Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy... as I've said, Knux has stolen two chapters... Sigh, you know, it would be very nice if some of you would review... it'd make me feel better, so I'll actually know what people think of it...

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles or anyone else from the games and/or Sonic X (thus I do not own Tim and their human forms). I do not own two scenes in here—the scene at the end of Rouge's dream is from Sonic Adventure II, and the scene in Knuckles' dream is in Sonic X. Those are all owned by SEGA and Sonic Team.

--The Enchanting Thief--

"Daddy? Daddy, play with me!" a little girl of no more than five beckoned. She had been asking for hours, her blue eyes hopeful. Her naturally white hair fanned out around her face. "Daddy?"

"Go away!" her father yelled as he slapped her on the face with the back of her hand. She fell on the ground, holding her cheek. "Stop bugging me!"

Tears formed in the young girl's eyes. "Daddy, did I do something bad?"

"Yes, yes you did! Now go somewhere else!"

She started crying loudly. "Daddy..." she called out in the middle of her loud sobs.

"You idiot, don't cry! Your mother will be home soon!" he said, violently picking her up and shaking her fiercely. "Shut up, girl!" The stench of alcohol reached the girl's nose, but she was too young to understand the smell.

"Why is Daddy mad?" she asked between her loud sobs. "Daddy, put me down! Waah!" she called out as her father shook harder, not knowing what else to do.

"I said shut up!" he threw the girl before he knew what he was doing. She flew out the window, shattering the glass. She missed the balcony rail by less than an inch and fell towards the ground far below. Tears flew from her eyes.

She felt herself stop suddenly, her right arm straining above her. She blinked, the tears vanishing from her eyes as she heard a boy above say, "Are you okay?"

As she blinked, the scene below her suddenly changed: instead of hanging over the street below, she now hung over a pit of lava. She heard the sound of meteors shake the ground above her. Though she was now much older, she was only a little taller than she had been just five seconds ago. Wings plastered on her back flapped. Surprised, she quickly turned her head up to see who caught her, but her vision suddenly blurred.

Ruby woke up from her dream. She blinked as she stared at her room. That was a weird dream... she thought as she rubbed her eyes. She stared at the time, shining brightly on the clock next to her. It was only midnight. Since she did not feel tired, she stood up. Guess I'll go to a club or something, she thought. Wait, why am I so short? She stared down to see that she had boots on. She frowned as she turned a lamp on with gloved hands. She walked up to her tall mirror, where she took a look at herself.

She was not human anymore—she was a bat. The fur above her mouth was white, much like her hair, but the fur below that was a dark tan, almost brown. She had huge bat ears that picked up every sound: her father laughing like a drunk manic on the telephone, the TV on, someone walking outside, crickets chirping loudly... She had blue eye shadow above her narrow green eyes. Her tank top, which started way below her neck, was pink and shaped like a heart with a white outline. The heart turned into a dark purple, maybe even black, skin-tight suit that that continued down past her boots; the outfit covered even her tail. Her long gloves were white and extended past her elbows before folding over themselves, showing to be pink on the inside. Her long, white high heel boots did the same, but they had a heart on the toe of them. Her huge bat wings, which started on a bare part of her back, were the same color as the bottom part of her suit. She flapped her wings, smiling at herself. I kinda like this... and this outfit is nice. An idea popped in her head. I think this calls for a change in plans...

----

"Kevin's out again today..." John complained after first period.

"He's sick again? He must really not be feeling well..."

"Why don't we go visit him after school?"

"Great idea!"

"Maybe a visit and some stories will help him get better!"

Ruby said nothing; she simply stared at the empty desk.

"Speaking about stories..." Henry started, making the others moan. "Listen to me! We had that picnic because of some of the things I heard."

"Yeah, too bad Kevin missed out on that."

"Well, anyway, they say that someone stole the most expensive and best guarded diamond from a museum."

"What?"

"Some guards say they saw a white and pink blur soaring out of the ceiling window."

Ruby smirked despite herself. So now I am on the news... she thought happily.

"Everyone in your seats!" Dr. Eggman called as soon as the bell rang. The whole class grumbled and did as they were told. Ruby listened to the lecture at first, bored. Soon enough, she let her mind take over... She thought about her adventures the night before, being a bat and stealing a lovely jewel from a museum. Kevin would kill me if he knew... she thought as she glanced over at Kevin's empty desk. As her eyes found her own desk, she replayed her dream again. When she got to the end, where the scene suddenly changed, she paused, thinking. What was that about? A pit of lava? A dark sky, filled with stars... outer space? But I wasn't even wearing a space suit. She smiled to herself. I guess that part was just a crazy dream.

Ruby felt a sheet of paper lightly touch her arm. She turned to see Mike handing her a sheet of paper, smiling. She took it. On it, Mike had written, "Does anyone have anything after school today?" Below Mike's words, Henry had written that he didn't. Ruby wrote her own "No" before glancing at the next member of their group. John sat two seats away from Ruby, with Kevin in between them. The only other way to get the letter to John and Paul, who sat diagonally behind John, was to go through Tim. Ruby knew for a fact that Tim would not help; He might even tell the doctor that we're passing notes, she thought. She glanced at the person who sat in front of Kevin. A goody-good. There's no way I can get it there like this... When Eggman's back was turned, she dared turn her head to stare at John's desk, thinking about how she could get it there. She sighed. She leaned over to Mike, handed him the paper, and whispered, "We'll have to ask John and Paul later."

"Is there a problem, Miss Abalone?" Dr. Eggman demanded, annoyed.

"If you count having an ugly teacher as a problem, then we all have one," Ruby remarked, making the whole class laugh.

Eggman was furious. "Detention after school today, Abalone!" he barked.

As soon as the doctor turned around, Ruby snatched the note from Mike's desk and slapped it on her own. She crossed out her "No" and wrote "Yes."

----

The four boys were waiting outside of the classroom when Ruby's detention ended. They walked to Kevin's house, joking around the whole way. When they reached his house, Ruby noted that only Kevin's car was anywhere to be seen. Oh yeah, don't we have Driver's Ed this year? she couldn't help but think. Paul knocked on the door.

After a few more knocks, the door finally creaked open. Karen stood there, watching her brother's friends.

"Hey, Karen!" Ruby greeted. "It's been a while. How's your brother? We noticed he wasn't at school today or yesterday."

"Is he sick?"

"Can we see him?"

Karen blinked. "Huh? Oh, yes, he's sick..." she answered slowly. "I'm afraid it's... very contagious. It'd be best if you didn't see him."

Their disappointment was obvious. "I hope he gets well soon..."

"Tell him that we can't wait for him to get better."

"Oh, I know! My mom makes the best soup... I'll bring some over later for him."

"So..." Ruby spoke up, "where are your parents? Wouldn't they be home since Mr. Tough Guy is actually sick?"

"They're at work," Karen said quickly. Just then, a black minivan pulled into the driveway. "Oh, looks like Mother is home now. I'll tell Kevin everything you said, you guys should get going."

"Okay. We hope to see Kevin tomorrow!" The boys started sadly walking off first, and then Ruby followed.

Karen breathed easily as Kevin's friends walked off. Luckily, her mother took her time getting out of the car. Mrs. Hogosha ran up to her daughter and pulled her in close, crying. "We can't find your brother anywhere," Mrs. Hogosha sobbed. "I hope he's okay..."

"He can take care of himself," Karen comforted. "I'm sure he'll find his way home soon..."

----

Karen slammed the door as she walked into her room. She pulled her watch off as she hopped on her bed. She hit the red button on the watch and immediately yelled, "You idiot!" as tears sprung to her eyes.

"Something wrong?" she heard Knuckles asked.

"Are you happy yet?"

"W-wha...?"

"Everyone's worried about you! Mother and Father went to the police when you didn't come home!"

"Look, this is my life and I'll choose what to do with it," Knuckles explained, obviously annoyed. "You can't do anything to change my mind."

"But what about your friends?"

"I have friends."

"You're being stubborn."

"I'm not being stubborn! I'm simply deciding what I want to do!"

"Stubborn!"

"I am not!"

"You are too!"

"I am not! Now don't call me unless you have something important to say!"

"Kevin?" Karen heard her mother call from outside of her room. The door suddenly opened, and Mrs. Hogosha stared at her daughter's angry, tear streaked face. "I'm sorry, Karen... I could've sworn I heard Kevin..."

Karen angrily threw the watch against the wall, breaking it into pieces.

----

Knuckles watched the sun go down from shrine. Watching it gave him a serene feeling. Everything on Angel Island was calm and quiet, very peaceful... very boring... Knuckles lied back, bored. He watched the clouds slowly roll by and the occasional insect hover above before continuing on its blissful journey. The Master Emerald shone brightly, making up for the vanishing light of the sun. His stomach grumbled—he was still getting used to getting food on the island. He closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, the sweet aroma of beef stew filled his nose. That smells great... Wait, there's no beef stew here... am I imagining things?

"Hungry?" his sister's voice rang. Knuckles opened his eyes to see Tikal standing there, holding a bowl of beef stew out.

Knuckles paused before sitting up and taking the food. "Thanks... I thought you were mad at me."

"I am mad at you," Tikal said bluntly, "but your friends asked me to give this to you. I tried my best to keep it warm on the way."

Knuckles stared past the stew. My friends...

"You should at least say something to Mother and Father. In person," she added when she saw Knuckles glance at her wrist. He ate a few more bites of the stew.

"Where's your watch?"

She sighed. "I'll have to ask Tails to make me a new one..."

"I knew you were mad at me, but wow, I didn't think you could break Tails' watch!"

Tikal blushed, embarrassed. "I'll take the bowl and spoon back when you're done," she said, indicating that she wanted him to finish quickly.

Knuckles ate the rest of it in silence and then handed the bowl to Tikal. She walked over to the top of the stairs. "Your friends say... that they can't wait until you 'get better'." With that, she ran down the stairs and towards the edge of the island. Knuckles watched her, surprised, but didn't chase her or say anything. He lied down again and stared at the stars, thinking. Soon enough, he dozed off.

"Wait! Give me back the Master Emerald!" Knuckles yelled as he ran after a thief. The thief wore all black, even over his ears. The thief carried the Master Emerald with rope and flew above the precious jewel with a pair of bat wings. The Master Emerald barely hovered above the ground as the thief fought to carry the heavy thing. Knuckles ran as fast as he could, determined not to let the thief get his emerald. The thief tried flying faster, already lucky have started far ahead of Knuckles by the time he had awoken.

"You won't escape," Knuckles muttered. He jumped up and punched the largest rock near him. It exploded into large pieces, and one piece hit the thief dead on the face. The thief dropped the Master Emerald and fell into some nearby bushes.

After sitting on the grass for a minute, the thief jumped up and jolted for the Master Emerald. The thief greedily grabbed the rope, saying, "But now I... want this, too!"

"Hey, you!" Knuckles barked as he walked up. "I don't know how you are... but do you have any idea what you're doing? That's the Master Emerald, which can stop the power of the Chaos Emeralds. It's extremely important!" The thief leaned on the Master Emerald, his eyes closed. His face was turned away and his hand was on his hip. "Hey, are you listening to me?"

"No, I'm not," the thief answered in a very feminine voice, shrugging off what Knuckles had just said. The thief ran as Knuckles' vision blurred...

Knuckles opened his eyes to see the stars above him. He slowly reached a hand out and touched the Master Emerald, which was still next to him. However, there were some shadows on the Master Emerald... Knuckles reached a gloved hand up to touch one of the shadows. Something stuck out, off of the emerald... Rope? Knuckles leapt to his feet, suddenly wide awake. "Who's there?" he demanded to the darkness. He heard someone gasp. Knuckles jumped on top of the Master Emerald and used it's light to see the thief: a white bat girl stood there, staring up at the echidna in surprise. A woman? Knuckles thought, surprised. "Who are you?" Knuckles asked as the bat took a step back.

The bat clinched her fist. I haven't thought about that... I suppose I should make a thief name later, she thought.

Rouge, a girl's voice said in the bat's head. You are Rouge the Bat.

That'll do, the bat thought. Thanks, whoever you are. "I'm Rouge the Bat. Who are you?"

"Were you the one who tied the rope around the Master Emerald?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"This is my emerald, and you're not getting it!"

"I don't see your name on it."

"That doesn't matter! Don't touch the Master Emerald!"

Rouge pulled at the ropes. "Get off of it!"

"Why you..." Knuckles muttered, his anger rising. He jumped off of the Master Emerald and descended on Rouge, his right fist back. At the last second, he threw his fist out. Rouge attempted to jump out of the way, but he still hit her, knocking her onto the ground below. Knuckles jumped off of the shrine and came down on her again, ready to punch. Rouge flipped herself over and beat her wings quickly. She flew out of the way. Once safe in the air, she turned around to find that the echidna had made a crater in the ground.

That would've hit me...! Angry, Rouge spun herself in a circle, keeping her body stretched out. She pointed her right foot down, making what looked like a tornado. When she was satisfied when her speed, she threw herself at the echidna. He jumped out of the way as she made the crater deeper. Both of them landed on the ground and glared at each other.

"Give me the emerald and I won't have to get rid of you," Rouge said.

"Get rid of me? Ha! You couldn't do that if you tried... and as long as I'm around, nobody is touching the Master Emerald."

"Funny, you were sleeping earlier. I kinda liked that better. Why don't you go back to sleep so I can take the emerald?"

"You are not taking the Emerald!" Knuckles yelled angrily.

"Oh really?" She left the ground and started flying towards the Master Emerald. Knuckles spun around and grabbed on to the side of the shrine. He quickly climbed up the side of the shrine, determined to beat her to the large jewel. She grabbed the ropes.

"Stop!" Knuckles yelled as he threw himself up to stop the bat. He hit her with his shoulder, knocking her away from the Master Emerald. She flapped her wings to keep herself in the air. She glared at Knuckles, but she knew fighting like this was pointless—she had to get better, used to her bat body.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of the Master Emerald."

"I'll be back for the 'Master Emerald', Knuckles," Rouge said before flying off.

"Don't you dare think you're ever going to get it!" Knuckles yelled after her.

"You know," a voice said from behind Knuckles, "you're in for a boring time if you stay like this."

Knuckles spun around. A girl cloaked in green stood there. The ghost...!

"I suggest going back to your human form."

"No way."

"Why not?" the girl asked, sounding surprised.

"If I go back, then that stupid bat girl will steal the Master Emerald."

"Shouldn't you think this through a little more? What about you? This isn't what you want, is it?"

"Wha...? What are you talking about? Of course it's what I want!"

"Don't you miss your parents? Your friends? Do you really want to condemn yourself to staying here, only seeing any friends or family when they come?"

Knuckles' eyes widened. He clinched his fist and turned away. "I've made my decision. If you didn't come here to help, then go away."

"I did come to help, but you won't listen to me." She paused, but he didn't say anything. "You have to go back to them. If you don't, you may... you may never see them again. Can you live with that?"

"...Yes."

"Then I have nothing more to say." The girl turned away and started walking down the stairs. She walked into the woods, leaving Knuckles to go back to sleep.

In the woods, she found the boy cloaked in red. "It seems like you're handling things fine on your own," he said. "Are you sure you need me? Are... you even sure this is what we should do?"

"I... don't know..."

----

"I guess he's out again today..." John pointed out as he and the other four waited for first period to start. Kevin was absent yet again.

Another great day! Tim thought ecstatically.

"I was hoping he'd be better by now..."

"That must be some disease!"

Ruby sighed as she sat down in her chair. "He's strong... he'll get well soon..." He better... Ruby's thoughts drifted to the Master Emerald and its guardian. I'm also going to get that emerald... she thought. I'll practice with my bat body after school... after visiting Kevin...

"I'm going to drop that video by his house tonight... of when we went to that floating island," Henry said. "I want him to see it before any news place does."

"We'll come with ya," Mike told him. "I wanna see how Kevin's doing."

"Hopefully we'll be able to see him after school today," Paul said as the bell rung.

"Everyone in your—"

The door slammed open as one last person ran in. "I'm here!" he yelled as he threw his bag on his desk and tripped into his seat. The whole class stared in silence. He sat back, breathing heavily from his sprint. Sweat poured down his head, which he fought not to lie on his desk. His legs felt very weak from running such a long way, but he continued getting ready for class. His long hair fell in his face, so he brushed it out of the way.

Five people popped up in front of his desk, yelling "Kevin" at the top of their lungs, their own chairs knocked over. The boy stared up at his five friends through purple eyes. "Hey, guys," he greeted.

"Don't you just 'hey guys' us! How're ya feeling?"

"We're glad to see that you're better!"

"You are better, right?"

"In your seats!" Eggman yelled, but Kevin's friends drowned him out.

"We were all so worried about you!"

"We stopped by your house yesterday, but your sister said you were very sick."

"Contagious!"

Oh yeah... I still need see my family... Guess I'll do that after school, Kevin thought. He had come straight from Angel Island, only running in and out of his house for his book bag.

"Go to your seats now!"

"Did you get the beef stew?"

"I'm fine, guys, really," Kevin assured them, surprised. He hadn't expected this much attention.

"Get in your seats this instant!" Dr. Eggman boomed. The five friends stared at their teacher before turning back to Kevin.

"You're not going to get sick again, are you?"

"You better not."

"Yeah, especially not for that long."

Ruby giggled. Kevin stared at her, confused. "What is it...?"

Ruby giggled more. "You," she said.

"Huh?"

"You should wear your hair down more often," she said. "It looks good."

Kevin blushed widely. He quickly pulled a rubber band out of his book bag and tied his hair up in its usual ponytail.

"Get to your seats before I give you all detention!" Eggman yelled. The five grumbled and, with their apologizes to Kevin, did as they were told. "And you, Mr. Hogosha... you are tardy, and you get a detention for being a disruption to the class."

"What?"

"That's not fair!"

"That was our fault!"

Kevin smiled to himself. "All right," he said to Eggman. "It's okay, you guys. I'm just glad... to be back." Kevin spun around in his chair to face Tim, who was glaring; Tim felt his perfect day ruined. "Don't think that just because I was out you're going to beat me in anything. Today I'm winning."

Tim grinned. "You're on."