Guardian Angels

by KatherineTheMoth

After saving the Sol Dimension from being taking over by Battra, Kathy the Moth teleported him and herself to Sonic's dimension where she will stay there as her new home dimension and protect it from Battra and from other evil forces. By Battra's meddling, Kathy had crash-landed on Angel Island and was found by Knuckles. But little did he realize that he had found Mothra herself.

11. Angel and(pt 6)

Guardian Angels

S1:E6: Angel And...(Pt. 6)

[With Knuckles]

Knuckles was running as fast as he could towards the Megalon monsters in the eastern side of the city. He ran past the rubble and teared-up roads to get there. He was panting a bit, but he still had enough stamina to keep going. He can see the Megalon monsters destroying more buildings with either their Drill Arms, their Beast Killer Laser Beams, or their Geothermal Napalm Bullets. Sparks, explosions, fire, and rubble can be seen in the distance as Knuckles run towards the wrecked area.

BOOOM! KAABOOOOM! CRAAAAASSSH! CRAAAAAASH! BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! BOOOM!

Well...Here I come...Going in headfirst into the line of fire...I'm taking a lot of risks into fighting these things alone, but I'll do fine. I always do...Knuckles pondered calmly with a solemn look on his face as he got closer to the street where the Megalon monsters were. He then looked even more solemn as he finished his thoughts with this.

...Even when I'm alone...I have my Master in my heart...

"HEY! YOU! YOU WANT A PIECE OF THIS?!" Knuckles shouted confidently with a fierce look on his face as he skidded to a stop when he had approached the intersection of the street. He glared at the Megalon monsters in the street in front of him and had his fists up. The Megalon monsters did stop attacking the city briefly to look at him in confusion.

"YEAH! THAT'S RIGHT! YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME OR WHAT?!" Knuckles shouted some more in confidence as he glared harshly at the monsters in front of him.

The Megalon monsters stared at him for a bit, but then they ignored him by continuing their attack on the city. Knuckles saw this and looked furious as he saw that he was being ignored. "Grrrrrrrr! How dare they ignore me! Fine! I'll make you guys notice me!" Knuckles yelled in anger as he growled a lot.

Knuckles then ran towards the Megalon monster on his left that's drilling into the row of buildings with his Drill Arms. The monster was tearing down the buildings with ease. He did not notice Knuckles jumping onto his foot and punching it a lot.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Knuckles grunted a bit as he punched the foot before he jumped off of it. As he had expected, the Megalon stopped drilling the buildings and hopped on one foot in response to the attack.

SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in pain as it hopped around a bit. His roar had caught the attention of the other two Megalon monsters and had turned their heads to see what was going on with their comrade. Knuckles saw another chance to attack the Megalon monster by attacking his stomach. He ran up towards the monster and jumped up high before punching hard at the monster's stomach.

POW!

SCREEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared again in pain as he fell backwards. He landed on the ground with Knuckles being on top of his stomach. Knuckles was about to punch the monster's stomach repeatedly before he heard the other Megalon monsters roaring angrily.

ARRRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGGH! AAARRRRRRREEEEEEGGGHH!

"Huh?!" Knuckles muttered surprise with wide eyes as looked up while having his fist in the air. He can see the two Megalon monsters walking towards their fallen comrade while clanking their Drill Arms and spinning them a little as they had noticed a threat in the midst. Knuckles looked surprised for a few moments before he smirked as he realized that he had gotten their attention now.

Oh? Now, they want to fight? Heh! I guess now they have no choice but realize I'm just as threatening as they are! Knuckles thought in amusement as he lowered his fist to his side and had smirked even wider. "Coming to avenge your friend, eh? Heh. Sorry, but it seems that you guys won't have the chance! Especially since I'm going to destroy you all! Heheheh..." Knuckles said cockily with a devious smirk as he prepares his body for battle. He can see that the two Megalon monsters are standing near their comrade's body while staring down at Knuckles. Knuckles just smirked back at them as he was ready to dodge their attacks. He saw them raise their Drill Arms into the air and then swung them down towards him. He immediately dodged the combined attack by jumping backwards. The monsters' attacks had missed and had both hit their comrade on the stomach and chest.

SCREEEEEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in pain as he felt both attacks from his comrades. Knuckles had landed safely onto the street after he had jumped away from the attacks. He felt pretty good after making the monsters hit their own friend. It's like dealing with Dr. Eggman's robots. They're so stupid that they probably don't realize that they are hurting their own friend! Heh! Which makes fighting them oh so fun! Knuckles thought in amusement with a mischievous smirk as he stared at the three Megalon monsters in front of him. He felt cocky again as he ran towards one of the two standing Megalon monsters and jumped up high to punch the monster's stomach too.

POW!

SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in pain and had fallen to the ground on his back. Knuckles landed on the monster's stomach and smirked mischievously at him. Didn't see that one coming, did ya? Heheheh! Knuckles thought in amusement with a smirk before he turned his head around after hearing the last Megalon monster roar in anger.

AAARRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGHH!

The Megalon monster roared as he saw Knuckles standing on top of his comrade's stomach. The monster turned his body around and prepared to swing his Drill Arm onto Knuckles. However, Knuckles was prepared to dodge again. He saw the monster swing down his Drill Arm and had jumped up just in time before the monster struck him. The monster had hit his other comrade's stomach very hard, and his comrade roared in pain to this.

SCREEEEEKKK!

Knuckles soon landed on top of the monster's Drill Arm and had jumped again to punch the monster's face.

POW!

SCREEEEKK!

The Megalon monster roared in pain when Knuckles punched him very hard in the face. The monster was knocked back hard and fell backwards to the ground. All three of the Megalon monsters were on the ground while being defenseless. Knuckles had landed onto the monster's stomach after he had punched him in the face. He still had that mischievous smirk on his face as he stared at the fallen monster. Heh. Too easy! Knuckles thought triumphantly as he raised his fist again. He was about to punch the monster's stomach before he heard the monster roar in anger.

AAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGH!

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're upset that I beat you, but just cool it and let me put you out of your misery," Knuckles said in slight annoyance as he frowned at the monster. But Knuckles soon saw that the monster's horn was charging up, and he looked both shocked and worried at this as he gritted his teeth and as he had wide eyes. Aw crud! Knuckles thought in shock as a sweat drop fell on his head.

Knuckles immediately jumped away to avoid the oncoming attack that the monster would do next. The monster had soon fired his Beast Killer Laser Beam and had hit his comrade instead. Sparks and explosions came off from the monster's body as it was hit by the beam. The Megalon monster roared in pain at the attack.

SCREEEEEEKKK!

Knuckles was on the street and had stared at the Megalon monster that was hit by the beam. Whew! That was close! Knuckles thought in relief as he wiped some sweat from his head. But he sobered up again when he saw the Megalon monster staring at him after being hit by the laser beam. He can see that the monster's silver horn was charging up too. Uh oh! Knuckles thought in panic before he quickly turned around and ran while looking behind him to see what attack the monster will make.

The Megalon monster fired his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at Knuckles. "AH!" Knuckles yelped in shock and in panic as he saw the bullets getting close to him. As he ran as fast as he could, he dodged the attacks by going left and right. Sparks and explosions came off from the street as the bullets hit it instead of Knuckles.

BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

Knuckles kept running and dodging the bullets while the ground behind him explodes. He ran until he saw that the monster had stopped attacking him. He skidded to a stop and turned halfway around while heaving a lot as he was out of breath. ...I...I take it back...THAT was too close! Knuckles thought as he panted a lot. He can feel his heart pounding as he was surprised that he had managed to survive that. He soon saw that the Megalon monsters were starting to get up, and he had frowned at that.

Great. And just when I thought that I was going to beat them...Ugh...This is what I get for being too cocky. I blame Sonic for my cockiness. Knuckles thought in annoyance as he frowned while glaring at the three Megalon monsters. He raised his fists up and had stared solemnly at the three, standing Megalon monsters.

"OKAY! HOW ABOUT ROUND TWO?!" Knuckles shouted out with a fierce look on his face.

ARRRRREEEEEEGGGGHHH! ARRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRRRREEEEEEEGGGHH!

All three of the Megalon monsters roared in anger before they charged towards Knuckles in a stampede-like fashion. A sweat drop went down on Knuckles' head as he yelled out, "On second thought, maybe we should skip round two and let me win by default! Okay?!".

ARRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEGGGH! AARRRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRRREEEEEEGGGH!

The Megalon monsters roared again in anger as they got closer to Knuckles. "OH, SCREW THIS!" Knuckles shouted out before he turned around and ran away from the Megalon monsters as fast as he could. He had a grimace on his face as he ran from the monsters. The monsters were ganging up on him as they ran. They tried attacking him by jumping forward and swinging down their Drill Arms at him. Knuckles looked back and gasped in shock when he saw what the monsters were doing now. He leaped away every time the monsters struck the street with their Drill Arms.

CRAAAAAAASH! CRAAAAAAAASH! CRRAAAAAAAASH! CRAAAAAAAAASH!

Large, cracked holes were the result of the monsters striking the street with their Drill Arms. They kept jumping and striking the street to try to smash Knuckles with their drills. But Knuckles kept running and dodging the attacks. Thus, more large, cracked holes were made in the ground.

CRAAAAAAAASSSSH! CRAAAAAAASSSH! CRAAAAAAAASSSSH! CRAAAAAAASSSSH!

Geez! These guys just don't know when to give up! Knuckles thought irritably with a grimace as he looked back while running. The Megalon monsters then jumped up in unison and had slammed the ground with their Drill Arms. Then...they started drilling the ground together.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"OH NO!" Knuckles shouted in shock before he felt the ground rumbling again and tripped. "AH!" Knuckles yelped as he tripped and fell to the street on his stomach.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Not good! Not good! Not good! Not good! Knuckles thought in panic as he tried to get up but kept falling back down to the ground since the ground was shaking too much. The Megalon monsters kept drilling into the ground and now...they started to walk forward towards Knuckles while still drilling into the ground. Knuckles turned his head around and looked back at the monsters.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Knuckles screamed in shock as he noticed that the Megalon monsters are getting closer to him while drilling the ground.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! Knuckles thought even more in panic as he quickly tried to get up on his knees and crawl as fast as he could away from the monsters. He did his best to crawl away, but he fell again as the rumbling kept going and had made him lost his balance. The Megalon monsters got much closer to Knuckles and were about to drill into his body. Knuckles saw this and closed his eyes as he grimaced deeply.

...Kathy...I'm sorry...I couldn't keep my promise...Forgive me...Knuckles thought in despair as he awaited his untimely demise.

...But suddenly!

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

SCREEEEEKKK! SCREEEEEKKK! SCREEEEKK!

"HUH?!" Knuckles shouted in shock as he opened his eyes and looked back at the Megalon monsters. He was surprised to see that they had been knocked back by some powerful rockets. Sparks and explosions came off from the monsters' bodies the moment the rockets had hit their bodies. WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?! Knuckles thought in shock as he stared at the Megalon monsters with wide eyes and with a wide mouth.

"DESTROY! DESTROY! ALL THREATS TO NATIONAL SECURITY MUST BE ELIMINATED!" a robotic voice said.

"AH! OMEGA!" Knuckles shouted in surprise as he looked back in front of him and saw Omega attacking the Megalon monsters with rockets. Knuckles quickly got back up on his feet and ran towards Omega and away from the Megalon monsters.

Meanwhile, Omega kept attacking the monsters by firing bullets now from his two robotic hands.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

The bullets had hit all three Megalon monsters in their stomachs, chests, and heads. This had pushed the monsters back a bit. When the three of them tried to attack back by firing their Geothermal Napalm Bullets at Omega, Omega counterattacked it by firing more rockets at them and had made their bullets explode.

BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! BOOOM! KAABOOM! KAAABOOOOM!

Omega kept firing more rockets at the monsters to further damage them. More sparks and explosions had come off from the monsters' bodies as the rockets hit their heads, chests, and stomachs.

"MUST DESTROY! MUST DESTROY! ALL THREATS SHOULD BE ELIMINATED! ALL THREATS SHOULD BE ELIMINATED!" Omega exclaimed as he fired some rockets at the buildings and the roads below the monsters' feet.

BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOM! BOOOM!

The streets and buildings had exploded as the rockets hit them. Rubble and debris flew from the buildings, and the streets were broken up thanks to the rockets hitting them.

"Omega! What are you doing?! You're destroying the city!" Knuckles yelled in shock as he stared at Omega and pointed at the buildings for emphasis.

"WAIT AND SEE, KNUCKLES! IT WILL WORK!" Omega exclaimed as he kept firing rockets at the buildings and streets. Knuckles looked worried, but he did stare back at the monsters and watched them closely.

The Megalon monsters tried to walk further to get closer to their new targets, but when they did, the ground below them had collapsed due to their weight and to rockets weakening it. They all fell into the large hole Omega had created with his attacks and had roared in confusion to this.

AAAARRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! SCREEEEKKK!

The monsters were struggling to get off from each other. However, it had gotten worse since the buildings on the left and right sides of the street had collapsed completely and had fallen on top of them. Tons of rubble fell on them and had buried them in the ground.

CRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSHHHHH!

Smoke had risen after the rubble had fallen on top of the monsters. Omega had stopped firing his rockets and had lowered his arms to his sides.

"THREAT ELIMINATED! THIS BLOCK HAD BEEN SECURED!" Omega exclaimed as he stared at the large pile of rubble in the distance.

"W-Wow...I'm rather surprised, Omega. That had actually worked," Knuckles replied calmly with a stunned look on his face as he had a hand on his hip. He stared at the pile of rubble for a moment before looking at Omega with a little smile. "You done good, Omega. Thanks," Knuckles added calmly with a smile.

"JUST DOING MY JOB...AS USUAL," Omega replied as he looked at Knuckles.

"Eh. I can relate to that," Knuckles replied casually with a shrug.

"Well, well, well, it seems that old Knucklehead did indeed needed some help after all," a teasing, sultry voice said.

"Uggggh...Not again..." Knuckles groaned as he face-palmed himself and had his head down. I had a feeling that Rouge would still be here since Omega is here, but I was hoping that Rouge had left without him. I would have been much fine if that was the case, but of course...fate just hates me. Knuckles brooded in annoyance and in irritation as he growled a bit.

"Oh, don't be that way, Knuckie. You should be thankful that I had ordered Omega here to go fight the monsters while I had handled the evacuation orders. It was so obvious that you needed help. Lots of it," Rouge replied calmly yet playfully with a smirk as she went up behind Knuckles and gently stroked his back with her finger.

Knuckles immediately turned around after feeling those strokes and had swatted Rouge's hand away. "Don't touch me!" Knuckles exclaimed in irritation while barring his teeth at Rouge.

Rouge smirked even more at Knuckles as she replied tauntingly while having her hands on her hips, "Heh. I beg to differ, Knuckles. I can touch you anytime I want to. You're still mine, you know".

"No! I am not! I've broken up with you a long time ago! You are not my girlfriend anymore! So, stop touching me!" Knuckles yelled in anger as he looked furious again while having a vein bulging in his head. Grrrrr...The only person that I would allow to touch me is Kathy. NOT THIS GIRL! Knuckles brooded with a grimace as he glared hard at Rouge.

Omega looked back and forth at Rouge and Knuckles and had stated, "UMM...MAYBE I SHOULD KEEP AN EYE OUT ON THE PILE OF RUBBLE. JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TARGETS ARE STILL DOWN FOR THE COUNT".

Omega then walked away from Knuckles and Rouge and headed towards the pile of rubble before standing a few feet away from it. Knuckles and Rouge looked at Omega briefly before looking back at each other.

"Why are you so touchy with me touching you? I just want to make you feel loved, Knuckie. Is that so wrong for me to do?" Rouge replied teasingly with a mischievous smirk and with mischievous eyes.

"Yes, it is wrong because you're making me feel awfully uncomfortable! I don't trust you at all! Why would I be okay with somebody touching me if I don't trust them?!" Knuckles yelled angrily with a grimace as he balled his hands into fists

"Oh, Knuckles, I'm hurt by this. You've known me for a long time and had gotten close to me once. How can you say that you don't trust me now after all we've been through together?" Rouge replied in mock sadness as she covered her chest with her hand and pretended to look sad.

"First of all, I had never trusted you in the beginning! Secondly, knowing somebody for a long time doesn't mean that they're trustworthy! Dr. Eggman should've been the one that comes to mind when you think of untrustworthy individuals! Thirdly, just because we had dated before, it does not mean we were actually close! No matter how close we were physically, we were FAR APART EMOTIONALLY! And lastly..." Knuckles ranted angrily with gritted teeth as he pointed at Rouge and as he glared harshly at her. His body then shook a bit in anger as he continued with, "...After what I had been through with you when I had dated you...I was right into knowing that you aren't trustworthy at all after all the times that you've invaded my personal space...humiliated me...insulted me...abused me...stolen from me...and most of all...MANIPULATED ME!".

Rouge just smirked haughtily at him as she heard this. She was completely unfazed by this. She then asked calmly, "Sweetie? What's your point?".

Knuckles cringed in irritation after hearing those words again. Ugh! She hadn't changed at all! She's still the same stuck-up, uncaring, aggravating thief that I had dumped in the past! Knuckles brooded in irritation as he glared coldly at Rouge.

"What's my point, you ask? WHAT'S MY POINT, YOU ASK?! MY POINT IS THAT I DON'T TRUST YOU AT ALL! NEVER IN MY LIFE WILL I EVER TRUST YOU AGAIN! YOU'RE A LIAR! A DECEIVER! A MANIPULATOR! AND OBVIOUSLY, A THIEF! I WAS A FOOL INTO BELIEVING YOU AND YOUR ABILITY TO CHANGE, BUT NOW, I DON'T THINK THAT YOU WILL EVER CHANGE FOR THE BETTER! I JUST DON'T TRUST YOU ANYMORE! ALRIGHT?! YOU GET IT NOW, ROUGE?! I. DON'T. TRUST. YOU!" Knuckles finished ranting by shouting angrily and passionately with a furious expression on his face as his vein popped in his head. He then heaved a bit in exhaustion after shouting for a bit.

Rouge was still looking calm even after hearing Knuckles shout that last part. She then waved her hand at her mouth as she yawned a bit. "...(Yawn)...Is that all?" Rouge asked playfully with a yawn as she smiled smugly.

"YES!" Knuckles shouted again in frustration as he kept glaring coldly at Rouge.

She then shrugged casually as she asked teasingly, "So?".

"'S-S-SO'?! 'SO'?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'SO'?! DID YOU NOT LISTEN TO WHAT I JUST SAID?!" Knuckles shouted again out of aggravation as he furrowed his eyebrows even deeper after being raised a bit in shock. He even had his fists up since he felt so ticked off that he is tempted to punch Rouge very hard in the face.

"Oh, don't worry, Knuckie. I heard every bit at what you had just said, and I understand completely," Rouge replied calmly with a coy smile and a shrug.

"W-Wait...You do?" Knuckles asked in confusion and in surprise as he looked confused.

"Why of course!" Rouge replied brightly with a smile before she smirked and batted her eyelashes at Knuckles when she continued, "...You're just not used to trusting a sexy thief, aren't you? That's your real problem, Knuckie".

"Grk!" Knuckles exclaimed gutturally as he looked flabbergasted at this response. HIs eyes went wide, and his teeth was completely gritted. He just can't believe that he had said his reasonings about how he doesn't trust Rouge and have them be dismissed by her as if it was not a problem. This girl...THIS GIRL IS JUST HORRIBLE! WHY DID I LIKE HER IN THE FIRST PLACE?! HOW DID I LIKE HER?! Knuckles brooded in frustration as he growled loudly and looked even more ticked off as steam went off from his head.

"N-N-N-NO, IT'S NOT! THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL! YOU'RE JUST CRAZY! NO! BATTY! THAT'S WHO YOU ARE! JUST PLAIN BATTY!" Knuckles shouted in exasperation as he shook his head and pointed at Rouge again.

"You may say all you want that I'm batty, but then again, why are you blushing, Knuckles? Am I really just batty or are you batty too?" Rouge asked teasingly with a smirk as she placed her hands on her hips and leant forward towards Knuckles in a playful way.

Knuckles blushed even more as he realized that he is blushing. He must have gotten so ticked off that his face had gotten red. But he shook it off as he shouted back in irritation, "I'M NOT BATTY! I HAVE WAY MORE COMMON SENSE THAN YOU! I'D BE BATTY IF I STILL HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU! BUT GUESS WHAT?! I DON'T ANYMORE! IN FACT, I'VE MOVED ON FROM YOU! SO THERE! HMPH!".

Knuckles then crossed his arms and pouted after shouting that. His face was still red, but he didn't care about that. He wanted Rouge to know that he's serious about this. But of course, Rouge just laughed this off too.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Awww, look at you, Knuckie! You're blushing and pouting! Hahahahahahaha! That's too cute! Did I ever tell you that you're cute when you pout like that? Because you sure are! Hahahahahahaha!" Rouge replied playfully in amusement as she laughed while having a hand on her cheek.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr!" Knuckles growled in aggravation and in embarrassment as he closed his eyes and blushed even deeper. Rouge...I hate you...I hate you so, so much...Knuckles brooded in frustration as he kept growling. "Grrrrrrrrr! JUST SHUT UP! AND STOP CALLING ME 'CUTE'! YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THAT WORD TO ME EVER AGAIN!" Knuckles growled before shouting in anger and in embarrassment as he kept blushing a lot.

"Hmph...You're not the boss of me..." Rouge replied haughtily with a playful smile as she rolled her eyes a bit before walking closer to Knuckles and grabbed both of his cheeks.

"H-HEY! I SAID, 'DON'T TOUCH ME'!" Knuckles shouted in shock and in anger as his eyes opened wide and as he barred his teeth at Rouge.

"But I like to touch you, Knuckie. You're so cute when you get all shy and flustered whenever I touch you. How can I possibly resist doing that sort of thing when you're so...handsome...tough...strong...and utterly cute? Come on. You know that you love it whenever I touch you. You're just desperate for attention, aren't you? Yes, you are. Oh, yes, you are," Rouge replied teasingly with a smile before she cooed a little to further tease Knuckles. As she said this, she was stroking his cheeks with her hands before stroking his head.

Knuckles closed his eyes again and cringed a lot when he felt Rouge stroking his face and head. He kept growling in irritation as he listened to her teasing. His blush deepened while listening to her teasing and feeling her strokes on his face and head. His body was even shaking as Rouge does this. He even hated the part when she stroked his head. It's liking stroking a cat's back in the wrong direction. It was that uncomfortable.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Only...Only Kathy gets to pet my head...Not...Knuckles brooded in frustration as he growled while opening his eyes again to glare harshly at Rouge. He can see her smug smile and her playful eyes as she stared into his furious eyes. He just can't stand looking at that pretentious face anymore.

So...he punched her.

POW!

"OW!" Rouge yelped in pain as she was punched in the face and was knocked back a bit. She stumbled a bit backwards away from Knuckles before she stood still again. She rubbed her face a bit before glaring at Knuckles in annoyance.

Meanwhile, Knuckles just stood still while still having his fist out in front of him after he punched Rouge. He had a disgruntled look on his face as he glared harshly back at Rouge. ...NOT...THIS...GIRL! Knuckles finishing brooding as he looked fierce again.

"I've said it before...and I'll say it again...DON'T. TOUCH. ME! UNDERSTAND?!" Knuckles replied in a low tone before he shouted in anger.

Rouge frowned at this and had crossed her arms in annoyance. "Geez, you're such a buzzkill, Knuckles. Can't you just loosen up for a change and let yourself have some fun?" Rouge replied in annoyance as she rolled her eyes again.

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I DID LET MYSELF HAVE SOME FUN! AND IT WAS WHEN I WAS WITH SOMEBODY ELSE!" Knuckles shouted back in irritation as he shook his fist at Rouge.

"Ha! As if I'd believe that story!" Rouge exclaimed with a frown as she looked away from Knuckles in a haughty way.

"BUT I DID!" Knuckles shouted back defensively while blushing in anger.

"With who?" Rouge asked in an annoyed tone.

"WITH...Ummmm...Uhhh..." Knuckles shouted before he muttered in embarrassment as he was about to say Kathy's name. He blushed very much in embarrassment as he thought. If Rouge found out that I had fun while being with Kathy, I'll never hear the end of it. She'll tease me and harass me even further than before if I admitted that. So, what do I say instead? Hmm...

"With who, Knuckles?" Rouge asked again in even more annoyance.

"With...With...Uhhh...With myself! Yes, that's right! I had fun with myself! All by my lonesome! Yeah! Take that, Rouge! I told you I did have some fun with somebody, and that somebody was yours truly! Ha! What do you say to that, Rouge?! Didn't think that I'd admit that, huh?! Well, I sure showed you! Heheheheh!" Knuckles replied awkwardly before yelling with a smile as he crossed his arms and as he turned halfway from Rouge while closing his eyes. He chuckled a bit in victory as he thought. I guess Kathy was right about me after all. I am smart. There's no way that Rouge could make that any more humiliating than...than...than...

Knuckles then opened his eyes and blushed even more in embarrassment as he realized what he just said. Aw...Aw crud...Knuckles thought in embarrassment as a sweat drop fell from his head.

He slowly turned his head around towards Rouge again and saw that she was smiling widely in amusement. He hoped in his heart that she was smiling because she was thinking about precious jewels or whatever and not on wrong implications of what he just said.

But of course, it is as he had feared.

"Knuckles?" Rouge asked playfully with an amused grin.

"...Y-Yes?" Knuckles asked nervously with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Are you seriously admitting that you...Hehehehe...that you...Hehehehehehe...that you 'play with yourself'?! Hahahahahahahahaha!" Rouge asked playfully as she giggled a bit before laughing a lot from this. She then covered her eyes with her hand as she laughed as much as she could.

"NO! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!" Knuckles shouted back defensively in embarrassment as he turned back around to face Rouge while having a freaked-out expression on his face.

"Then what did you mean when you had said that you had fun with yourself?! Did you actually m-!" Rouge exclaimed in amusement with a huge grin as she looked at Knuckles again.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO, I DID NOT! I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT, YOU PERVERTED BAT!" Knuckles shouted back in embarrassment and in anger as he closed his eyes and covered his non-visible ears with his huge hands. He blushed furiously at this and had wished in his heart that he was with Kathy instead. Please...Please let me go back to Kathy. I miss her innocence already. Knuckles thought pleadingly with a grimace and with flushed cheeks.

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh, Knuckles! You're such a riot! Hahahahahahahahaha! I guess that I know now at what you do on your own time then when no one's around to look! Hahahahahahahahaha! Maybe that's why you prefer being alone! You just want to-!" Rouge exclaimed happily in amusement as she laughed a lot while crossing her arms.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Knuckles shouted quickly in anger as he cut Rouge off again.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Awwww, someone's extra flustered today! Do you need a hug to feel better, Knuckie?" Rouge teased with a playful smile as she laughed some more.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! AFTER WHAT I HAD BEEN TELLING YOU TODAY, A HUG IS OUT OF THE QUESTION!" Knuckles shouted in anger as he opened his eyes and uncovered his ears. He instead raised his fists in front of Rouge to guard himself for emphasis. Besides, I want Kathy to hug me instead. When we reunite again, I'm going to ask her to hug me. I honestly needed it after going through this tortuous conversation with the most aggravating bat alive. Knuckles brooded with a frown as he glared at Rouge again.

"...(Sigh)…Okay, Knuckles. I won't hug you or touch you then. No matter the circumstances," Rouge replied calmly with a smile and a sigh as she closed her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

THANK GOODNESS! IT'S OVER! Knuckles thought in relief as he took a deep sigh and had closed his eyes a bit.

"...But..." Rouge continued in a teasing tone.

"'But' what?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he quickly opened his eyes again.

Rouge then smirked as she opened her eyes again and looked seductive. She replied with a seductive, mischievous look on her face, "...But I'll stop touching you if...you give me a kiss...on the lips".

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Knuckles screamed in horror as he had a freaked-out expression on his face. He even cowered back from Rouge in fear. I...I knew that there was a catch. It couldn't be that easy. It never is with Rouge. She's the most difficult person to deal with ever. Knuckles brooded with a shocked and an embarrassed expression on his face.

Rouge was just being quiet as she stared at Knuckles with a smug, seductive look on her face. Heh. He'll never go through with it. Even if he does kiss me, I'm still going to touch him. He's so gullible like that. I almost feel sorry for the poor Knucklehead. He must feel so desperate to get rid of me, and yet, he still doesn't have the balls to do it. True, he may have dumped me and say that he had moved on from me...But...Rouge pondered calmly with a seductive look on her face as she stared into Knuckles' scared eyes. She smirked even more when she saw him sweating in nervousness and blushing very much in shyness.

...But it's possible that he still has a "thing" for me no matter what he tells himself. Like I had said to him before, he'll never change. Rouge finished pondering with a smirk and with lowered eyelids.

"Well, Knuckles? I'm waiting..." Rouge said seductively as she batted her gorgeous eyelashes at him.

"...Uhhh...Ummm..." Knuckles muttered awkwardly in embarrassment as he blushed a lot. As shameful as it is to admit, Knuckles feels legitimately scared. He felt petrified as he stared back at Rouge with huge, shaky eyes. It's like staring at a...huge, scary, kaiju monster.

If Kathy has Battra as her nemesis, then I have Rouge the Bat. Knuckles brooded with a bashful, scared look on his face.

"Come on, Knuckles...You know you want to..." Rouge said seductively as she slowly walked towards Knuckles.

"Uhhhh! Ummmm!" Knuckles muttered in shock and in worry as he backed away from Rouge in fear. He kept blushing as he stared at Rouge's seductive face. He can feel his heart pounding in fear as he kept staring at her. OH, MAKE THIS NIGHTMARE STOP! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! MAKE ME FIGHT SOME MORE MONSTERS! I CAN DEAL WITH THAT! JUST NOT...NOT WITH THIS! ANYTHING BUT THIS! Knuckles thought in panic as he sweated a lot from this.

Fortunately for Knuckles, his prayers were answered.

RUMBLE! RUMBE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

...I can't believe that I'm saying this but THANK YOU, BATTRA! Knuckles thought in relief as he sighed deeply before looking serious again. He can feel the ground shaking and had done his best to stand firm on the shaky ground.

"W-WOAH! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Rouge shouted in shock as she felt the ground shaking too. She quickly stopped walking to stand firm too.

"Megalons..." Knuckles muttered solemnly with a frown.

"Mega-what?!" Rouge exclaimed in confusion as she looked at Knuckles.

"Remember those huge, bug monsters that Omega got rid of? That's what they are. They're kaiju monsters, and it seems that they hadn't disappeared yet," Knuckles explained calmly yet solemnly with a frown as he stared at Rouge.

"H-Huh? What's a 'kaiju' monster?" Rouge asked in confusion as she looked at Knuckles.

"No time to explain. We need to get ready to fight them again. They're still here," Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly with a determined look on his face as he had his fists up again.

"Uhh...Okay. Omega! Get ready to attack! The monsters are not gone yet!" Rouge replied solemnly with a frown before she yelled out to Omega.

"UNDERSTOOD. COMMENCING BATTLE MODE," Omega replied as he looked back at Rouge and had changed his robotic hands into artillery machines. Omega then walked backwards from the pile of rubble and had aimed upwards as he prepared to fire rockets and bullets at the monsters. The ground kept rumbling even more.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"Well, Knuckles! Are they coming or not?!" Rouge exclaimed with a frown as she looked prepared for battle too.

"W-Well, they should, but I don't know why they hadn't shown up yet," Knuckles replied calmly yet awkwardly as he looked a bit confused.

"Maybe they're just...underground?" Rouge replied in confusion as she looked at the ground for emphasis.

"Underground? Why would they-?" Knuckles asked in confusion before he cut himself off when he remembered what Kathy had warned him about.

"...Also, be careful when they burrow underground. They can easily trip you up that way and attack you when you least expect it...".

AH! SO, THAT'S WHAT SHE HAD MEANT! THE MONSTERS COULD BE UNDER OUR FEET BY NOW, AND WE WOULDN'T KNOW IT UNTIL IT'S-! Knuckles pondered in shock as his eyes went wide and as his mouth went agape.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Rouge screamed when she felt the ground breaking apart under feet.

"ROUGE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Knuckles shouted in shock as he leapt at her and knocked her away from the crumbling ground.

"OOF!" Rouge yelped in mild pain as she felt Knuckles roughly knocking her away after he had leapt at her body. Knuckles landed on top of Rouge's body and had quickly looked back behind him to see if the Megalon monster is going to appear. He can see the ground crumbling some more and breaking apart as the rumbling continued.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Come on...Come on...Show up already...Knuckles thought solemnly as he looked fierce. His body was shaking a lot since the ground below him and Rouge was rumbling. Rouge stared at Knuckles and saw his serious, fierce look on his face.

Boy, when Knuckles is like this, he looks even more handsome than before. Also...heheh...he's must've not realized that he's on top of me or that...our bodies are shaking together. He's so dense like that. Perhaps I should let him be aware of that...Rouge pondered with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"W-Wow, K-Knuckles, th-this is g-going t-to b-be th-the c-closest th-thing f-for u-us t-to b-be h-having s-" Rouge replied calmly with a smirk as her body is shaking too.

"R-ROUGE! N-NOT N-NOW!" Knuckles shouted in frustration with a fierce expression as his face turned bright red. He was staring at the crumbling ground when he shouted that.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSH!

Suddenly, the crumbling ground collapsed below, and one of the three Megalon monsters had drilled up from the ground. The monster roared when he had risen from the ground.

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEGGGGGHHH!

"...!" Knuckles and Rouge gasped in shock as they stared at the tall Megalon monster with wide eyes and with wide mouths.

The Megalon monster stood on the ground above the large hole he dug up from. He clanked his Drill Arms together and had looked around to see where he's at now. The monster eventually looked down and saw Knuckles and Rouge staring at him with shocked looks on their faces.

"..." Knuckles and Rouge were speechless as they stared at the huge Megalon monster. The monster just stared at them while not attacking them. He's unsure whether these creatures are a threat to him or not. ...On second thought...maybe I'm not ready for them to show up...Especially since...I'm still laying on top of Rouge...ACK! Knuckles thought in awkwardness as a sweat drop fell from his head. He then looked very shocked when he had finally processed what he's doing right now.

"I'M LAYING ON TOP OF ROUGE!" Knuckles shouted in shock as he looked freaked-out by this.

The Megalon monster then recognized Knuckles and roared in anger after hearing him shout like that.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGHHH!

"Great going, Knucklehead. Now, you've riled this monster up," Rouge replied in annoyance as she frowned while staring at the Megalon monster.

"I KNOW! I KNOW! DON'T REMIND ME!" Knuckles shouted in irritation as he looked back at Rouge briefly before looking back at the Megalon monster. He and Rouge can see that the monster powering up his silver horn and was aiming his head towards them. They gasped again in shock.

But before the Megalon monster could attack them, Omega had fired his rockets at the back of his head.

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

AAAARRRRRRREEEEEEGGGGHHH! SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in anger and in pain as he was attacked by the rockets. Sparks and explosions came off from the back of the monster's head as the rockets hit it. The monster then quickly turned around to see who was attacking him. Omega kept firing his rockets at the monster and attacked the monster's head and body. More sparks and explosions came off from the monster's body as it was being assaulted by rockets.

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

SCREEEEKKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in pain before he spun his Drill Arms as he prepared himself to fight back against his new target.

"ROUGE! KNUCKLES! GET UP QUICKLY AND FIGHT BACK! I'LL KEEP ATTACKING THE THREAT UNTIL YOU GUYS ARE READY!" Omega exclaimed as he kept firing his rockets at the Megalon monster.

"Go get him, tiger!" Rouge exclaimed with a smile and a nod as she encouraged Omega a bit.

"Uhhh...Right!" Knuckles exclaimed in awkwardness yet in understanding as he nodded his head. He then quickly got off from Rouge and stood back up to his feet. He gave Rouge his hand to help her get up, but Rouge just knocked it away as she sat back up.

"Save your breath, Casanova. I can get up by myself," Rouge said haughtily in annoyance while standing back up on her feet.

"Hey! I'm being a gentleman here!" Knuckles yelled in irritation as he gritted his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows at Rouge.

"Since when are you a gentleman, Knuckie?" Rouge replied as she stared at Knuckles while looking annoyed.

"I am a gentleman! I try to be like one every day! But you just won't let me show it off to you!" Knuckles yelled back irritably with a frown as he clenched his fists.

"Oh, please. You're more like a wild animal than a sophisticated citizen of society anyway. Just quit while you're ahead, sweetie. I like you more as a wild boy than as a posh, refined man of culture. Being a gentleman is totally not your style," Rouge replied haughtily with a frown as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms while moving her head away from Knuckles.

"Grrrrrrrr! And being an aggravating, selfish, snobbish thief is totally not your style either, bat girl! But hey, we all can't get what we want, can we?!" Knuckles yelled back in frustration with a growl while being sarcastic at the end.

"Do you want a slap in the face?" Rouge asked lowly in a warning tone of voice as she glared harshly at Knuckles.

"Heh. That depends. ...Do you want another punch to the face, bat girl?" Knuckles asked back with a smug smile on his face as he stared back at Rouge.

"Grrrrrr...I-" Rouge growled in irritation before she was cut off by Omega.

"GUYS! I CAN'T KEEP DISTRACTING THE THREAT FOREVER! ATTACK IT NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!" Omega exclaimed again while still firing his rockets at the Megalon monster. He then fired bullets at the monster to recharge his load on the rockets.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

AAAAARRRRRRRREEEEEEGGGGHHH!

The Megalon monster roared in anger as his body got hit by the bullets too. Rouge and Knuckles saw this and looked back each other.

"Omega is right. We have to focus on the monster first," Rouge said calmly yet solemnly with a frown as she stared at Knuckles.

"Right. We need to knock this monster down fast or else he'll attack Omega with either his laser or his projectiles. They will no doubt destroy Omega if he gets hit by either of those," Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly with a frown as he stared back at Rouge.

"Say no more, Knuckles. I got it. Let's repay Omega then by distracting the monster ourselves!" Rouge replied confidently with a smirk as she looked at the monster before flying up towards his back.

"Ah! Hey! Wait! There's one more thing that I need to warn you abo-!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in worry as he stared at Rouge and raised his hand up to her.

"Less talking, more fighting, Knuckles! I thought that you prefer that line of thinking! Like so!" Rouge exclaimed back with a smirk as she flew above the monster's carapace while looking down at Knuckles. Before Knuckles could respond to that, Rouge immediately went down towards the Megalon monster's back with her own drilling move, the Drill Kick. But of course, just like when Knuckles had punched it...

KAPLINK!

...Rouge's attack didn't even make a dent on it.

"H-Huh?! What the-?!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as her eyes went wide and as her mouth went agape. She stared at the monster's carapace with a shocked look on her face. She couldn't believe that her Drill Kick move couldn't break through this monster's back or make any clear injuries on it. How is that possible?! Didn't I hit it hard enough?! Rouge thought in shock as she rubbed her eyes a bit to see if she was seeing things correctly. She frowned as she exclaimed, "Okay! Let's take this from the top!".

Rouge flew a bit backwards before using her Drill Kick move again. "Hiya!" Rouge yelled in determination as she attacked the monster's carapace again with her Drill Kick. But just like last time...

KAPLINK!

...it didn't do any damage.

"What?! No way! I even hit it harder that time!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as her eyes went wide again.

"You can't attack the monster's back! It's too durable for the both of us to break!" Knuckles warned with a solemn frown as he had a hand near the side of his mouth. He was looking up at Rouge when he yelled that warning.

"Oh, but I bet that I can break it! All it needs is a little more legwork!" Rouge exclaimed confidently with a determined look on her face as she flown back a bit before drilling down into the monster's carapace again with her Drill Kick.

KAPLINK!

Rouge was knocked right off again from the monster's back. She growled a bit in irritation before she attacked it again...and again...and again...and so forth.

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"See, Rouge?! You're not damaging it! Just hit its stomach or its head instead!" Knuckles yelled out solemnly with a frown.

"I WILL damage it! No bug had ever survived under MY foot! I'll squash it and make it known that I RULE OVER IT!" Rouge yelled back in determination as she looked ticked off now. She then went all out by not only drilling into the monster's carapace but also just kicking it as hard as she could.

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

...Ah...Uhh...Oh, who am I kidding? Rouge hates bugs with a fiery passion. To be honest, I kind of forgotten about that. She really is something else whenever there is a bug in her way. Hmm...Knuckles pondered with an awkward look on his face as he lowered his hand down and stared at Rouge in silence. He also had a sweat drop on his head as he watched Rouge attack the Megalon monster's back in awkwardness.

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"Grrrrrrrr! WHY! WON'T! YOU! JUST! GET SQUISHED?!" Rouge shouted in anger after growling a lot in frustration. She had kicked and drilled into the monster's carapace so many times, but she still didn't make a SINGLE dent on it. She stopped attacking the monster's back and had panted a lot in exhaustion.

"UMMM...ARE ANY OF YOU GUYS EVEN TRYING HERE? I CAN'T KEEP THIS UP, YOU KNOW," Omega said in confusion while he attacked the monster's face and body with rockets again.

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

AAAAARRRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGGHHHH!

The Megalon monster roared in anger again as more sparks and explosions came off from his body. The monster did try to attack back by firing his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at Omega, but Omega's rockets keep hitting the bullets and made them explode instead.

BOOOOOOM! KABOOOOOM! KABOOOOOM!

"Grrrrrrrrr! I'M TRYING! OKAY?! I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY BREAKING THIS MONSTER'S BACK IS SUCH A CHORE TO DO!" Rouge growled again before shouting in frustration as she flew a bit towards her left to look at Omega for a moment before staring at the monster's carapace again. Little did Rouge know that while she was shouting, the Megalon monster spotted her at the corner of his eye and had prepared to attack her with his Drill Arms.

"...(Sigh)...Maybe it's because the monster's back is as hard as diamonds," Knuckles replied tiredly with a sigh as he had his arms crossed and as his eyelids went down halfway in annoyance.

"Diamonds? Where?" Rouge asked in surprise and in curiosity as she looked at her left and right for the supposed diamonds.

Knuckles face-palmed at this as he thought. Ugh...Can she not think about jewels for one minute? Especially in serious situations such as these?

"Rouge...Stay focused. There are no-ACK! LOOK OUT!" Knuckles replied tiredly with a frown as he puts his hand down before shouting in shock as he noticed the Megalon monster turning around and raising his Drill Arm up to attack Rouge.

"Huh?! Ah! Whoa! Hey! Watch it!" Rouge exclaimed in confusion before in shock as she turned her head around to look before she dodged a lot when she saw the monster's Drill Arm swinging around at her. She flew left, right, down, and up to dodge the Megalon monster's attacks. The monster kept swinging his Drill Arm both horizontally and vertically to try to hit Rouge with it. He kept missing her and had attacked the buildings behind Rouge instead.

BOOOOOOOM! CRAAAAAAAAASSSH! BOOOOOM! CRAAAAAASSSH! CRAAAAAAASSSH!

Rubble fell out of the damaged buildings and had hit the ground below. Of course, Rouge and the Megalon monster ignored this as they kept battling each other...or in the monster's case...a cat trying to scratch a bird.

"Ugh! Just leave me alone, you stupid bug!" Rouge yelled in irritation as she kept dodging the monster's attacks.

While the monster was still trying to hit Rouge, Omega was busy attacking the monster's carapace with rockets and saw that the rockets didn't even make a scratch on it.

"THIS IS NOT GOOD. NO DAMAGE DETECTED. I MUST INCREASE MY FIREPOWER FOR THIS," Omega said casually as he fired multiple rockets at once to try to damage the monster's carapace.

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

Sparks and explosions had come off from the monster's back as it was hit by more rockets, but it still didn't take any damage.

"HMM...MORE ROCKETS, AND YET, ZERO DAMAGE. I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GO ALL OUT," Omega said after noticing that his rockets still made no damage to the monster's carapace. He then fired not only his rockets but also his bullets at the monster's back.

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW!

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

"MUST ELIMINATE THREAT. MUST ELIMINATE THREAT. ROUGE IS IN DANGER, AND I NEED TO PROTECT HER. NO MATTER THE COST," Omega said solemnly as he stared at the monster's back intensely. More sparks and explosions occurred as the rockets hit the monster's carapace. Omega kept firing all of his bullets and rockets...until suddenly...

KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! KAPOW! … … …

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! … … …

"...HUH?" Omega said in confusion as he noticed that both of his artillery machines had stopped firing rockets and bullets. He looked at his hands in shock and in confusion. He waved them a bit to try to make them work, but he saw that he really did ran out of ammunition.

"...OUT OF AMMO...HMMM..." Omega said to himself as he lowered his arms and stared at the Megalon monster instead. Even after attacking it with all of his ammunition, the monster was still unscathed...his carapace included. Omega then muttered in awkwardness, "...THIS PRESENTS A PROBLEM...".

Meanwhile, Knuckles grimaced as he watched Rouge dodging the monster's attacks. He then sighed tiredly as he thought to himself. Oh, good grief. If you wanna get something done, you better do it yourself.

Knuckles then looked determined again before he ran towards the Megalon monster while yelling a bit.

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggh!" Knuckles yelled in boldness as he jumped up high towards the monster's stomach and punched it as hard as he can.

POW!

SCRREEEEEKKK!

THUMP!

The Megalon monster roared in pain as he fell to the ground on his back. Knuckles had landed on the monster's stomach and had punched repeatedly as fast as he could. He growled in fury as he punched the stomach a lot with no mercy.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

"Geez, it's about time that someone is squishing that hideous bug," Rouge muttered in annoyance as she flew in place while staring at Knuckles punching the Megalon monster a lot.

"WELL, THAT IS CONVEINIENT," Omega said casually as he also watched Knuckles punching the fallen monster a lot.

"Grrrrrrrrr!" Knuckles growled in fury and in determination as he punched the monster's stomach repeatedly.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEEKKK!

POOF!

Eventually, the Megalon monster combusted into dark particles and had disappeared. Knuckles panted a lot as he landed on the ground below. He was in a crouching position after he had landed. ...You know...the fact that Rouge had managed to distract the monster made it easy for me to defeat it. I can't believe that I'm saying this, but...Rouge's kleptomaniac tendencies had saved the day. Knuckles pondered with a little frown as he panted a bit while wiping the sweat away from his head.

"Awww, you saved me! Does the little Knucklehead want a kiss now? Because I'll give you one for free since you rescued me," Rouge teased with a playful smirk as she stared at Knuckles from above.

Knuckles blushed furiously at this and had quickly turned his head around to stare at Rouge. He can see her looking calm yet mischievous again as she flew in place with her hands behind her back.

He then looked irritated again as he yelled back while blushing a lot, "I only saved you because you were being a moron! I told you to attack the monster's stomach or head, but no, you decided to stupidly keep attacking its back as if it was hoarding a heap load of jewels from you!".

"Pfft! That's rich. Considering that you often keep attacking an enemy just because it had irritated you. What I had done was no different than how you usually handle things in battles," Rouge scoffed with a frown as she rolled her eyes again in annoyance.

"Don't you DARE say that we're the same! I only attack my enemies constantly when I have a vendetta against them! All you have to do is just move to a different location and attack it there instead of THE PLACE WHERE IT'S UNBREAKABLE! HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO NOT NOTICE THAT?!" Knuckles yelled back in exasperation before he shouted at the end as he stood back up and pointed at her accusingly.

"Hello, Pot, my name is Kettle. You're black," Rouge replied in annoyance as she crossed her arms and as she lowered her eyelids halfway.

"What you do you mean by that?!" Knuckles yelled back in anger and in confusion as he shook his fist at Rouge.

"Point proven," Rouge replied in annoyance as she rolled her eyes again before flying back down to the ground.

"Hey! Explain yourself, bat girl! What does that even mean anyway?!" Knuckles yelled even more in anger and in confusion as he glared hard at Rouge while she came down.

"Search it up on the Internet," Rouge replied casually with a shrug and a frown as she reached the ground again and stared at Knuckles.

"I LIVE ON AN REMOTE ISLAND! I DON'T HAVE INTERNET!" Knuckles shouted in fury as he had his fists at his sides and clenched them tightly.

"That explains a lot. You live under a rock," Rouge replied calmly with an annoyed look on her face as she rolled her eyes once more.

"I LIVE ON A FLOATING ISLAND!" Knuckles shouted back furiously as another vein popped in his head.

"Exactly my point," Rouge replied calmly with narrowed eyes as she stared at Knuckles in annoyance. She had her hands on her hips while she stared at Knuckles. She can see him growling again with that furious expression again. She frowned even more at that as she brooded. You know...at one point...that angry look used to be so cute to me...but now...it's just aggravating at this point! How could one person be so stubborn and so short-tempered that they blow up over a little bit of teasing? Hmph...I'm starting to wonder if I'd enjoy a calm and collected type of guy rather than a rage-induced monster like him. Teasing him is fun for a little while, but when he doesn't tease me back, it's just annoying.

"Grrrrrrrr!" Knuckles growled in anger as he glared coldly at Rouge. Why is Rouge so complicated to figure out sometimes?! Argh! It's infuriating! It's just riddle after riddle and mystery after mystery with her! Can't she just be blunt with me at times just like Kathy is with me?! I don't even need to figure out what's on Kathy's mind because she's so simple and childlike! Besides, she tells me things when needed to! Unlike this snooty bat right here! I have to work hard just to get Rouge to open up to me! I...I...I just wish that I'm with Kathy right now so that I don't have face my troublesome nemesis anymore! Knuckles brooded as he looked furious at Rouge.

"GOOD JOB SAVING ROUGE, KNUCKLES. I OWE YOU ONE," Omega said out loud as he walked up towards Knuckles and Rouge and stood at the side of them.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just take this stupid bat away from me and leave!" Knuckles replied in annoyance as he kept glaring at Rouge while not looking at Omega.

"For once, I'll be happy to leave since you're starting to get on my nerves," Rouge replied irritably with a frown as she glared back at Knuckles.

"THE FEELING IS FREAKING MUTUAL!" Knuckles shouted back in irritation as he glared harshly at Rouge while having his fists up.

Omega looked at Rouge and then at Knuckles. He then looked back at Rouge and said, "I SUPPOSE IT IS BEST THAT WE SHOULD LEAVE. ASIDE FROM THE CASUALTIES, THE CITZENS HAD EVACUTED THE CITY SAFELY. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE COFFEE IS SAFE. WE NEED TO GET BACK TO YOUR CLUB AND SERVE THE COFFEE TO THE CUSTOMERS".

"Hmph. I suppose we sha-" Rouge replied calmly with a frown before she cut herself off when she felt the ground rumbling again.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"WHAT THE-?! NOT AGAIN!" Rouge shouted in shock as she looked around in the street.

"WATCH OUT, GUYS! ANOTHER MEGALON MONSTER IS ABOUT TO SHOW UP!" Knuckles shouted in alarm as he looked around the street to see where the other Megalon monster is going to show up.

"A MEGA-WHAT?" Omega asked in confusion as he looked at Knuckles.

CRRRAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSH!

AAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGGGGHHH!

"THERE! THAT'S A MEGALON MONSTER!" Knuckles shouted in shock as he pointed ahead of Rouge towards the Megalon monster that came out of ground and had roared angrily. The ground stopped shaking again once the Megalon monster had risen from the ground.

"OH, YOU MEAN THE THREAT," Omega replied calmly as he turned around and saw the Megalon monster too.

"Well, duh. What else would be named 'Megalon'? The coffee?" Rouge replied sarcastically with a frown as she turned around and crossed her arms in annoyance while staring at the monster too.

"YES. BECAUSE IT COULD BE AN OFF-BRAND COFFEE NAME, ROUGE. YOU KNOW HOW THE BUSINESS INDUSTRY WORKS," Omega replied calmly as he looked at Rouge.

"I...Ugh. Forget about it, Omega. Just attack the monster with your rockets or bullets or whatever," Rouge replied in annoyance as she narrowed her eyes at the Megalon monster before her.

"I'M AFRAID THAT I'M ALL OUT OF AMMO, ROUGE. I NEED TO GO BACK TO NEO G.U.N. H.Q. TO RESTOCK MY AMMUNITION," Omega replied calmly while moving his arms a bit for emphasis.

"Seriously?! At a time like this?! I...Wait a minute. What about your flamethrower attack?" Rouge exclaimed in exasperation before replying calmly as she looked at Omega.

"OH...UH...IT SEEMS THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT IT...LET ME CHECK AND SEE IF IT STILL WORKS..." Omega replied awkwardly as he raised his arms up and had changed his hands into artillery machines again. He then aimed at the monster's feet for a test attack.

...And suddenly...

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Omega's hands blasted out two jet streams of fire and had hit the monster's feet with it. The Megalon monster then roared in pain and in surprise of that attack and had hopped around a bit as his feet were on fire.

SCREEEEKKK!

Knuckles and Rouge were surprised at this at first, but they soon smiled and looked at Omega in amusement.

"...IT WORKS," Omega replied calmly as he stopped attacking a bit to look at Rouge and Knuckles.

"Thanks, Omega. Maybe you should distract the monster again while Rouge and I finish it off," Knuckles replied calmly with a determined smile on his face as he looked back at the Megalon monster and punched his fists together.

"JUST DON'T TAKE TOO LONG THIS TIME. THAT WAS HOW I HAD RUN OUT OF AMMO," Omega replied calmly as he looked back at the monster too and had raised his arms again at the monster.

"Uhh...Heh. Sorry, Omega," Knuckles replied awkwardly with a sweat drop coming down on his head.

"APOLOGY ACCEPTED. NOW GO," Omega replied calmly as he shot out more fire from his hands.

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared again in pain as he hopped around again. Knuckles walked towards Rouge and stood beside while staring at the monster ahead of him. "Now, this time...attack the stomach..." Knuckles advised with a solemn frown as he glanced at Rouge.

"I got ya the first time," Rouge replied in annoyance as she frowned.

"Good. Now, follow me," Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly as he ran as fast as he could towards the Megalon monster. Rouge nodded in understanding before she ran too. The monster roared again in anger as he was tired of being attacked by fire.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEGGGGHHH!

The Megalon monster then tried to attack back by firing his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at the ground to stop his attackers. Knuckles saw this and had shouted, "ROUGE! DODGE!".

"Got it!" Rouge exclaimed as she ran towards the right as Knuckles ran towards the left. They both dodged the attacks, and the bullets had hit the ground instead.

BOOOOOOOOM! KABOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOM!

Sparks and explosions had spouted from the ground as it was hit by the bullets. The Megalon monster looked angry that he had missed his targets and had fired more bullets haphazardly at them. Of course, Knuckles and Rouge dodged the attacks as more explosions occurred behind them.

KABOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOM! KAABOOOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOM!

"DON'T WORRY, KNUCKLES AND ROUGE! I'LL STOP IT!" Omega exclaimed as he shot out fire from his hands again.

FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Omega had attacked the monster's feet again with fire and had made him stop attacking Knuckles and Rouge. The Megalon monster roared again in pain and hopped around a bit again.

SCREEEEKKK!

"Thanks, Omega!" Rouge thanked with a smile as she looked back at Omega.

"MY PLEASURE, ROUGE," Omega replied calmly while he kept attacking the monster's feet with his flamethrower hands.

But surprisingly, the Megalon monster stopped hopping and had blocked his feet with his Drill Arms for self-defense. The flames had hit the silver drills instead.

"UHH...GUYS? WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE," Omega replied awkwardly as a sweat drop fell from his robotic head as he stared at the monster.

"The monster is blocking the fire attack with its drills! Without it being distracted, we'll never be able to attack its stomach!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he stared at the monster's huge drills.

"Oh, so now, we got to attack its head instead? That was the other thing that you had advised me to hit the first time around," Rouge replied calmly with slight annoyance in her tone as she rolled her eyes a bit.

"But what good would that-Ah!" Knuckles replied in confusion before in surprise as he stumbled upon another idea. He then looked at Rouge and smiled widely at this. "Rouge, go up in front of the monster's face and let him attack you," Knuckles commanded with a mischievous smile.

"What?! Are you serious?! Do you want me dead or something?!" Rouge yelled back in irritation as she glared at Knuckles.

"I wish," Knuckles replied calmly yet teasingly with a smug smile.

"Knuckles!" Rouge exclaimed back in anger as a vein bulged in her head.

"Look, Rouge! Just distract the monster for a bit, and I'll punch its stomach! Then you can join me and attack its stomach too! Got it?!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a solemn frown.

"Hmph! Fine! I'll help you," Rouge replied curtly with a frown.

"Thank you...(Sigh)..." Knuckles thanked calmly with a sigh as he looked at the monster again.

"But only because you were being a moron," Rouge added scornfully with a frown as she flew up high again into the air.

"Hey!" Knuckles exclaimed back with an irritated look on his face as he looked up at Rouge. And this is why we don't team up much. Knuckles brooded with a frown and with another sigh.

Rouge soon flew closer to the monster's face and had yelled at him. "Hey, look right here, you big, stupid bug! I bet that I'm bugging as much as you are bugging me!" Rouge yelled with a frown as she flew in front of the monster's eyes and waved her hands a lot to get his attention. The monster then looked up and saw Rouge waving her hands at him.

AAAAARRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGHHH!

The Megalon monster roared in anger as he saw that his target is right in front of him. He then charged up his silver horn to fire his Beast Killer Laser Beam at Rouge. Rouge looked up and gasped when she saw the monster charging up his attack.

"Uh oh!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as she flew backwards to get away from the monster's attack. The monster then shot out his laser beam at Rouge, and Rouge quickly dodged the attack by flying down.

"Yow!" Rouge yelped in shock as she flew downwards to avoid the laser beam.

The laser beam had also passed over Knuckles. "Ack! Watch it!" Knuckles yelped in shock as he looked behind him with wide eyes to see where the laser beam will hit. Luckily, the beam just hit the ground that is next to Omega and had made it explode.

KAAAABOOOOOOM!

"ROUGE, I'D ADVISE THAT YOU DON'T HURT THE MERCHANDISE," Omega said calmly as he referred to himself.

"Tell me something that I don't know!" Rouge yelled back as she dodged another laser beam at her right.

KABOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KABOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM!

"LIKE THE FACT THAT YOU'RE LETTING THE MONSTER DESTROY MORE BUILDINGS?" Omega asked calmly as he watched Rouge fly around and dodging the monster's laser attacks.

"I-What?! AH!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as she turned around and saw several buildings on fire. Oh, shoot...I hope that I don't get a pay cut for this...Rouge thought in worry and in awkwardness as she stared at the burning buildings with a sweat drop on her head.

"ROUGE! DODGE! DODGE!" Knuckles shouted in panic as he saw the Megalon monster raising both of his Drill Arms and swinging them down towards her.

"Huh?! Eep! Ah! Cut it out!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as she turned her head around, saw the large drills coming down towards her, and dodged quickly by going left or right. The Megalon monster slammed both of his Drill Arms onto the ground several times as he tried to attack his target but had missed every time.

CRRRRAAAAAASSH! CRRAAAAAAAAASSSH! CRRRAAAAASSSSH! CRRRRRAAAAAAASSSSH!

The monster had smashed onto the ground and had broken it into several, cracked holes with his Drill Arms. Unfortunately, the repeated smashing had made the ground rumble again, and this action had made Knuckles trip again.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"Ack!" Knuckles yelped in shock as he tripped and fell to the ground on his stomach. Ugh! Not again! Knuckles brooded in irritation as he growled while looking up at Rouge and the Megalon monster.

The Megalon monster then just slammed his Drill Arms multiple times individually as he desperately tried to hit Rouge with them. However, Rouge was quick enough to avoid the attacks she kept flying gracefully into the air.

"Knuckles?! How much longer do I have to keep doing this?! Punch the bug now!" Rouge yelled in frustration as she kept flying left and right to avoid the attacks.

"I-I c-can't!" Knuckles yelled back with a grimace as his body shook again.

"What do you mean 'you can't'?! This was your idea! Remember?!" Rouge yelled back in annoyance as she gritted her teeth.

"I-I k-know! B-But I-I t-tripped! I-I c-can't g-get u-up!" Knuckles yelled back with a worried and annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Must I do everything?! Whatever! Omega! Attack the monster's feet with your flamethrowers again! I've got the monster distracted! Do it! Now!" Rouge yelled in exasperation before in determination as she called out to Omega while dodging the attacks. If you wanna get something done, you better do it yourself. Rouge thought in annoyance as she quickly looked back at Knuckles before back at the monster again.

"NO PROBLEM, ROUGE. I GOT YOUR BACK," Omega replied calmly as he shot out the fire at the monster's feet.

FOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Immediately after the fire was burning the monster's feet, he stopped attacking Rouge and had quickly tried to put out the fire with his Drill Arms.

"Aw, great. It's blocking Omega's attack again. What are going to do n-?" Knuckles said in annoyance as he frowned and narrowed his eyes a bit. But soon, his eyes went wide open when he saw Rouge doing her Drill Kick move onto the monster's chest.

"I'M THROUGH BEING THE DISTRACTION!" Rouge shouted in irritation as she drilled into the monster's chest very hard.

SCREEEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared in surprise and in pain as he was knocked onto his back from that attack. Knuckles gaped in shock of this surprising event. ...W-Whoa...She got him...Knuckles thought in shock as he looked stunned.

Rouge stood on top of the monster's chest after she had landed. She looked back at Knuckles and frowned when she saw that he hadn't gotten up yet. "Well, don't just lie there and gawk at me! Get up here and squish this bug with me!" Rouge yelled back in irritation with a frown.

"Ah! Y-Yes!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise as he quickly stood back and ran towards the fallen Megalon monster. Well, that worked better than I had expected. Now, let's finish this monster! Knuckles thought with a little smile as he jumped on top of the monster and started punching his stomach.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Rouge saw that Knuckles was punching the monster's stomach very fast. She then turned around and stared at the monster's chest. It's about time this monster gets squished! So long, you gross, stupid bug! You won't be missed! Rouge thought with a frown as she jumped up and drilled hard into the monster's chest with her Drill Kick move again. Knuckles and Rouge kept attacking the monster until he had disappeared.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEEEEKKK!

POOF!

The Megalon monster roared in pain one last time before he combusted into dark particles. Knuckles and Rouge dropped down to the ground after the monster disappeared. They both sighed in relief when they saw another Megalon monster defeated. Rouge turned around and looked at Knuckles with a frown. Knuckles stared back at Rouge with a frown. They kept frowning at each other before smiling a little in relief.

"...For once Rouge, I'll give this to ya. That was a pretty good idea to have Omega set the monster's feet on fire to make the monster stop attacking you and the ground. Not only that but also attacking the monster's chest. Honestly, I didn't think about that," Knuckles said calmly with a little smile as he complimented Rouge.

"To be fair, sweetie, you don't use your head very often. So, it's only natural that I would be the one to think of that," Rouge replied teasingly yet haughtily with a little smile as she put her hands on her hips.

"You know, Rouge, you could've just taken the compliment and not say anything. Stop bringing me down with your haughty attitude. It's not attractive," Knuckles replied calmly with a frown as he looked annoyed again. He also had his hands on his hips too while saying that.

"Sweetie, please. I am attractive whether I'm nice or mean. You're just jealous that you can't do the same thing with that hot temper of yours. You just scare people away with that and make them cry," Rouge replied calmly yet cockily with a smirk as she stared at Knuckles.

"Grrrrrr...And just like that, you made me regret complimenting you. Why do you always twist the things that I say and use them to hurt me?! Why?! I'm just trying to be nice to you!" Knuckles replied lowly with a growl before yelling in frustration as he glared at Rouge and as he gritted his teeth again. He even clenched his fists again in anger. He just can't believe Rouge insulted him again and brought up some stuff that he doesn't like about himself...such as his short-temperedness.

"I can see that, but what good does being nice do to others? You'll only get walked all over by people and have them use you as a pawn. It's better to be mean and show others that you're not the type of person to get bossed around easily. You get to be your own boss and make your own rules that way. It's that reason why the old saying is what it is. 'Nice guys finish last' because they always do in the end," Rouge replied calmly with a smug look on her face.

"Grrrr...Is that why you refuse to be nice to me? Because you want to boss me around?" Knuckles asked lowly with a growl as he looked irritated.

"Well, gee, how long did it take you to figure that one out?" Rouge asked coyly yet teasingly with a mischievous smirk.

"Grrrrrrrrrr...I should've known..." Knuckles muttered in frustration as he growled a lot while closing his eyes. No wonder I had hated her. She wants to dominate all men and make them bend to her will. But I strongly refuse to be under her! She is NOT my Master! Knuckles brooded with a frown as he kept growling at Rouge.

Rouge smirked even more as she replied coolly, "Look, Knucklehead. I may be nice occasionally, but I just don't want people to think that I can do favors for free. Unlike you, Sonic, and the rest of you good doers, I only help others when there is something in it for me. Besides, I prefer being mean because that's makes me 'me'. It would feel...unnatural if I wasn't bossing people around and teasing others for fun. If I was nice, then I wouldn't be Rouge the Bat, now would I? What identity would I be then if not that?".

"..." Knuckles was silent at that as he glared coldly at Rouge. He kept listening to Rouge while having a disgruntled look on his face.

"...It's the same thing with you, Knuckles. If you weren't a stubborn, short-tempered emerald guardian, then what identity would you be then? What good would changing yourself really do if people are just used to you being...well...'you'?" Rouge continued calmly as she frowned a little.

"..." Knuckles was still silent after hearing that. He kept glaring at Rouge with a solemn look on his face.

Rouge sighed a bit before crossing her arms as she finished her speech, "I like you just the way you are, Knuckles. Don't change. Don't try to be nice to me or be like a gentleman. If you changed yourself, then people won't like you anymore and may feel betrayed that you had changed your identity. Your friends had grown to love you as you are, and if you had changed, then you'll be abandoned and hated since they don't like your new identity. Having you being 'nice'...will just screw you over in the end".

"..." Knuckles was silent after hearing that last part of her speech. He closed his eyes again and grimaced in frustration.

...Rouge...You don't understand...I...I hate myself...I hate being who I am...Telling me not to change is just...just...the biggest insult that you had said to me right now. I want to change. I want to change for the better...But you...saying that you like me like this is just...revolting to me. It makes me sick to my stomach, and I hate it! I hate it so much! Just as much as I...hate you. Knuckles brooded with a grimace as he kept his eyes closed and had shook his fists a little in anger. He soon opened his eyes a little and narrowed them at Rouge as he kept brooding. Rouge, I hate you because you remind me of myself. My faults, my weaknesses, and my past scars...are what you are reminding me of. How much I am arrogant, stubborn, short-tempered, selfish, gullible, and worst of all...cowardly. I am a coward since I'm afraid to express my true feelings and desires to others. I am a coward since I'm afraid to show weakness towards others. I'm afraid to show them my vulnerability. My imperfections. My...darkness. I'm scared to show anybody that. Including...Including...

Knuckles then cringed as he brooded some more.

...Kathy...

"...I'm just saying that it's okay to just express yourself and your true feelings towards me..."

…

"...Sometimes, sincerity hurts people's feelings, and that's the reason why society hates mean people..."

…

"...They just can't take the raw emotions of others. It's too overwhelming for them, however, those people need to learn to adapt so that they can handle the real world...which is a place full of mean people..."

…

"...I'm certain that you had dealt with a lot of mean people in the past, but I believe that you can overcome that and build some thicker skin yourself..."

…

"...If you can laugh it off and not get your feelings hurt, then you're the winner in that scenario..."

…

"...If there is someone in your life that you don't like, such as Battra for example, the best way to get back at them is just genuinely smile and laugh at their mean attempts..."

...It's so easy to give someone else advice and help them out in their own personal battles. ...But...it's much harder to give said advice to yourself and help yourself in your own personal battles. I'm...I'm such a hypocrite. I can't even follow a single piece of advice that I had told to Kathy this morning. I can't express my true feelings. I hate mean people, but I am also mean to others. Therefore, I hate myself by using that logic. I can't take the raw emotions of others. I can't adapt. I can't overcome the mean actions that people do to me such as teasing me, mocking me, or insulting me. I can't build any thicker skin for myself. But most of all, I...I...I can't laugh or smile whenever someone is being mean to me and had hurt me. I just get ticked off instead and lash out to anyone who had hurt me or had not hurt me. I'm just...just...pathetic...Completely and totally pathetic. I'm so pathetic that I'm basically a...a...a kid. A stupid, short-tempered, gullible kid who gets pushed around by others and gets belittled for attempting to be smart or clever.

Knuckles then opened his eyes again and frowned even deeper as he saw Rouge smiling smugly at him. He gritted his teeth as he finished his broodings.

...And that's the sole reason why I hate Rouge with all my heart. I feel like a little kid talking back to a snobbish, know-it-all adult!

"Well, sweetie? Are you going to say anything or not?" Rouge asked calmly with a smug smile.

"..." Knuckles was still silent as he glared coldly at Rouge.

"ROUGE? SHALL WE LEAVE NOW? I THINK THAT THERE ARE NO MORE THREATS IN THE AREA," Omega said out loud as he walked towards Knuckles and Rouge again.

"I suppose we shall. It seems that Knuckles here wants to play the 'silent game' in which I'm immediately bored with. Okay then. Let's mo-" Rouge replied calmly with a smile as she walked over to Omega and looked at him before at Knuckles.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"OH, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! ANOTHER ONE?!" Rouge shouted in frustration as she felt the ground rumbling again.

"SHOULD WE STAY AND KILL THE THREAT?" Omega asked curiously as he looked at Rouge.

"Don't look at me! Ask Knuckles here!" Rouge exclaimed with a frown as she looked at Knuckles.

"..." Knuckles was still silent as he stared ahead of him and not at Rouge.

"KNUCKLES? DO YOU WANT OUR HELP OR-?" Omega asked calmly as he looked at Knuckles before he was cut off by him.

"No. I think that I can handle this one alone. I've been meaning to at the start," Knuckles answered calmly yet solemnly with a frown.

"UNDERSTOOD. COME, ROUGE. WE MUST PROTECT THE COFFEE AT ALL COSTS. THE CUSTOMERS DEMAND IT," Omega replied calmly with a nod before looking at Rouge again.

"Yeah, yeah, I get ya, Omega. We're evacuating now. If Knuckles says that he can handle himself, then we should let him do what he wants," Rouge replied calmly with a hand wave as she looked at Omega. She then started to fly upwards again. She looked down at Knuckles and added with a knowing smile, "...Besides...he's the type of guy who prefers being all alone with nobody helping him. He just wants to look tough to us, and we should allow him to show off his 'toughness'. Because otherwise...he's going to throw a tantrum the moment he doesn't get his w-".

"WILL YOU TWO LEAVE ALREADY?! YOU'RE TESTING MY PATIENCE!" Knuckles shouted in irritation as he clenched his teeth and as he had a vein popping in his head.

"Heh...See what I mean, Omega?" Rouge asked teasingly with a smirk as she looked at Omega.

"AFFIRMATIVE. HE'S BASICALLY SHADOW ON A BAD DAY," Omega replied calmly with a nod as he looked up at Rouge.

"Hahahahaha! You can say that again! Hahahahahaha!" Rouge exclaimed happily with a smile as she laughed in amusement.

"DO YOU TWO WANT TO DIE TO THIS MONSTER OR NOT?! WHY ARE YOU GUYS STILL HERE?!" Knuckles shouted again in anger as steam came off from his head. He turned his head and glared coldly at Rouge and Omega when he shouted that.

"Alright! Alright! We'll leave! Chill out, hot-head. We'll be out of your hair before you know it," Rouge replied casually with a smirk as she put her hands in front of her.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME! HMPH!" Knuckles shouted back irritably with a pout as he crossed his arms and looked away from Rouge.

Rouge smiled in amusement of this as she pondered. Heheheh. What a baby. He can be so childish at times. I'm honestly starting to get why he won't let me have the Master Emerald. He's just a kid who refuses to share with anybody. No wonder he barely hangs out with his friends. He's worried that he has to share the Master Emerald with them too. He's so insecure of himself that it's laughable.

"Yeah, see ya later, Knuckie. Better take a nap after you're done fighting. Cause you really need it, dearie! Hahahahaha!" Rouge replied playfully with a grin before she laughed as she flew away from Knuckles. Omega turned around and used his jet boosters to follow Rouge on ground.

Knuckles felt so ticked off by that bit of teasing that he closed his eyes and moved his head up to the sky while shouting back in fury, "GRRRRR! BAT GIRL! YOU'RE A PAIN IN MY A-!".

CRAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSHH!

AAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEGGGGGHHH!

The last Megalon monster roared in anger after drilling up from the ground and breaking it apart after arriving at the surface. Knuckles opened his eyes and looked back ahead of him to see where the monster is at. He can see that the monster is about a couple of yards (meters) away from him and that the monster is not facing him. The monster instead had his back towards him and was now walking forward towards another part of the city. The monster did occasionally swing his Drill Arms at some nearby buildings and smashed them a bit before walking further.

CRAAAAAAASSSSSH! BOOOOOOM! CRRAAAAAAAASSSH!

AAAARRRRRRRRREEEEEGGGGGHHH!

The Megalon monster roared in anger after wrecking a few buildings. Knuckles frowned when he saw that. So...it's just you and me, monster. ...Just like always...Knuckles brooded with a solemn frown on his face as he glared harshly at the Megalon monster before him. He then looked determined again and ran forward towards the Megalon monster. With a solemn look on his face, Knuckles brooded one last time.

...And it's times like these where I wish that I wasn't fighting these 'monsters' alone...

And the battle against the Megalon monsters will conclude in the next part. After that, who knows what will come next? But anyways, I hope that you had enjoyed this chapter! I tried my best at the fighting scenes, but I still think that I suck at them! However, I think that I had made it up for that with the humor and angst sections. So, it balances out! Anyways, onto part 7!

(P. S. Having Rouge hate bugs is just my head-cannon. She definitely looks like a person who would hate bugs. I don't know why, but it just does. Hope that you don't mind this little added detail to her in my story! It's only for fun! Anyways, time for the chapter!)