled out my note book and looked it over.
"Are you okay note book?" I asked it. It looked undamaged, so I sighed and put it away. I looked up at Shadow and wrapped my arms around his leg. "I'm sorry Mr. Shadowkins!!" I cried "I never do anything right…"
"Let go… Of my leg…" he growled. I let go and backed up as he turned towards his house. "Don't you ever, come near me again!" he snarled. He looked over his shoulder. "Void, follow her and make sure she never come back here" he snarled as he re-entered his house. Mephiles floated in after him as he slammed the door shut. I looked around.
"Void?" I murmured. I pulled out my Death Note and looked down at it. "Why'd you have to leave me Reala…" I sighed and suddenly noticed a blue, claw-like hand on my book. I looked up and saw slim blue figure with leaf-like green hair and sapphire eyes.
"Jenn?" he asked softly. I looked up at him in amazement. He held a hand out to me "I am Void, the new Shinigami of the note book you now hold" he told me. I took his hand and he helped me to my feet. I blushed terribly and looked up at him.
"I… I… I…" I stuttered. He floated around behind me and looked down at me.
"Well, you must get going now, those are Shadow's orders" he told me. I pouted and headed towards Knuckles' house. When I got there, everyone was in the yard.
"Okay, Ray and Charmy, you guys search for her from the skies" Knuckles instructed walking back and forth in front of the others "The rest of you are going with me to search the ground…"
"Search for who?" I asked from behind him. He froze and turned to me.
"Jenn!" he exclaimed, picking me up and hugging me.
"You're alright!" Mighty cried, running to my side.
"Well, that's a relief" Vector murmured as he and the rest circled around me.
"Ya, I was just taken hostage" I assured them "Shadow lost his gem because of me…" Knuckles pet my forehead.
"Oh, don't you worry about that meat head, he'll be fine" he assured me.
"You still wanna have the party?" I asked. Knuckles nodded.
"A party to celebrate your safe return!" he cheered. Everyone began cheering happily.
"How's that a reason to celebrate?" asked a voice from behind me. We turned to see my brother standing on the side walk with his arms crossed over his chest.
"James…" Knuckles murmured as I pulled myself closer to him.
"So, I leave you to watch her for a few hours and you lost her?" he asked coldly.
"Hey, it's not his fault, I was watching her!" Mighty intervened. Knuckles put me down and stepped in front of Mighty.
"No, I was suppose to take care of her, I take full responsibility for what happened" he announced.
"Knuckles…" Mighty muttered.
"Well, in that case Mr. Heroic, I'll tell you now that Jenn won't be attending your little charade" he told him, shutting his eyes "you should be grateful I don't tell my mother about this and have her banned from ever coming here again." Knuckles snarled and cracked his knuckles.
"Try it and I'll personally snap every bone in your body" Knuckles warned him. James opened his eyes and looked back at him, his arms dropping to his sides.
"Is that a challenge, knuckle head?" he asked. Knuckles got into a fighting pose and growled.
"Bring it tough guy!" James took a step back and the two of them dashed towards at each other. Knuckles threw a punch at him. James jumped and landed on Knuckles' fist and kicked him square in the face. He jumped back as Knuckles crashed into the ground shot himself down, kicking Knuckles hard in the gut.
"Please stop fighting!!" I cried. James stepped off Knuckles and kicked him over in front of me.
"Come on Jenn, we're going home" he ordered. I kneeled down beside Knuckles and pecked him on the forehead. I got up and rushed over to James' side. He turned and led me towards the house. I looked back to see Knuckles sitting up. He looked towards me and I could see the tears at the bases of his eyes. He wiped them away as mighty and Espio helped him up. I looked up at James. His eyes were fixed in front of him, his hands clenched in fists. I lightly placed a hand on his arm.
"I love you big brother…" I whimpered.
"I love you too sis, I'm just glad you're alright" he replied. He looked down at me, his expression looking more like sadness now "you could've been hurt badly…"
"I finally figured out who the person is…" I muttered, looking down "I'm sorry…" He tilted his head at me.
"What person?" he asked.
"The person Reala killed to save me…" I told him "It was our dad…" He looked back in front of him.
"I see…" he mumbled "Well, no big deal, he left as soon as you were born, so I guess he thought if he got rid of you he'd have an excuse to get back together with mom" he assured me "Reala did us a big favor."
"I should never have been born, then none of this would never have happened. I'm just a big mistake…" I said weakly. He stopped and kneeled down in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders.
"Jenn, don't you dare think that!" he told me "Dad left because he was irresponsible as a father and thought you'd be to much work." He looked me in the eyes "No matter what anyone says, it was never your fault dad left when he did." I felt tears roll down my face and I hugged him tightly. He hugged back and rubbed my back comfortingly. "There, there Jenn…" he said comfortingly "It's okay." I pulled away and looked up at him.
"I have something I forgot to show you" I told him. I took out my note book and touched him with it. He looked up at Void who was still floating behind me. He stood up and put a hand out to him. Void to his hand and shook it firmly.
"James the hedgehog" he introduced himself.
"Void" he answered, releasing his hand. James crossed his arms over his chest.
"So, Jenn got a new guy?" he asked. Void shook his head.
"I've been sent by Shadow to keep her out of his hair" he assured me. James nodded and looked down at me.
"You ready to go home?" he asked "I'll take you for ice cream next weekend" he promised me.
"But what about my birthday party?" I asked.
"Jenn, that was last month" he assured me "June was last month, this month is July" he chuckled.
"But I want another one" I whimpered. He patted me on the head.
"You'll get another one next year, I promise" he teased "now come on, mom's got dinner going."
"Poopies…" I grumbled "But mom can't cook!" He laughed and shook his head.
"Oh Jenn, you're such a little brat" he teased "come on." He took my hand and led towards the house.
"Nausea, heart burn, indigestion, upset stomachs, diarrhea!" I giggled.
"Singing Pepto-Bismol?" he asked.
"No, the side effects of mom's cooking!" I teased. He laughed and messed up my hair.
"Come on you little trouble maker, if we take too long it'll be burnt tongues to top it all off."
"She burns it anyway" I reminded him. He laughed again as we headed to the house.