Michelle skipped happily over to find her grandfather. She couldn't wait to tell him the good news..but he wasn't at the corner where he usually sleeps..she hoped he wasn't hurt, but she knew her grandfather, although he was real old he was strong, that's why she felt so protected with him. She kept looking around when she saw him walk out of a formal clothing store..wearing very sharp new clothes...she gasped to herself. Of course...her grandfather would never resort to robery..but...just to check she ran over, two girls walked out and stood beside him as she ran toward him, a very pretty echidna and an older looking bat. At least she knew he wasn't robbing anything..
"Thank you very much, Tikal." The old man smiled "If only all other people were as nice as you."
"Don't mention it, Jack, I guess you just got lucky when you met me." She smiled.
"And thank you for buying this dress for my Michelle, I'm sure she'll love it!" he held up a green dress with a flower design in the middle.
Michelle ran up to him and jumped up in front of him "Grandpapa! Guess what I did!"
Tikal felt the master emeralds presence.. it was VERY strong..she immidiatly noticed Michelle's bracelet and her eyes widened. She didn't know what to do..she didn't want to just..TAKE it from her..
"Look, Michelle!" Jack held up the dress "These nice girls gave us new clothes!"
"Really?!" Michelle smiled and gave Tikal and Rouge both a big hug "Oh, thank you SO much! This will work out just perfect for this evening!"
"What do you mean this evening?" Jack asked.
"Oh, Grandpapa! I'm so happy! I got a boy to go out with me!"
Jack chuckled "Did you now? Was it the same dream you usually have?"
She frowned "No, grandpapa! He was real! He wanted this." She held up her bracelet "And he's going to go out with me if I give it to him!"
Rouge growled "That's not the right reason to go out with you...umm..what's your name again?"
"Michelle." she looked over to the left of her.
"Right, Michelle." Rouge continued "I didn't know men could get this bad! I mean...using you for jewlery!"
"There he is!!" She squealed they all turned to look where she was looking..Rouge was going to give that pig a peice of her mind! Better yet...she saw Blinx walking toward them, maybe he could do something!
"Blinx!" she finally yelled at him as he got to them "There's this guy and he tried to steal..."
"Hi there!" Michelle clinged to Blinx as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, he almost lost grip of Amy.
"Wait a minute...oh..I get it.." Rouge laughed out loud.
"What's so funny, treasure hunter?" Blinx glared.
"Oh, nothing, have a big date tonight?" Rouge snickered.
"You! Shut up!" Blinx snapped
"Hello, I'm Michelle's grandfather" he stuck out a hand in friendship
Blinx sneered "Charmed. But I'm not going on a date willingly, that bracelet she has on belongs to someone else!"
Jack frowned at Michelle "Is this true, Michelle?"
Michelle frowned back "It's not my fault! I didn't know! Besides if he's going to take it he might as well do something nice for me!"
"Now, Michelle!" Jack raised his voice "These people have givin us clothes and a little money, give them back their jewels!"
"Wait! No!" Rouge turned to Blinx "You are going to go out on a date with her and it's going to be a nice date for her, got that?"
"Since when do I listen to you?!" Blinx yelled back at her.
"SINCE THE DAY YOU CROSSED THE LINE OF A GIRLS FIRST DATE!" She practically raised her voice so high the whole market was looking at them.
Blinx looked at her in horror, talk about moodswing. "Fine. But you guys gotta go find me my individual tent."
"No, first we're going to dress you up and then Me, Amy and Tikal will go and find your stupid tent!"
"There's no way I'm playing make over with you!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO PLAY MAKE OVER AND LOVE IT!" There went that moodswing again.
Jack and Michelle walked off "I'll see you tonight, Blinx!" she waved
Tikal crossed her arms "I don't think she deserves a date."
Rouge gasped "Tikal!"
Tikal looked away "Hmph, Well, I don't it wasn't hers to take in the first place."
"You were so caring a while ago." Rouge frowned
"Yeah, well." Tikal started to walk off "I'm going to go find that tent."
She walked off as Amy giggled. If what she thought was going was true..it was going to be one crazy night!
______________________________________________________________________
It was a trip down memory lane as Sonic and Tails walked through the forest of the Mystic Ruins. They both had their own memories. Tails remembers how he went into the desert to find that Chaos Emerald. Sonic remembered how he found that crazy temple he had to run through. Now, all they had to do was find the temple..which was easier said than done.
Tails continued walking behind Sonic "Exactly which direction are we going?"
"We're going where I know where to go." Sonic lightly growled
"And where would that be, mister tour guide."
"You're askin' for it, you know that?" Sonic glared at him
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was under the impression you know where the heck we were going!"
Sonic knew he was getting just what he had givin but Tails put it on pretty deep.
There was a rumble in the bushes.
Tails gasped "What was that?"
"Shh.." Sonic put a vertical finger to his lips. "Stay back."
Tails nodded as Sonic apprached the bushes where the sound came from but before Sonic could even get ready for attack...Doctor Lott jumped out from behind the bushes.
"Ahh!" Sonic screamed as he started to back off but tripped and fell back.
"Why, Sonic!" Doctor Lott helped him up "I'm so glad I found you, I figured you would need some help."
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Sonic dusted himself off "And I don't think you should come, I mean you would only slow us down, not to be rude or anything."
"Oh, by no means am I going with you into the temple." The doctor shook his head "No doubt Gerald had an entry on where to go, I will simply just show you the way to the temple, you don't mind, do you?"
"No not at all." Tails spoke up "Sonic didn't know where he was goin' anyway."
It wasn't very long before Doctor Lott found the temple, actually it was a few minutes from where they were standing when they found him, the only problem was they were heading in the wrong direction.
The doctor stood with Sonic and Tails at the bottom of the stairs of the temple.
"There it is." The doctor pointed. "Now..what we have to do.."
"Thanks doc!" Sonic and Tails rushed up the stairs.
"Sonic, wait!" Lott shouted as loud as he could but Sonic was too caught up in what what he was about to do, or thought he was about to do, anyway. He ran around and found nothing...not an entrance..not even a weak place to break in. He called down to the doctor.
"Hey, Doc! Where do we go from here?"
The doctor shook his head "Do you have Gerald's file?"
"Uhh...hmm..It's in the Tornado." Sonic yelled back. "And we left the Tornado...in Tails' workshop...DAMNIT!"
"Oh, you figured it out, eh?" The doctor yelled up.
Sonic walked down the stairs, Tails close behind. "What are you talking about? I just noticed that if we woulda used the Tornado to have an overlook of the forest, we would have gotten here in a split second!"
"Listen Sonic, we must get that file back from Tails' workshop immidiatly." The doctor insisted.
"Why?" Sonic looked at him with a confused look.
"Because, it has the key to opening the temple."
Thanks to the presence of Dr.Lott, they all got out of the forest in a short while as they climbed into the cart that led them back to the other part of the mystic ruins and to Tails' workshop.
"What exactly does it say, doctor?" Tails asked as he walked out of the workshop, with Gerald's file in hand.
"Well, I know for a fact that you need two stone statues to enter. One gold and one silver."
"Well, where are they?" Sonic asked impatiantly
Doctor Lott dug through the file until he pulled out the journal and read. "The two stone statues that open the past of the echidna tribe were, to my suprise, already there when I went up to the temple. But I hid them in seperate places, to protect the precious artifacts I might one day go back and get. I hid the silver statue in the underground garage of the main hotel in station square, the gold one I hid in the sewage system of station square, in a hidden compartment." he looked over at sonic "What do you propose we do?"
"Tails!" Sonic yelled "Come here."
Tails walked over to Sonic from his workshop. He was about to check on Knuckles but Sonic seemed serious. "What's wrong, Sonic."
"We need to find the keys that open the temple. One is in the garage of the Station Square main hotel. Another one is in a sewage line. I say we go seperatly, so we won't take up as much time."
"Alright!" Tails yelled heroricly. He had forgotten about Knuckles and was set on going on an adventure of his own.
So they waved good-bye to Doctor Lott as they rushed off on their mission. If only they knew about Knuckles..
______________________________________________________________________
Rouge had gotten Blinx, what she thought was a very sharp outfit. It was a green button-up shirt and some sun glasses. He wouldn't put on anything else, but she worked with what she had, and even she had to admit he looked cute. They were both in the men's restroom of a nearby restraunt, it was easy since anyone who saw them walked and straight out, obviously shocked. Amy sat and watched anxiously awaiting the 'big date'
"I can't beleive I let you do this to me." Blinx looked at himself in the mirror "You know that I beleive in revenge, don't you?"
Rouge chuckled to herself "Awww, I think you look very handsome."
Blinx growled.
"You don't think so? Well Amy does, don't you Amy?" Rouge smiled in her direction
"Sure!" She snickered
"Okay.." Rouge turned Blinx around to face her "We got the clothes done, now for entertainment." she smirked
"Woah, hang on bat girl. I'm not the kinda echidna." Blinx stared at her wide-eyed.
"No, idiot! I'm talking about dinner and maybe a movie"
"Well, I'll do one of them but not both, even my quest doesn't matter if I have to spend more than an hour with that little brat."
"Now, be nice to her!" Rouge ordered "She's a cute little girl and it's her first date."
"Well, yay for her." Blinx rolled his eyes
"Fine, you'll take her to dinner. No fast food either."
"Darn" Blinx snapped his fingers
"Hey! I know! Blinx could do a magic trick!" Amy chimed in "I know I like magic."
"A magician, I'm not, Amy."
"No wait, I think she has an idea!" Rouge pondered "You have special powers right?"
"I would advise you not to remind me" Blinx said, washing his hands "That damn cologne stench is all over me!" he scrubbed
"That's the idea." Rouge turned off the faucet
"Stupid creatures." Blinx mumbled ad he stuck out a hand, a paper towel floated over to him and he wiped his hands on it.
"That's it!" Rouge exclaimed.
"What, you didn't know you were stupid creatures?"
"No! You can make something float or something like that!"
"Yeah! Magic!" Amy snickered again.
"You like magic, child?!" Blinx raised his hands up into the air as Amy lifted up and bumped her head on the ceiling. He chuckled to himself as he lowered her gently and she rubbed her head. Rouge went over to Amy and Amy got on her shoulders.
"Okay." Rouge said shoving Blinx with one hand and holding onto Amy with the other "You're ready to go out..I think.."
"Alright alright..." Blinx sighed as they walked out of the resteraunt and towards the building where Michelle had said to meet him. Lucky for them, the resteraunt wasn't very far from the end of the market place. It also wasn't very far from where they would run into Tikal..
"Hey Tikal!" Amy smiled down at her from Rouge's shoulders "How'd the shopping go?"
Tikal shrugged and tried to keep grib on the big box in her hands "Okay, I guess. I didn't find an individual tent but I did find a new big one, it was on sale."
"Thanks, guardian." Blinx half smiled in her direction.
Tikal ignored him "So where are you two off to?"
"Well, we're gonna go with Blinx to his 'meeting' place." Rouge answered
"I see.." Tikal snorted "Well, I should come along too, I've nothing more to do anyway."
They all walked kind of awkwardly toward the building at the end of the market...at least Blinx, Rouge and Tikal did. Amy was still as cheerful as can be asking questions about what Blinx was going to do and if he was going to kiss her or not...Blinx sort of just ignored her. when he turned away to her question she'd ask if it meant yes or no. She was the only one that didn't feel the slightest bit bothered by the fact that Tikal was obviously not looking forward to what was in store for Blinx. Blinx wasn't use to being the center of attention, not like this anyway. All he was surrounded by was girls...all the time. He hadn't noticed it before, but the thought kind of made him blush, especially because he knew for sure that a girl liked him, even if Michelle was rather young. But he kept a straight face as always as they got to the building.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot! Darn, I wish I woulda done this sooner!" Rouge handed him a small ear peice, including some money for the dinner bill "The money is for dinner and listen to me on the ear peice and follow my instructions, okay?"
"Wait a minute, you're gonna spy on me?" Blinx looked at her with an annoyed face.
"What does it matter, were you planning something?" Tikal grunted.
Blinx was blushing bright red, he had never really recalled blushing before this moment "Well..I uhh...I never said well..." he fumbled with the ear peice as he tried to put it on.
"Hurry up! She could be coming any minute!" Rouge peeked over the corner every once in a while, obviously paranoid
"Hey, I don't have big ass ears like you, bare with me!" Blinx snapped back. He had gotten it in, and just in time too. A few seconds later Jack and Michelle walked around the corner.
"Hello!" Michelle smiled and waved as she ran toward Blinx "Ready?"
Blinx looked at her, trying not to seem too suprised..but he was. She had a new dress on, not to mention she smelt nice. Her eyes looked beautiful in the evening, he hadn't realized they were blue. He really didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. Maybe it was just the fact that it was a full moon, or that he was nervous..whatever it was, all he knew was that Michelle looked very pretty that night.
"Umm...sure..let's get this over with." Blinx started to walk but she stayed behind, with her hand stuck out, Blinx faked an annoyed sigh and took her hand.
They were only a couple of hundred feet away from the building when..
STATIC! "Ahhh!" Blinx held his ear in pain. Michelle jumped back.
"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly
"Heh..hyeah, I'm fine." He had completely forgotten about Rouge and her ear device. He looked around and saw them nowhere, but he sure did hear Rouge's voice.
"Go to the restraunt where we got you ready in the restroom. Jack said that she liked pizza before he left, and they serve it there."
"Umm...hey, what do ya say we go over there?" he pointed to the restraunt that was nearby.
Michelle nodded happily "Yay! I've always wanted to go there! I always smell their pizzas but we never have any money."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Blinx tried to find friendly and not intimidating..he really didn't know the difference between the two.
They both sat down at a table. A friendly waiter came up to them after a short time.
"Hello, and good evening." he handed each of them a menu.
"Hi!" Michelle smiled.
"Is this our first date?" the man smiled back.
Michelle blushed and nodded
Blinx sighed and nodded
"Alright, well, what will you have to drink, ma'am?" The waiter took pen in hand.
"I want a cola, please." Michelle asked politely as she opened the menu.
"And you, sir?"
"Ummm..I.." Blinx froze for a minute. He really didn't know what they had to drink, he hadn't really drank anything but water since the doctor started training him, he had to think fast. "Umm, I'll have what she's having."
"Excellent choice. I'll be right back to take your order." The waiter walked off.
"cerreshshh" The static from the earpeice started as Rouge was about to speak "Blinx! Say something!"
Blinx saw Michelle was still looking at the menu and whispered as low as possible "Like what? Where the heck are you guys anyway?"
"Cersshsh! That doesn't watter just say something to start a conversation! Like...well, something like umm, what kind of things she likes."
Blinx shrugged and spoke aloud "Umm...so.."
Michelle looked from behind the menu "Yes?"
"Ummm...exactly...what kind of things are you into?"
"What do you mean, Blinx?"
Blinx wanted to run away somewhere, what DID he mean?! He needed to be guided step by step, Rouge and Amy observed this from their secluded place and took action. "What kind of music does she like?"
Blinx spoke immidiatly "Well, what type of music do your prefer?"
"Hmmm.." Michelle pondered as she set down her menu "When I was really little my mommy used to play me soothing classical music from this music box my grandmother gave me."
Blinx was catching on and starting to make a conversation. "What did the music box look like?"
"Oh, it was beautiful!" Michelle continued "It was golden and it had a pretty little balerena in the middle and she danced and danced for as long as the music went, that's really the only music I've ever cared for."
The waiter approached with the two drinks, along with his pen and notepad to take down the orders.
"I'll have the deluxe pepperoni pizza." She blushed, she hoped Blinx wasn't more mature and ordered some french name she'd never heard of.
"I'll have the same." The orange echidna was sweating nervously, Blinx had no clue what he was doing.
_____________________________________________________________________
Tails was walking out of the train station and toward the hotel garage. He had never really thought about going down there it was a new expirience. He walked to the entrance when a car came toward him, almost hitting him. He covered his face as the headlights blinded his eyes.
"Hey, kid! Get outta the way!" A man looked from outside the driver seats window, he was holding up other traffic and certain hand motions were unacceptable to him so he ran down to the garage as fast he can, followed very fast by the cars behind him, he had to jump to the side of the end of the tunnel to avoid not getting hit, these city people took driving seriously.
He took the map that Sonic had givin him, if he was reading the map right, the silver statue should be right around the corner, and if he could just dig somehow through the cement he'd be out of there in no time, but when he got to where it supposedly was someone had already dug for him! Alright, he'd be out of there quicker than he thought, probably some sort of underground contruction, but oh, well. He jumped down into the hole that was dug and expected to find the secret compartment as soon as he got in, and he did. It was a dusty old box with a lock that had been cut by a torch, and when he opened it he found nothing. This couldn't be good...
A skinny hand touched his shoulder "Hello.." Tails got so scared he almost jumped right out of the hole and back outside, but he stopped himself, it was a young man with a jackhammer. "Hey! You're Tails! Oh, heh, sorry if I scared you.
"No, not at all I'm..I'm fine.." He took a deep brath and let it out "So, what are you guys doing here?"
"Oh, some sort of pipe problem with the hotel, we should be out by tomorrow."
"Oh, I see.." Tails gripped the box worriedly, these guys must have accidently lost the statue. Now there was no way of finding it!
The man took the box from him. "Oh, cool, you found it."
Tails looked at him confused "Wha?"
"Oh, we found this OLD statue as soon as we dug into the ground, we sent it off to the museum and they said it was a priceless artifact and sent me back to find the box it was in, ya know, more artifacts."
"Wait...wait.." Tails interrupted "This statue is in the museum?"
"Yeah, the president himself is having a ceremony for it right now, that guy must love old artifacts and stuff, so I"ll see you around..."
Tails wasn't thinking straight..it had to be just his luck that they dug it up right when he was looking for it..but he came out of his trance to notice the young man walking out of the tunnel. "Ahhh! Wait!" Tails caught up with the man "Do you mind if I take it to him?"
"Oh, sure, after saving Station Square that one time, I bet the president would love it if he could see you again, go ahead." he handed him the box.
Tails rushed to the museum, he had to hurry and tell the president his situation! He'd understand, he was a great guy from what Tails could tell when he awarded him the Chaos emerald for saving Station Square.
The president was standing at the podium with the statue in hand giving a speech but Tails couldn't see what was going on, all the people were much taller than him, he got fed up with trying to push his way through the croud and flew up high above everyone and onto the stage where the president and the podium stood.
"This statue is a symbol of.." The president paused as he saw Tails beside him "Well, look who's here! Miles Prower! He saved Station Square not too long ago, and now, he has brought us the box that we found the statue in, we can always count on you, Miles!"
Tails waved and laughed uneasily as he tapped the president and whispered "Sir, you can't put that in the museum."
"What?" The President looked confused "Why not?"
"Well, see the end of the.." Tails stopped himself, he couldn't reveal the mission, not only did he think they would think he was crazy, but even if they did beleive him, he'd be responsible for a world of panic. "Umm, well, It...belongs to a friend of mine!"
"Haha!" The executive chuckled "Well, that is humorous, but I must get on to my speech." he turned to the people and continued, babbling about the past in the present, but Tails drowned out the sound as he got a determined look on his face, if he wouldn't beleive him, he would have to tell the truth if he wanted action. "If you don't give me that statue the world is going to end!" Tails yelled.
"I know, Miles! Enough games!" The President yelled back firmly as he cleared his throught and continued on with his speech, how long did it take to dedicate a statue, anyway?
Tails wasn't going to take much more of this. Who was HE not to take him seriously? If Sonic was there he would be taken seriously, in fact, he would be willing to bet his life that if Sonic was there, everyone would defend him, but everyone who could hear what he said, just looked up and chuckled. He couldn't take it anymore, he hated being second bananna! The feeling made him feel so...it made him feel so..
"AAARRRRGH!" Tails yelled loudly as he grabbed the statue and ran off with it, he wasn't going to be taken lightly anymore!
"Stop him!!" The president yelled as he yelled at about a half a dozen officers as they ran to keep up, he figured he'd keep running until he lost them, hide for a few minutes and then take off into the air, it started to work as he ran ahead of them and hid in the alley of a couple of buildings, he started to catch his breath as he saw four pairs of legs run past him yelling and heard a female officer yell
"Hurry, he ran this way!"
He chuckled to himself. The rest must have gotten too tired, he even amazed himself sometimes. Well, the entire town of Station Square was going to be on the lookout for him, so he needed to get going, he started to twirl his two tails togather as he rose into the air. There was a gunshot. He looked down and two officers were down by the hotel, shooting at him with laser targeting guns. They outsmarted him. How could be be so stupid! He felt like such an idiot, however this self pity got him into trouble as a bullet was fired at just the right time to hit his right tail, he howled in pain as he plummeted to the ground.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Wow.." Michelle stared at Blinx in amazement "You were created in a laboratory?"
Blinx nodded "Yes, I was born of artificial birth."
Michelle smiled "Well, I need to get into science to build something like you."
"It's not actually that hard really, you see the mammals reproductive egg was--"
He was cut off by Michelles hand on top of his "Calm down." She giggled uneasily "It was a joke."
"cerersh You idiot!" Rouge's voice screamed into his ear. "Umm...recover. ask her if she likes her food."
Blinx rolled his eyes and asked in a dull tone "Do you like your food?"
"Umm, oh yes, I love pizza!" Michelle took another bite of hers "And you?"
"I don't like it at all. It's too greasy." Blinx answered truthfully
"ceresheshsh..." It was silent, he was worried he had done something wrong the last thing he wanted was for Rouge to.."AHHHHHH!" Rouge screamed so loud Michelle thought she was hearing things and Blinx fell back in his chair.
"Oh, Blinx!" Michelle leaned over the table "Are you okay?"
"Umm...yes, I'm fine." He rubbed his head
"Ceresh Go outside so I can have a little talk with you." Rouge said calmly, although it sounded like she was a ticking bomb.
"Umm, excuse me I have to go to use the restroom." Blinx picked up his chair and pushed it in again.
Blinx walked outside the door of the resteraunt while Michelle wasn't looking and found Rouge, Amy and Tikal peeping in a window, not too far from where they were sitting, they both sat down with heir backs against the wall so as not to be seen, Blinx joined them cautiously. Why was he being yelled at? It was his first date too, why wasn't he taken into consideration? His partners on his quest his quest were some of the most confusing yet beautiful creatures on the planet, Women.
"What kind of an idiot are you?" Rouge clenched her teeth.
"One of a kind." Tikal still had her arms crossed stubbornly.
"Umm...well..I.." he stammered
"Go back in there and if you are rude one more time I'm going to run in there and beat you to a pulp."
It wasn't possible, he was one of the strongest beings ever created, but he didn't want to take any chances, he nodded and walked back around to the entrance.
Amy had been tampering with the buttons on the walkie talkie that was used with the ear peice...but it seemed she had accidently dropped it and unfortunatly, the talk light would not come on. "Umm..Rouge.." Amy showed her the walkie talkie as she sweated nervously.
"Amy!" Rouge scolded "Wait! Blinx!" She tried to catch up with him but he had just walked in the door.
"Where were you?" They could hear Michelle ask.
"The restroom.." Blinx answered as calmly as possible as he settled back into his seat.
"But..I saw you come in through the front.." Michelle asked suspiciously.
"Oh, well.." they heard him stammer..At least they could still hear if he screwed up or not, but it seemed they had lost communication at the worst time possible.
Blinx was wondering why Rouge wasn't telling him anything, maybe this was her idea of teaching him not to be rude. "Umm...I saw some friends and umm..said hi.."
"Oh, I see. Okay!" She went back to eating, a man came up to the table.
"'ello, voud you like a long stemmed rose?"
Blinx raised an eyebrow "No..I don't want a flower, thanks.."
The man walked away and Michelle let out a sad sigh. He had done something wrong, he knew it. It's amazing how people work great under pressure, for as soon as he knew something was wrong, his mind snapped to a solution to his problem, he remembered Amy saying that magic was good, although his powers weren't magic, he had an idea.
"I'll be right back!" Blinx shot off across to the other side of the reseraunt.
"Wai..." She was too late, he was gone. She let out another sad sigh, and tried to continue with her meal.
Blinx peeked around the corner to make sure Michelle wasn't looking and placed his gift in a secluded place, and walked back over.
"Saw more friends...heh.."
"Neato.." She half smiled.
He started to concentrate but he also needed conversation "Ummm..so, why do you like pizza?"
"I don't know." She sighed again and looked off to the side.
There it was, a few feet away! Blinx cleared his throught "I..uhhh.." he stammered nervously "I really hope you like flowers."
"Hmm?" She looked dully in the direction Blinx was looking, a red long stemmed rose was floating towards her, it was glowing with a beautiful blue aura it got closer and placed itself right in fornt of Michelle, she picked it up and smiled. "Oh...Blinx.." she started to cry, tears running down her face.
Blinx's smile which had advanced from a serious glance faded to a dissapointed look as he saw her crying, he had tried, he really did.
"I'm..I'm so sorry.." she sniffled. "I..I know you don't like me. Take it, it's why you're even out with me." she threw down the bracelet.
"But I.." Blinx tried to speak but he was interrupted once again.
"It's just...." She sniffed again and let out a sob "When I was real little, I..I..I was picked on a lot for being poor, the kids were go cruel, and I always saw girls with boyfriends and I wanted to be happy like that, every boy turned me down because of one reason of another, because I was dirty, because they were scared I had lice.." She sobbed again and buried her face in her hands.
Blinx felt terrible, what had he done? This poor girl was pouring her heart out and it was all his fault. He had a right mind to let her keep the shards, it was the worst feeling he would ever feel.
"My mother.." She brought her face up and spoke again "My mother used to tell me that there was someone for everybody and I beleived her. When she died me and my grandpapa were forced to live on the streets. I thought maybe..just by a little chance, that these little jewels might be the link between us, maybe it could lead to a life of happiness..but it didn't. It was all a lie, my momma's glass was always 'half full' I'm such an idiot. I just thought you'd like to know that you don't have to act like you like me anymore! Go away! You have your stupid jewels." She started to walk but Blinx pulled her arm back as calmly as he could.
"Wait, Michelle. I need them for my quest and it's a very important one, it's what I was born for." He stood up to face her "and if I wasn't on this quest of mine and there was a way to stop it, I know it would be hard to leave a beautiful girl like you in a place like this."
"Don't try to cheer me up." Michelle snapped as the tears slowed.
"I promise, I swear to god, I will try to stay alive for the rest of my quest and If I survive, I will take you from this place, I'll come personally and take you away from all this, your grandfather too, it's not right, I agree with you. I've only known my laboratory home for the last sixteen years, but I know enough to agree with you and say it's wrong, you shouldn't have to live like this, it's unfair."
"You're just saying that because you feel guilty."
"No, I mean it because it's the truth." He took a step closer to her "A guy would have to be blind not to fall for a cute girl like you."
Blinx would have been crying, her story was very sad, but he was too worried at what her reaction would be, he would soon find out.
Michelle wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed herself up as their lips met. Michelle closed her eyes and relaxed.
Blinx was suprised and didn't know whether to feel violated or falttered, but after all, it was his first kiss too. He might as well enjoy it. He closed his eyes and relaxed as well.
It was kind of hard to stomach the responsibility of taking the emeralds from a heart broken girl, but he had to, it was his purpose in life, she left first to her grandfather who would obviously not hear the end of this until the day he died.
Michelle held on to his hand as long as she could as she walked away "I'll wait all my life if I have to."
"And I'll do my best to be there." Blinx smiled an entire smile, which he had never done before. She left without another word.
Blinx stayed a little while longer, only a matter of a few minutes as he had to pay the bill. He walked outside, the girls were all standing and waiting for him, except Tikal who was still sitting, as soon as they saw him Rouge and Amy ran up to him and hugged him babbling about how it was the most heart warming thing they had ever seen.
It wasn't long before they had teleported back to the camp sight, everyone was tired and went straight to bed, except Blinx who had to set up his tent alone, he thought about what he said to Michelle and he suprised himself that not only did he think it up as he was going along but he meant it, every word of it with all the emotion in hsii heart, although it wasn't much. He was in no means in love with the girl but she did play a few important firsts and who knew, maybe one day that kiss would grow into something else. He looked to see that he had already finished his tent and he was about to lay down to go to bed but Amy came out in her night gown, carrying her pillow and blanket.
"Amy, what are you doing up?"
"I..I heard a sound that sounded like wolves."
"Yes, I heard the wolves too, but you'll be fine. Go off to bed."
"But..I'm scared.."
"Don't act like such a baby, child, I know you're more mature than that."
"But, I'm real tired and what if they come and I'm too tired to move and.."
"Fine!" Blinx yelled softly as to not wake anyone else "You can sleep with me, but sleep on the other side and you will NOT do this tomorrow!"
"Okay!" she set her pillow and blanket next to Blinx's, ignoring his orders.
Blinx sighed. He was too tired to yell at her he laid down next to her on his pillow and blanket and was facing Amy, which he didn't mean to do.
"Blinx, did you mean what you said to Michelle?"
There was no way out of this, her face was honestly inches away from his. But he wanted to get this off his chest. "Yes, I guess I did."
"Hehe" Amy giggled "So are you in LOVE with her?"
Blinx smirked and turned away from Amy "Go to bed, Amy."
A guy would have to be blind not to fall for a cute girl like you.----Terry Bogard
"Thank you very much, Tikal." The old man smiled "If only all other people were as nice as you."
"Don't mention it, Jack, I guess you just got lucky when you met me." She smiled.
"And thank you for buying this dress for my Michelle, I'm sure she'll love it!" he held up a green dress with a flower design in the middle.
Michelle ran up to him and jumped up in front of him "Grandpapa! Guess what I did!"
Tikal felt the master emeralds presence.. it was VERY strong..she immidiatly noticed Michelle's bracelet and her eyes widened. She didn't know what to do..she didn't want to just..TAKE it from her..
"Look, Michelle!" Jack held up the dress "These nice girls gave us new clothes!"
"Really?!" Michelle smiled and gave Tikal and Rouge both a big hug "Oh, thank you SO much! This will work out just perfect for this evening!"
"What do you mean this evening?" Jack asked.
"Oh, Grandpapa! I'm so happy! I got a boy to go out with me!"
Jack chuckled "Did you now? Was it the same dream you usually have?"
She frowned "No, grandpapa! He was real! He wanted this." She held up her bracelet "And he's going to go out with me if I give it to him!"
Rouge growled "That's not the right reason to go out with you...umm..what's your name again?"
"Michelle." she looked over to the left of her.
"Right, Michelle." Rouge continued "I didn't know men could get this bad! I mean...using you for jewlery!"
"There he is!!" She squealed they all turned to look where she was looking..Rouge was going to give that pig a peice of her mind! Better yet...she saw Blinx walking toward them, maybe he could do something!
"Blinx!" she finally yelled at him as he got to them "There's this guy and he tried to steal..."
"Hi there!" Michelle clinged to Blinx as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly, he almost lost grip of Amy.
"Wait a minute...oh..I get it.." Rouge laughed out loud.
"What's so funny, treasure hunter?" Blinx glared.
"Oh, nothing, have a big date tonight?" Rouge snickered.
"You! Shut up!" Blinx snapped
"Hello, I'm Michelle's grandfather" he stuck out a hand in friendship
Blinx sneered "Charmed. But I'm not going on a date willingly, that bracelet she has on belongs to someone else!"
Jack frowned at Michelle "Is this true, Michelle?"
Michelle frowned back "It's not my fault! I didn't know! Besides if he's going to take it he might as well do something nice for me!"
"Now, Michelle!" Jack raised his voice "These people have givin us clothes and a little money, give them back their jewels!"
"Wait! No!" Rouge turned to Blinx "You are going to go out on a date with her and it's going to be a nice date for her, got that?"
"Since when do I listen to you?!" Blinx yelled back at her.
"SINCE THE DAY YOU CROSSED THE LINE OF A GIRLS FIRST DATE!" She practically raised her voice so high the whole market was looking at them.
Blinx looked at her in horror, talk about moodswing. "Fine. But you guys gotta go find me my individual tent."
"No, first we're going to dress you up and then Me, Amy and Tikal will go and find your stupid tent!"
"There's no way I'm playing make over with you!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO PLAY MAKE OVER AND LOVE IT!" There went that moodswing again.
Jack and Michelle walked off "I'll see you tonight, Blinx!" she waved
Tikal crossed her arms "I don't think she deserves a date."
Rouge gasped "Tikal!"
Tikal looked away "Hmph, Well, I don't it wasn't hers to take in the first place."
"You were so caring a while ago." Rouge frowned
"Yeah, well." Tikal started to walk off "I'm going to go find that tent."
She walked off as Amy giggled. If what she thought was going was true..it was going to be one crazy night!
______________________________________________________________________
It was a trip down memory lane as Sonic and Tails walked through the forest of the Mystic Ruins. They both had their own memories. Tails remembers how he went into the desert to find that Chaos Emerald. Sonic remembered how he found that crazy temple he had to run through. Now, all they had to do was find the temple..which was easier said than done.
Tails continued walking behind Sonic "Exactly which direction are we going?"
"We're going where I know where to go." Sonic lightly growled
"And where would that be, mister tour guide."
"You're askin' for it, you know that?" Sonic glared at him
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was under the impression you know where the heck we were going!"
Sonic knew he was getting just what he had givin but Tails put it on pretty deep.
There was a rumble in the bushes.
Tails gasped "What was that?"
"Shh.." Sonic put a vertical finger to his lips. "Stay back."
Tails nodded as Sonic apprached the bushes where the sound came from but before Sonic could even get ready for attack...Doctor Lott jumped out from behind the bushes.
"Ahh!" Sonic screamed as he started to back off but tripped and fell back.
"Why, Sonic!" Doctor Lott helped him up "I'm so glad I found you, I figured you would need some help."
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Sonic dusted himself off "And I don't think you should come, I mean you would only slow us down, not to be rude or anything."
"Oh, by no means am I going with you into the temple." The doctor shook his head "No doubt Gerald had an entry on where to go, I will simply just show you the way to the temple, you don't mind, do you?"
"No not at all." Tails spoke up "Sonic didn't know where he was goin' anyway."
It wasn't very long before Doctor Lott found the temple, actually it was a few minutes from where they were standing when they found him, the only problem was they were heading in the wrong direction.
The doctor stood with Sonic and Tails at the bottom of the stairs of the temple.
"There it is." The doctor pointed. "Now..what we have to do.."
"Thanks doc!" Sonic and Tails rushed up the stairs.
"Sonic, wait!" Lott shouted as loud as he could but Sonic was too caught up in what what he was about to do, or thought he was about to do, anyway. He ran around and found nothing...not an entrance..not even a weak place to break in. He called down to the doctor.
"Hey, Doc! Where do we go from here?"
The doctor shook his head "Do you have Gerald's file?"
"Uhh...hmm..It's in the Tornado." Sonic yelled back. "And we left the Tornado...in Tails' workshop...DAMNIT!"
"Oh, you figured it out, eh?" The doctor yelled up.
Sonic walked down the stairs, Tails close behind. "What are you talking about? I just noticed that if we woulda used the Tornado to have an overlook of the forest, we would have gotten here in a split second!"
"Listen Sonic, we must get that file back from Tails' workshop immidiatly." The doctor insisted.
"Why?" Sonic looked at him with a confused look.
"Because, it has the key to opening the temple."
Thanks to the presence of Dr.Lott, they all got out of the forest in a short while as they climbed into the cart that led them back to the other part of the mystic ruins and to Tails' workshop.
"What exactly does it say, doctor?" Tails asked as he walked out of the workshop, with Gerald's file in hand.
"Well, I know for a fact that you need two stone statues to enter. One gold and one silver."
"Well, where are they?" Sonic asked impatiantly
Doctor Lott dug through the file until he pulled out the journal and read. "The two stone statues that open the past of the echidna tribe were, to my suprise, already there when I went up to the temple. But I hid them in seperate places, to protect the precious artifacts I might one day go back and get. I hid the silver statue in the underground garage of the main hotel in station square, the gold one I hid in the sewage system of station square, in a hidden compartment." he looked over at sonic "What do you propose we do?"
"Tails!" Sonic yelled "Come here."
Tails walked over to Sonic from his workshop. He was about to check on Knuckles but Sonic seemed serious. "What's wrong, Sonic."
"We need to find the keys that open the temple. One is in the garage of the Station Square main hotel. Another one is in a sewage line. I say we go seperatly, so we won't take up as much time."
"Alright!" Tails yelled heroricly. He had forgotten about Knuckles and was set on going on an adventure of his own.
So they waved good-bye to Doctor Lott as they rushed off on their mission. If only they knew about Knuckles..
______________________________________________________________________
Rouge had gotten Blinx, what she thought was a very sharp outfit. It was a green button-up shirt and some sun glasses. He wouldn't put on anything else, but she worked with what she had, and even she had to admit he looked cute. They were both in the men's restroom of a nearby restraunt, it was easy since anyone who saw them walked and straight out, obviously shocked. Amy sat and watched anxiously awaiting the 'big date'
"I can't beleive I let you do this to me." Blinx looked at himself in the mirror "You know that I beleive in revenge, don't you?"
Rouge chuckled to herself "Awww, I think you look very handsome."
Blinx growled.
"You don't think so? Well Amy does, don't you Amy?" Rouge smiled in her direction
"Sure!" She snickered
"Okay.." Rouge turned Blinx around to face her "We got the clothes done, now for entertainment." she smirked
"Woah, hang on bat girl. I'm not the kinda echidna." Blinx stared at her wide-eyed.
"No, idiot! I'm talking about dinner and maybe a movie"
"Well, I'll do one of them but not both, even my quest doesn't matter if I have to spend more than an hour with that little brat."
"Now, be nice to her!" Rouge ordered "She's a cute little girl and it's her first date."
"Well, yay for her." Blinx rolled his eyes
"Fine, you'll take her to dinner. No fast food either."
"Darn" Blinx snapped his fingers
"Hey! I know! Blinx could do a magic trick!" Amy chimed in "I know I like magic."
"A magician, I'm not, Amy."
"No wait, I think she has an idea!" Rouge pondered "You have special powers right?"
"I would advise you not to remind me" Blinx said, washing his hands "That damn cologne stench is all over me!" he scrubbed
"That's the idea." Rouge turned off the faucet
"Stupid creatures." Blinx mumbled ad he stuck out a hand, a paper towel floated over to him and he wiped his hands on it.
"That's it!" Rouge exclaimed.
"What, you didn't know you were stupid creatures?"
"No! You can make something float or something like that!"
"Yeah! Magic!" Amy snickered again.
"You like magic, child?!" Blinx raised his hands up into the air as Amy lifted up and bumped her head on the ceiling. He chuckled to himself as he lowered her gently and she rubbed her head. Rouge went over to Amy and Amy got on her shoulders.
"Okay." Rouge said shoving Blinx with one hand and holding onto Amy with the other "You're ready to go out..I think.."
"Alright alright..." Blinx sighed as they walked out of the resteraunt and towards the building where Michelle had said to meet him. Lucky for them, the resteraunt wasn't very far from the end of the market place. It also wasn't very far from where they would run into Tikal..
"Hey Tikal!" Amy smiled down at her from Rouge's shoulders "How'd the shopping go?"
Tikal shrugged and tried to keep grib on the big box in her hands "Okay, I guess. I didn't find an individual tent but I did find a new big one, it was on sale."
"Thanks, guardian." Blinx half smiled in her direction.
Tikal ignored him "So where are you two off to?"
"Well, we're gonna go with Blinx to his 'meeting' place." Rouge answered
"I see.." Tikal snorted "Well, I should come along too, I've nothing more to do anyway."
They all walked kind of awkwardly toward the building at the end of the market...at least Blinx, Rouge and Tikal did. Amy was still as cheerful as can be asking questions about what Blinx was going to do and if he was going to kiss her or not...Blinx sort of just ignored her. when he turned away to her question she'd ask if it meant yes or no. She was the only one that didn't feel the slightest bit bothered by the fact that Tikal was obviously not looking forward to what was in store for Blinx. Blinx wasn't use to being the center of attention, not like this anyway. All he was surrounded by was girls...all the time. He hadn't noticed it before, but the thought kind of made him blush, especially because he knew for sure that a girl liked him, even if Michelle was rather young. But he kept a straight face as always as they got to the building.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot! Darn, I wish I woulda done this sooner!" Rouge handed him a small ear peice, including some money for the dinner bill "The money is for dinner and listen to me on the ear peice and follow my instructions, okay?"
"Wait a minute, you're gonna spy on me?" Blinx looked at her with an annoyed face.
"What does it matter, were you planning something?" Tikal grunted.
Blinx was blushing bright red, he had never really recalled blushing before this moment "Well..I uhh...I never said well..." he fumbled with the ear peice as he tried to put it on.
"Hurry up! She could be coming any minute!" Rouge peeked over the corner every once in a while, obviously paranoid
"Hey, I don't have big ass ears like you, bare with me!" Blinx snapped back. He had gotten it in, and just in time too. A few seconds later Jack and Michelle walked around the corner.
"Hello!" Michelle smiled and waved as she ran toward Blinx "Ready?"
Blinx looked at her, trying not to seem too suprised..but he was. She had a new dress on, not to mention she smelt nice. Her eyes looked beautiful in the evening, he hadn't realized they were blue. He really didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. Maybe it was just the fact that it was a full moon, or that he was nervous..whatever it was, all he knew was that Michelle looked very pretty that night.
"Umm...sure..let's get this over with." Blinx started to walk but she stayed behind, with her hand stuck out, Blinx faked an annoyed sigh and took her hand.
They were only a couple of hundred feet away from the building when..
STATIC! "Ahhh!" Blinx held his ear in pain. Michelle jumped back.
"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly
"Heh..hyeah, I'm fine." He had completely forgotten about Rouge and her ear device. He looked around and saw them nowhere, but he sure did hear Rouge's voice.
"Go to the restraunt where we got you ready in the restroom. Jack said that she liked pizza before he left, and they serve it there."
"Umm...hey, what do ya say we go over there?" he pointed to the restraunt that was nearby.
Michelle nodded happily "Yay! I've always wanted to go there! I always smell their pizzas but we never have any money."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Blinx tried to find friendly and not intimidating..he really didn't know the difference between the two.
They both sat down at a table. A friendly waiter came up to them after a short time.
"Hello, and good evening." he handed each of them a menu.
"Hi!" Michelle smiled.
"Is this our first date?" the man smiled back.
Michelle blushed and nodded
Blinx sighed and nodded
"Alright, well, what will you have to drink, ma'am?" The waiter took pen in hand.
"I want a cola, please." Michelle asked politely as she opened the menu.
"And you, sir?"
"Ummm..I.." Blinx froze for a minute. He really didn't know what they had to drink, he hadn't really drank anything but water since the doctor started training him, he had to think fast. "Umm, I'll have what she's having."
"Excellent choice. I'll be right back to take your order." The waiter walked off.
"cerreshshh" The static from the earpeice started as Rouge was about to speak "Blinx! Say something!"
Blinx saw Michelle was still looking at the menu and whispered as low as possible "Like what? Where the heck are you guys anyway?"
"Cersshsh! That doesn't watter just say something to start a conversation! Like...well, something like umm, what kind of things she likes."
Blinx shrugged and spoke aloud "Umm...so.."
Michelle looked from behind the menu "Yes?"
"Ummm...exactly...what kind of things are you into?"
"What do you mean, Blinx?"
Blinx wanted to run away somewhere, what DID he mean?! He needed to be guided step by step, Rouge and Amy observed this from their secluded place and took action. "What kind of music does she like?"
Blinx spoke immidiatly "Well, what type of music do your prefer?"
"Hmmm.." Michelle pondered as she set down her menu "When I was really little my mommy used to play me soothing classical music from this music box my grandmother gave me."
Blinx was catching on and starting to make a conversation. "What did the music box look like?"
"Oh, it was beautiful!" Michelle continued "It was golden and it had a pretty little balerena in the middle and she danced and danced for as long as the music went, that's really the only music I've ever cared for."
The waiter approached with the two drinks, along with his pen and notepad to take down the orders.
"I'll have the deluxe pepperoni pizza." She blushed, she hoped Blinx wasn't more mature and ordered some french name she'd never heard of.
"I'll have the same." The orange echidna was sweating nervously, Blinx had no clue what he was doing.
_____________________________________________________________________
Tails was walking out of the train station and toward the hotel garage. He had never really thought about going down there it was a new expirience. He walked to the entrance when a car came toward him, almost hitting him. He covered his face as the headlights blinded his eyes.
"Hey, kid! Get outta the way!" A man looked from outside the driver seats window, he was holding up other traffic and certain hand motions were unacceptable to him so he ran down to the garage as fast he can, followed very fast by the cars behind him, he had to jump to the side of the end of the tunnel to avoid not getting hit, these city people took driving seriously.
He took the map that Sonic had givin him, if he was reading the map right, the silver statue should be right around the corner, and if he could just dig somehow through the cement he'd be out of there in no time, but when he got to where it supposedly was someone had already dug for him! Alright, he'd be out of there quicker than he thought, probably some sort of underground contruction, but oh, well. He jumped down into the hole that was dug and expected to find the secret compartment as soon as he got in, and he did. It was a dusty old box with a lock that had been cut by a torch, and when he opened it he found nothing. This couldn't be good...
A skinny hand touched his shoulder "Hello.." Tails got so scared he almost jumped right out of the hole and back outside, but he stopped himself, it was a young man with a jackhammer. "Hey! You're Tails! Oh, heh, sorry if I scared you.
"No, not at all I'm..I'm fine.." He took a deep brath and let it out "So, what are you guys doing here?"
"Oh, some sort of pipe problem with the hotel, we should be out by tomorrow."
"Oh, I see.." Tails gripped the box worriedly, these guys must have accidently lost the statue. Now there was no way of finding it!
The man took the box from him. "Oh, cool, you found it."
Tails looked at him confused "Wha?"
"Oh, we found this OLD statue as soon as we dug into the ground, we sent it off to the museum and they said it was a priceless artifact and sent me back to find the box it was in, ya know, more artifacts."
"Wait...wait.." Tails interrupted "This statue is in the museum?"
"Yeah, the president himself is having a ceremony for it right now, that guy must love old artifacts and stuff, so I"ll see you around..."
Tails wasn't thinking straight..it had to be just his luck that they dug it up right when he was looking for it..but he came out of his trance to notice the young man walking out of the tunnel. "Ahhh! Wait!" Tails caught up with the man "Do you mind if I take it to him?"
"Oh, sure, after saving Station Square that one time, I bet the president would love it if he could see you again, go ahead." he handed him the box.
Tails rushed to the museum, he had to hurry and tell the president his situation! He'd understand, he was a great guy from what Tails could tell when he awarded him the Chaos emerald for saving Station Square.
The president was standing at the podium with the statue in hand giving a speech but Tails couldn't see what was going on, all the people were much taller than him, he got fed up with trying to push his way through the croud and flew up high above everyone and onto the stage where the president and the podium stood.
"This statue is a symbol of.." The president paused as he saw Tails beside him "Well, look who's here! Miles Prower! He saved Station Square not too long ago, and now, he has brought us the box that we found the statue in, we can always count on you, Miles!"
Tails waved and laughed uneasily as he tapped the president and whispered "Sir, you can't put that in the museum."
"What?" The President looked confused "Why not?"
"Well, see the end of the.." Tails stopped himself, he couldn't reveal the mission, not only did he think they would think he was crazy, but even if they did beleive him, he'd be responsible for a world of panic. "Umm, well, It...belongs to a friend of mine!"
"Haha!" The executive chuckled "Well, that is humorous, but I must get on to my speech." he turned to the people and continued, babbling about the past in the present, but Tails drowned out the sound as he got a determined look on his face, if he wouldn't beleive him, he would have to tell the truth if he wanted action. "If you don't give me that statue the world is going to end!" Tails yelled.
"I know, Miles! Enough games!" The President yelled back firmly as he cleared his throught and continued on with his speech, how long did it take to dedicate a statue, anyway?
Tails wasn't going to take much more of this. Who was HE not to take him seriously? If Sonic was there he would be taken seriously, in fact, he would be willing to bet his life that if Sonic was there, everyone would defend him, but everyone who could hear what he said, just looked up and chuckled. He couldn't take it anymore, he hated being second bananna! The feeling made him feel so...it made him feel so..
"AAARRRRGH!" Tails yelled loudly as he grabbed the statue and ran off with it, he wasn't going to be taken lightly anymore!
"Stop him!!" The president yelled as he yelled at about a half a dozen officers as they ran to keep up, he figured he'd keep running until he lost them, hide for a few minutes and then take off into the air, it started to work as he ran ahead of them and hid in the alley of a couple of buildings, he started to catch his breath as he saw four pairs of legs run past him yelling and heard a female officer yell
"Hurry, he ran this way!"
He chuckled to himself. The rest must have gotten too tired, he even amazed himself sometimes. Well, the entire town of Station Square was going to be on the lookout for him, so he needed to get going, he started to twirl his two tails togather as he rose into the air. There was a gunshot. He looked down and two officers were down by the hotel, shooting at him with laser targeting guns. They outsmarted him. How could be be so stupid! He felt like such an idiot, however this self pity got him into trouble as a bullet was fired at just the right time to hit his right tail, he howled in pain as he plummeted to the ground.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Wow.." Michelle stared at Blinx in amazement "You were created in a laboratory?"
Blinx nodded "Yes, I was born of artificial birth."
Michelle smiled "Well, I need to get into science to build something like you."
"It's not actually that hard really, you see the mammals reproductive egg was--"
He was cut off by Michelles hand on top of his "Calm down." She giggled uneasily "It was a joke."
"cerersh You idiot!" Rouge's voice screamed into his ear. "Umm...recover. ask her if she likes her food."
Blinx rolled his eyes and asked in a dull tone "Do you like your food?"
"Umm, oh yes, I love pizza!" Michelle took another bite of hers "And you?"
"I don't like it at all. It's too greasy." Blinx answered truthfully
"ceresheshsh..." It was silent, he was worried he had done something wrong the last thing he wanted was for Rouge to.."AHHHHHH!" Rouge screamed so loud Michelle thought she was hearing things and Blinx fell back in his chair.
"Oh, Blinx!" Michelle leaned over the table "Are you okay?"
"Umm...yes, I'm fine." He rubbed his head
"Ceresh Go outside so I can have a little talk with you." Rouge said calmly, although it sounded like she was a ticking bomb.
"Umm, excuse me I have to go to use the restroom." Blinx picked up his chair and pushed it in again.
Blinx walked outside the door of the resteraunt while Michelle wasn't looking and found Rouge, Amy and Tikal peeping in a window, not too far from where they were sitting, they both sat down with heir backs against the wall so as not to be seen, Blinx joined them cautiously. Why was he being yelled at? It was his first date too, why wasn't he taken into consideration? His partners on his quest his quest were some of the most confusing yet beautiful creatures on the planet, Women.
"What kind of an idiot are you?" Rouge clenched her teeth.
"One of a kind." Tikal still had her arms crossed stubbornly.
"Umm...well..I.." he stammered
"Go back in there and if you are rude one more time I'm going to run in there and beat you to a pulp."
It wasn't possible, he was one of the strongest beings ever created, but he didn't want to take any chances, he nodded and walked back around to the entrance.
Amy had been tampering with the buttons on the walkie talkie that was used with the ear peice...but it seemed she had accidently dropped it and unfortunatly, the talk light would not come on. "Umm..Rouge.." Amy showed her the walkie talkie as she sweated nervously.
"Amy!" Rouge scolded "Wait! Blinx!" She tried to catch up with him but he had just walked in the door.
"Where were you?" They could hear Michelle ask.
"The restroom.." Blinx answered as calmly as possible as he settled back into his seat.
"But..I saw you come in through the front.." Michelle asked suspiciously.
"Oh, well.." they heard him stammer..At least they could still hear if he screwed up or not, but it seemed they had lost communication at the worst time possible.
Blinx was wondering why Rouge wasn't telling him anything, maybe this was her idea of teaching him not to be rude. "Umm...I saw some friends and umm..said hi.."
"Oh, I see. Okay!" She went back to eating, a man came up to the table.
"'ello, voud you like a long stemmed rose?"
Blinx raised an eyebrow "No..I don't want a flower, thanks.."
The man walked away and Michelle let out a sad sigh. He had done something wrong, he knew it. It's amazing how people work great under pressure, for as soon as he knew something was wrong, his mind snapped to a solution to his problem, he remembered Amy saying that magic was good, although his powers weren't magic, he had an idea.
"I'll be right back!" Blinx shot off across to the other side of the reseraunt.
"Wai..." She was too late, he was gone. She let out another sad sigh, and tried to continue with her meal.
Blinx peeked around the corner to make sure Michelle wasn't looking and placed his gift in a secluded place, and walked back over.
"Saw more friends...heh.."
"Neato.." She half smiled.
He started to concentrate but he also needed conversation "Ummm..so, why do you like pizza?"
"I don't know." She sighed again and looked off to the side.
There it was, a few feet away! Blinx cleared his throught "I..uhhh.." he stammered nervously "I really hope you like flowers."
"Hmm?" She looked dully in the direction Blinx was looking, a red long stemmed rose was floating towards her, it was glowing with a beautiful blue aura it got closer and placed itself right in fornt of Michelle, she picked it up and smiled. "Oh...Blinx.." she started to cry, tears running down her face.
Blinx's smile which had advanced from a serious glance faded to a dissapointed look as he saw her crying, he had tried, he really did.
"I'm..I'm so sorry.." she sniffled. "I..I know you don't like me. Take it, it's why you're even out with me." she threw down the bracelet.
"But I.." Blinx tried to speak but he was interrupted once again.
"It's just...." She sniffed again and let out a sob "When I was real little, I..I..I was picked on a lot for being poor, the kids were go cruel, and I always saw girls with boyfriends and I wanted to be happy like that, every boy turned me down because of one reason of another, because I was dirty, because they were scared I had lice.." She sobbed again and buried her face in her hands.
Blinx felt terrible, what had he done? This poor girl was pouring her heart out and it was all his fault. He had a right mind to let her keep the shards, it was the worst feeling he would ever feel.
"My mother.." She brought her face up and spoke again "My mother used to tell me that there was someone for everybody and I beleived her. When she died me and my grandpapa were forced to live on the streets. I thought maybe..just by a little chance, that these little jewels might be the link between us, maybe it could lead to a life of happiness..but it didn't. It was all a lie, my momma's glass was always 'half full' I'm such an idiot. I just thought you'd like to know that you don't have to act like you like me anymore! Go away! You have your stupid jewels." She started to walk but Blinx pulled her arm back as calmly as he could.
"Wait, Michelle. I need them for my quest and it's a very important one, it's what I was born for." He stood up to face her "and if I wasn't on this quest of mine and there was a way to stop it, I know it would be hard to leave a beautiful girl like you in a place like this."
"Don't try to cheer me up." Michelle snapped as the tears slowed.
"I promise, I swear to god, I will try to stay alive for the rest of my quest and If I survive, I will take you from this place, I'll come personally and take you away from all this, your grandfather too, it's not right, I agree with you. I've only known my laboratory home for the last sixteen years, but I know enough to agree with you and say it's wrong, you shouldn't have to live like this, it's unfair."
"You're just saying that because you feel guilty."
"No, I mean it because it's the truth." He took a step closer to her "A guy would have to be blind not to fall for a cute girl like you."
Blinx would have been crying, her story was very sad, but he was too worried at what her reaction would be, he would soon find out.
Michelle wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed herself up as their lips met. Michelle closed her eyes and relaxed.
Blinx was suprised and didn't know whether to feel violated or falttered, but after all, it was his first kiss too. He might as well enjoy it. He closed his eyes and relaxed as well.
It was kind of hard to stomach the responsibility of taking the emeralds from a heart broken girl, but he had to, it was his purpose in life, she left first to her grandfather who would obviously not hear the end of this until the day he died.
Michelle held on to his hand as long as she could as she walked away "I'll wait all my life if I have to."
"And I'll do my best to be there." Blinx smiled an entire smile, which he had never done before. She left without another word.
Blinx stayed a little while longer, only a matter of a few minutes as he had to pay the bill. He walked outside, the girls were all standing and waiting for him, except Tikal who was still sitting, as soon as they saw him Rouge and Amy ran up to him and hugged him babbling about how it was the most heart warming thing they had ever seen.
It wasn't long before they had teleported back to the camp sight, everyone was tired and went straight to bed, except Blinx who had to set up his tent alone, he thought about what he said to Michelle and he suprised himself that not only did he think it up as he was going along but he meant it, every word of it with all the emotion in hsii heart, although it wasn't much. He was in no means in love with the girl but she did play a few important firsts and who knew, maybe one day that kiss would grow into something else. He looked to see that he had already finished his tent and he was about to lay down to go to bed but Amy came out in her night gown, carrying her pillow and blanket.
"Amy, what are you doing up?"
"I..I heard a sound that sounded like wolves."
"Yes, I heard the wolves too, but you'll be fine. Go off to bed."
"But..I'm scared.."
"Don't act like such a baby, child, I know you're more mature than that."
"But, I'm real tired and what if they come and I'm too tired to move and.."
"Fine!" Blinx yelled softly as to not wake anyone else "You can sleep with me, but sleep on the other side and you will NOT do this tomorrow!"
"Okay!" she set her pillow and blanket next to Blinx's, ignoring his orders.
Blinx sighed. He was too tired to yell at her he laid down next to her on his pillow and blanket and was facing Amy, which he didn't mean to do.
"Blinx, did you mean what you said to Michelle?"
There was no way out of this, her face was honestly inches away from his. But he wanted to get this off his chest. "Yes, I guess I did."
"Hehe" Amy giggled "So are you in LOVE with her?"
Blinx smirked and turned away from Amy "Go to bed, Amy."
A guy would have to be blind not to fall for a cute girl like you.----Terry Bogard