LORD OF DARKNESS

Samus Aran © Nintendo

Chapter Twelve: Hidden Emotions

- Station Square Emergency Hospital -

The scene shifts towards the Station Square Emergency Hospital. It was early the next morning after the Shredder crashed the dance party in Soleanna, caused chaos, and to top it all off, he took the Chaos Emerald that was suppose to be for the dance competition.

We scan towards inside one of the rooms to see Rouge the Bat resting on a bed. The claws marks on her face were being treated by the nurses and doctors. The blood on her face was cleaned up, but she was still feeling a little drowsy and hurt. She was not alone, thankfully. Inside the room, our heroes consisting of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the Babylon Rogues were with her as well.

"I hope Rouge is going to be OK." Amy said with hope.

"I hope so, too." Tails added. "That attack she suffered was pretty bad."

Sonic agreed on this as well. He looked over at Knuckles, whom looked like had nothing to say about this. Sonic noticed his face being blank, which kinda concerned him. It looked like Knuckles was being his normal self, but he felt that something was wrong with him. He wasn't sure at first, but he had a pretty good idea on what it was that was bothering Knuckles.

"I wonder who that Shredder guy was." Jet thought. "Whoever he was, he sure seemed serious.

"What I want to know is what those druids were." Wave wondered.

"We can explain that." Tails spoke up.

Wave raise an eyebrow. "You can, shorty?"

"Yeah." Tails nodded. "Well, even though we don't know exactly everything about them, we can tell you what we know."

"Whatever works for you." Wave shrugged.

"OK then." Tails nodded again.

Tails explained the events that took place a couple of days ago. Starting with Saladan and a band of druids invading Station Square and the taking of a light blue necklace, and it ended with what happened late last night.

"So these guys are suppose to be treasure hunters?" Storm wondered.

"We're not sure." Sonic replied. "Larcen and Kyla also have the same type of necklace that the one Saladan took a couple of days ago. It can't be just any mere coincidence."

"But what if they are just regular necklaces?" Amy asked.

"Don't you remember, Amy? Larcen's necklace has powers, which is basically speed and some other abilities that I'm not even aware of."

"Then what powers does Kyla's necklace possess?" Amy questioned.

"I don't know." Sonic shrugged. "But the fact remains is that these druids mean business about getting these necklaces."

"And let's not forget that they now have a Chaos Emerald in their possession." Tails added.

"And with that Shredder person in their ranks, these guys are only going to be more dangerous than ever." Sonic stated.

The group remained silent. The situation was growing deeper with each day, and no one knows the motive about why these druids need these necklaces. As they were thinking about this, the nurse opened the door and peeked her head in.

"Uh, excuse me?" The nurse called out.

"What is it, nurse?" Tails wondered.

"I'm just here to tell you that Rouge has another visitor." The nurse replied before opening the door wider.

The other visitor that had arrived to see Rouge was Shadow the Hedgehog, who still was his usual self.

"Hey there, Shadow!" Sonic greeted with a grin. "Where've you been?"

Shadow walked over to Rouge's bed, only to see her still resting. He noticed the claws marks that were visible on her face. "What happened to her?"

"Well..." Sonic wasn't exactly sure how he should explain this. "There was this dance party that was going on at Soleanna last night. We were invited and everything seemed to be going good. Until the druids appeared again and the one leading them was much different than Saladan or Iriama."

"Well?" Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Who was it?"

"It was some person known as Shredder." Tails answered.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Shredder?"

"Yeah. We don't know much about him because he only appeared last night at the Soleanna dance party." Tails explained.

"That, plus he attacked Rouge." Amy added.

Shadow looked over at the sleeping Rouge. "Is she going to be OK?"

"We think so." Tails thought. "The damages were severe at first, but the doctors were lucky enough to be able to fix her wounds in time."

Shadow was relieved to hear this. Meanwhile, Sonic wanted to ask a question.

"Shadow? Did you find anything about those necklaces?" Sonic asked.

"I do have some information." Shadow replied. "From what we could gather, we believe that these necklaces the druids are after have special powers."

"That's kind of old news." Sonic said. "Mind giving us new info?"

"As I said, these necklaces all have special powers." Shadow pulled out the yellow necklace that he, Rouge, and Omega retrieved a couple of nights ago. Our heroes eyes widened at the object Shadow was holding.

"That's another necklace!" Tails pointed out.

"Where did you get that?" Amy wondered.

"It was located at Wild Canyon." Shadow answered.

Knuckles seemed surprised by this. "Wild Canyon?"

Everyone turned towards Knuckles, whom had spoken for the first time since Rouge had gotten hurt. Knuckles looked around, a little confused.

"What?" Knuckles wondered. "Why is everybody looking at me?"

"You haven't spoken since we got here." Jet told him.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"You mean, you didn't notice?" Wave wondered.

"N-no." Knuckles shook his head. "I guess I was daydreaming or something."

Storm smirked. "What? About your bat girlfriend?"

Knuckles growled angrily at his rival. "She is not my girlfriend! Get that over your head!"

"Uh guys, can we get back to the conversation?" Amy asked, trying to calm the situation down.

Eventually, Knuckles and Storm calmed down. Which meant that Shadow could continue with his story.

"Like I was saying. Rouge managed to sneak in and retrieve the necklace." Shadow replied.

"All by herself?" Sonic wondered.

"She isn't known as the world's greatest treasure hunter for nothing, you know." Shadow pointed out.

"Well, that's true." Sonic shrugged before grinning. "But you have to give Knuckles credit. He is someone who could match Rouge in treasure hunting skills."

Shadow didn't really comply back to that comment. Instead, he went on with his story. "According to what we know, there are seven necklaces in total."

"Let's see..." Tails rubbed his chin. "Those villains took the necklace from Station Square, Larcen and Kyla have two, and Rouge took the one from the Wild Canyon. So that makes four necklaces so far."

"Do you know where the other three are?" Amy asked the black hedgehog.

"No. But we are looking into that right now." Shadow answered. "And until we find them, we do nothing."

"By we, are you talking about G.U.N.?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Shadow replied.

"But what about the Chaos Emeralds? That Shredder guy is looking for them." Tails said.

"Shorty is right." Wave said. "He could be the one behind this whole thing."

"It's possible, but that alone does not prove it." Shadow told her.

Another moment of silence appeared. No one had said anything for a minute, until Sonic broke the silence.

"Guys, let's head back to the Mystic Ruins." Sonic suggested. "I'm sure Shadow wants to speak with Rouge alone."

"OK." Tails nodded. "Let's head back."

"Not us." Jet shook his head. "We're not gonna sticking around with you guys."

"However, we will keep an eye out and let you know if we found out about anything." Wave told them.

After saying their peace, Jet, Wave, and Storm headed out of the room and left the hospital. Sometime after they left, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were leaving the room as well to give some alone time to Rouge. Before they left however, Knuckles looked back at Rouge one more time. Mixed feelings were stirring inside Knuckles ever since the female bat was attacked by the Shredder. The feelings were made up of anger, sadness, an emotion. He shut his eyes tightly, rethinking those memories from last night, but he remained calm before leaving the hospital with the others.

- Chaotix Detective Agency -

The scene shifts towards the Chaotix Detective Agency. We could see Vector, Espio, and Samus sitting around the desk while Charmy buzzed around the room. Over at the desk, Samus, whom was now wearing an orange leather tank top, orange leather shorts, and orange boots, still had the light blue necklace in her hands while Vector was holding the green Chaos Emerald.

"Man, I'm bored." Vector twisted his head, trying to relax. "It's already been a couple of days and we still haven't found any traces of this Metal Ridley or that masked ninja anywhere."

"It's only been a couple of days, Vector." Espio said calmly. "You know these things take times."

"I know." Vector said with a sigh. "I just can't think on an empty stomach."

That's when Charmy's eyes lit up. "Hey Vector, can we order a pizza?"

Vector grinned at that idea. "I was just about to suggest that. Good thinking, Charmy!"

"You know me, Vector. I always have a good mind!" Chamry laughed as he pointed his finger at his head.

Vector turned to the purple chameleon. "Espio, go order a large pepperoni pizza for us, OK?"

"Roger that." Espio nodded once as he went over to a nearby phone.

Samus raised an eyebrow at the current situation. "Do you guys always act like this?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Vector asked.

"You always like to goof off every now and then. I noticed it yesterday when you were leaning back in your chair and listening to some music, and Charmy was buzzing around the place from the outside. I was talking with Espio, whom was the only one helping me with the current situation." Samus explained. "To me, it seems like you guys don't take things seriously."

"Well..." Vector was trying to find some way to reply to Samus comments. "I understand that of what you think, but if you remain serious all the time, then all of that pressure will get to you. You got to learn to let loose a little and relax. Have some fun every now and then."

"Sorry, but I'm not exactly the 'fun' type." Samus replied with her arms crossed.

"Have you ever tried, though?" Vector asked.

"No. And I don't want to either." Samus answered.

"But you always act serious all the time. I noticed it back at the Dusty Desert, too. It looked like you weren't really interested in talking, and it kinda concerned me a little." Vector explained. "Is there something on your mind you want to talk about?"

"No. I do a lot of things by myself, which doesn't really bother me, to be honest." Samus said.

Vector felt a little sad for Samus. In his mind, Samus reminded him of Shadow, but he never had to work alone. Rouge and Omega were always by his side in the thick of things. Vector was wondering if Samus has the same problem like Shadow did. "Are you feeling all right, Samus? The way you respond sounds like your angry at something."

"Angry?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "Don't be ridiculous."

"But it sounds like it, to me." Vector said.

Samus was starting to get a little irritated. "I'm fine! It's how I'm always like."

"Are you sure?" Vector asked again.

Samus was beginning to blow a fuse. "Yes! I'm fine! Stop asking me that!"

Vector was a little taken back my Samus' reaction. "I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to help-"

"Well, don't! Your already starting to bother me and it's really starting to make me mad! Just leave me alone!" Samus told him with a stern voice before getting up and leaving the room. Charmy stopped what he was doing as he looked on, puzzled at what just happened.

"Boy, talk about getting angry." Charmy stated.

Vector was already beginning to feel worried and bad at the same time. He was worried, because he may have already lost a chance for Samus to become friends with the Chaotix. He also felt bad about himself, because he may have overdone what he did. He wasn't sure what to do now.

Espio had entered the room after ordering the pizza. He noticed the look on Vector's face. "What happened?"

"Vector and Samus were having some sort of argument and then Samus got angry and left the room." Charmy answered.

Vector sighed in sadness. "I was only trying to be friendly to her."

"Hmm..." Espio was in thought about this. "Perhaps I'll go talk to her. I think she might listen to me."

"Can I come with you?" Charmy asked, as he raised his hand in the air.

"I don't think it will be necessary, Charmy." Espio answered.

"Aw, but I want to help, too!" Charmy whined a little.

Espio sighed a little. "All right. But let me do the talking."

"Yay!" Charmy cheered, as he followed Espio towards to where Samus went off to.

Vector leaned back in his chair and again while staring up at the ceiling. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that this was his fault.

Espio and Charmy opened the door that was the entrance to the Chaotix's place. The two looked around until they saw Samus sitting on top of her ship, with her back turned away from the others.

With Samus, the female human stared at the sky with a straight face. She still looked a little angry after lashing out at Vector like that, and she wanted to get away from him to have some time to herself. But deep inside, she felt that getting angry at Vector like that seemed a little unnecessary, but he wouldn't stop saying to her to relax and let loose a little. Samus closed her eyes to tried and relax herself.

"Hey Samus!"

Samus opened her eyes and turned around to see that Charmy and Espio were on top of her ship, as they met face to face with each other. "What do you guys want?"

"We wanted to come up here and see if you were all right." Espio replied.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Samus wondered.

"You yelled at Vector and left the room. It seemed like you were angry at him." Charmy explained.

"What were two arguing about?" Espio asked.

Samus kinda had a feeling that Espio and Charmy would know about this. So seeing no way out, she told him about her problem. "It started when I asked Vector if you guys acted like you usually did all the time. He told me that sometimes you don't have to be serious all the time and just learn to have fun and relax. I kept reply that I'm not that kind of person, but Vector just kept saying things like the way I talk makes me feel angry. I got a little frustrated and yelled at him before storming out to get some fresh air." She answered.

"Hmm...it seems like you were guys were having a simple argument." Espio replied.

"I guess." Samus shrugged.

"But why did you have to yell at him?" Charmy wondered. "He didn't do anything wrong. And he was only trying to be friendly to you."

"I know..." Samus lowered her eyes. "I'm beginning to think that maybe I shouldn't have lashed out at him like that."

"Hey, it's not your fault..." Charmy said with a smile as he flew lower to Samus' eye level. "These things happen a lot."

"He's right." Espio added. "You can't be angry at someone else when they are trying to be friendly to you."

"Come on. Can't you let it go and say your sorry?" Charmy asked.

Samus thought about it for a long moment. Would she able to make amends with Vector and forget that this whole thing happened?

Back inside, Vector was still feeling glum about what had happened earlier between him and Samus. He was probably thinking that Samus would leave the Chaotix and do things on her own again. Or maybe that she would got so angry that she would probably hate Vector for good. He was really feeling bad about himself now.

As he was in his thoughts, Espio, Charmy, and Samus had come back into the room.

"Vector?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

Vector snapped out of his thoughts to see the trio standing there. He felt worried to see Samus there, though. "W-what is it, Espio?"

"There's something that Samus wants to say to you." Espio turned to her. "Go ahead."

Samus slowly approached the desk until she was looking at Vector. The leader of the Chaotix was nervous to hear what she had to say.

Samus took a deep breath and spoke. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier. My anger got the best of me and I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. It was my fault and I do feel really bad about it. I apologize and I hope you can forgive me."

Vector felt kinda happy to hear that Samus was sorry for what she did, but he himself felt bad about what he might've caused earlier and decided to say something too. "I'm sorry, too. I was only trying to be friendly to you, but maybe I took it too far."

"It wasn't your fault." Samus shook her head. "You were just acting as yourself." She paused again as she looked away from Vector. "Listen, I had been thinking about what you said earlier. About being friends and all that. Well, I was thinking that maybe...we could friends."

"Really?" Vector's eyes flashed. "You mean it?"

Samus slowly nodded. "Yes." She then extended her hand towards him.

Vector smiled as if a sigh of relief had taken over him. He extended his own hand until the two hands met in a grip as a signal of friendship.

As the amends were made, a knock on the door was heard. Charmy went over to the window to see who it was. He smiled widely.

"PIZZA!" Charmy squealed. "THE PIZZA IS HERE!"

Espio covered his ears, trying to get the loud noise out of his head while he made his way over to the door. He opened it to see a pizza delivery woman standing there with a large box of pizza.

"Hello, did you order a large pepperoni pizza?" The pizza woman asked.

"Yes." Espio pulled out some money from an unknown pocket and handed it to the pizza woman. She took the money from him and handed the pizza to the purple chameleon in return. "Keep the change." He said as he closed the door from behind him.

Charmy clasped his hands together as Espio came by with a large pizza box in his hand. Vector grinned widely with interest.

"All right! Charmy, get the drinks!" Vector told him.

"Right!" Charmy saluted before flying towards the kitchen.

Espio placed the pizza box on Vector's large desk. Vector could smell the pizza from the inside of the box. "That sure does smell good."

"I bet it even tastes better." Samus added with a small smile.

Vector agreed completely. Just then, Charmy came in with a large soda bottle along with four cups. Charmy got a little tired from lifting the items, but thankfully for him, Samus took the soda while Espio got the cups while setting them down. Once everything was settled and the drinks have been poured, Vector lifted the box, revealing a large and tasty pepperoni pizza that was just ready to be eaten.

"Mmm...it looks so good." Charmy said hungrily.

"Let's each grab one for now." Espio said.

Each of our heroes grabbed one slice of pizza. Vector then raised his his soda-filled cup in the air. "I would like to give out a toast."

Charmy, Espio, and Samus raised their cups as Vector spoke again.

"I would like to say that when we finish our mission by hunting for Meta Ridley, we will all have ourselves a huge reward. And I would like to share it with each of you, personally. Uh..." Vector paused for a moment trying to see if there was anything else he could add. "...and I would like to toast this mainly to our new friendship with Samus, along with Espio and Charmy." Vector grinned widely again. "To friendship!"

"To friendship!" Espio, Charmy, and Samus replied as the four clattered their glasses together in a shown sign of friendship.

Samus and learns to open up her heart and become friends with the Chaotix. Will they able to hunt down Meta Ridley together? Will Samus learn to let loose every now and then? And with Shadow's new information, where are the remaining necklaces located? Find out on the next Lord of Darkness!

Please, read and review.