Check for the disclaimer in chapter 1
Sonic Tales Chapter 7
It has been a couple of days, and Amy was at her apartment, looking at the mirror, trying on new cosmetics. After a few minutes, the phone rang. Amy went to answer it. When she did, it was Shadow.
"Hello." Said Amy
"Hi Amy." Answered Shadow.
"Oh, hi Shadow. It's a little surprising to hear from you. What's up?"
"Just reminding you of the date that you and Sonic are having tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I remember. I could never forget something like that."
"Good. Just wanted to remind you, since I'll be reminding Sonic as well."
"Oh I'm sure he wouldn't forget."
"Then you overestimated him. I wouldn't normally be bothering myself with such trivial matters, but seeing Sonic do something reluctantly is a sight worth seeing. Besides, I can tell he's holding back emotions."
Amy's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yep, just as long as you don't screw it up."
"Thanks Shadow. I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, whatever. It was Omochao's idea to tell you."
"He can be pretty helpful sometimes."
"Yeah, when he's not giving out useless information. Just yesterday, when I was running by the power plant, he told me that explosives were a bad thing! Like I didn't already know that!"
Amy was no longer paying attention, but was in a sort of bliss, thinking about her date with Sonic. Shadow noticed the silence, and hung up. After the annoying dial tone brought Amy out of her trance, she hung up the phone. She then looked at herself in the mirror again, and frowned.
"I'm going to need some new clothes. After all, first impressions count. I think I'll take Rouge with me. If I can find her, that is."
Then she exited her apartment, got in her car, and drove off.
[Meanwhile: White Jungle]
During this time, Eggman was searching the White Jungle for the other chaos emerald, since that was where the computer gave off a signal. He looked around, searching. He finally found a temple. Upon reaching the entrance, he read the sign that was in front of it.
"Warning. Dangerous traps inside. Enter at your own risk."
Eggman just grinned "Bah! Nothing is going to keep me from obtaining that chaos emerald! I'll just have to find a way to deactivate those traps."
He thought for a moment. After a while of thinking, he growled in frustration.
"This is taking too long! I'm doing this the easy way!"
Then he pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pressed a few buttons, and then put it back.
"There! In just a few moments, a few of my robots will just test the grounds for me. I'll just wait here."
So he waited and waited and waited. For what seemed like an eternity, the robots finally arrived.
"What took you so long!? You were supposed to be here hours ago!"
The robots just shrugged.
"Never mind! Just go in there! And stay in front of me!"
So they did. When they all entered the temple, the entrance shut itself closed. One of the robots took a few steps forward, and a barrage of stalagmites emerged from the ground, completely impaling it. One of the other robots took another step forward in a different direction, and nothing happened. However, when it took another couple of steps, it too met the same fate as the first robot.
Eggman was studying this pattern. That's when he noticed that the floor leading to the next room was all checkered. It was brown squares and beige squares. He noticed that the squares that the robots stepped on were beige squares. So he sent another robot to step on a brown square. When it did, nothing happened. He then grinned.
"Okay everyone, listen up! Step only on the brown squares! Stepping on the beige ones will cause you to be impaled by stalagmites!"
So that's what they all did. However, one of the robots accidentally stepped on a beige square, and was treated to a bath of spikes. When everyone was finally across, Eggman noticed a different looking robot in front of the door leading to the next room. He approached it, and sure enough, it was Omochao.
"Be careful for certain squares." Omochao said.
Eggman looked at the squares, and then back at Omochao.
"Where were you when we were crossing them?!"
Omochao looked at the temple entrance, and then back at Eggman.
"Oops, sorry. I stood in the wrong place."
"Fortunately for you, I wasn't hurt! Now, out of the way!"
Still in his Eggwalker, he stormed into the next room. He looked around. He saw eight cubes in the room. He looked at Omochao, expecting some kind of hint. Omochao looked around the cubes, then went back.
"One of these cubes led the right way to the final room, and the others lead to certain perils. To narrow your choices, find the one that is slightly different from the rest."
"I have a better, much faster idea." Said Eggman. He then signaled eight robots. "The eight of you each pick up a cube! Now!"
So they did. They approached them, and in unison, picked up the cubes. The incorrect cubes exploded, while the correct one remained intact. The exploding cubes impact was strong enough to destroy the robots holding them. The next door opened. So, with only two robots left, they entered the next room.
The final room was nothing like the other two. Instead of being filled with traps, it was plain and empty. The only thing in the room was a rather large robot that stood in the center of the room. It looked to be about thirty feet in height, rock-like features, human-like body, and a head that seemed all too familiar to the scientist. He looked closer. When he did, he gasped. He recognized the face of this specific robot. It had a head similar to that of a Pharaoh.
"It can't be! How is this possible?!"
That's when Omochao spoke up.
"This is the Egg Golem. It was once a minion of Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik, but it found a job right here in the temple. It asks a riddle, and if the person wants the treasure inside, the person answers it. If they are incorrect, the Egg Golem will destroy that person. If they answer correctly, it will give them passage."
The Egg Golem looked at Eggman, and smirked.
"I am going to enjoy this." It said. "I'll make sure this riddle is incredibly difficult. Are you ready?"
"Of course I'm ready!" answered Eggman. "I have an I.Q. of over three hundred! Besides, if worst comes to worst, I can always defeat you like I did before!"
"We shall see. Now, here is the riddle. 1, 2, 3, 5,8,13. What is the next number?"
Eggman thought for a minute, then answered. "21. Each number adds itself, leading to another answer."
The Egg Golem growled. "Perhaps that was too easy. I dare you to try one more!"
"And why should I?"
"Because.....you just have to!"
"Brat! Fine! Go ahead!"
"Good! Now, here is the final riddle. T, O, F, O, F, N, T, S. What is the next letter?"
"Why are you asking mathematical riddles?"
"Because these kinds of riddles are rarely solved, and not many people are good at math."
So Eggman thought about it for a while. It took a little longer for him to figure this one out, but he finally responded.
"The next letter is F."
"And explain how you came up with that conclusion."
"PI is used for 3, 14159265, the first letter of each number. Ha! I win!"
"Impossible! Only science geeks could've gotten those correctly!"
"I.Q. over 300, remember?"
"Damn! You weren't supposed to win!............No matter! I'll destroy you anyways!"
"Bring it on!"
So the boss battle began.
[E-G-G - G-O-L-E-M]
Eggman quickly moved to the right, just in time to dodge a laser blast. He fired at the stomach areas, creating little cracks in its body. The Egg Golem retaliated by thrusting its arms at him, but they are destroyed by Eggmans rail cannon. While it was reassembling itself, Eggman shot a barrage of missiles at its body, finally revealing the cores of its body. The Egg Golem finished reassembling its arms, and was now slashing and dashing at the Eggwalker.
After some dodging and some getting hit at times, an opening in the Egg Golems defenses was revealed. Wasting no time, Eggman fired frantically at one of the open spots until it was destroyed. The Egg Golem quickly turned around to try to protect its other vulnerable spots, but Eggman just fired more missiles at its back until the weak spots were revealed there as well. So he just fired and fired until all of the weak spots were destroyed. The Egg Golem then fell, face first, onto the floor.
Wanting to make sure it was completely destroyed, Eggman fired many rail cannon blasts at its body until it was nothing but a pile of rubble. Satisfied with his hard work, he jumped for joy (in his Eggwalker of course). He then proceeded to the final door, and entered it. Once inside, he gazed in awe at all of the many types of treasures that were contained in there.
He ordered the two remaining robots he had to hoard as much treasure as they could store, while he searched for the chaos emerald. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found it. He picked it up, admired it, and then put it in his pocket.
"Five down, two to go." Then he hoarded some treasure in his Eggwalker. He looked around, and saw that there was still much treasure to be collected. "I guess I'll have to come back here later. Taking over the world comes first!" Then he turned to the robots. "Let's move out! Get back to the base as fast as you can! This time, don't take so long!"
So they hurried along back to the entrance of the temple, which the door was already open, due to them solving all of the traps. The exited, and then went back to his base.
[Sonic and Tails house]
Meanwhile, Tails was working on the Tornado, while Sonic was in the same room, pacing back and forth with concern.
"Why did I ever agree to that date with Amy?" he asked. "What was I thinking?"
"You did it so that she couldn't claim you for herself." Answered Tails from under the Tornado. "What's the big deal anyways? It's just a date."
"Not just any date, but a date with Amy. Amy Rose! The same Amy Rose that's constantly around me! The same Amy Rose that I usually try to avoid!"
"That may be true, but you always could've told her off."
"I know, but, for some strange reason, looking into her eyes just, I don't know, calms whatever frustrations I've built up."
"Sounds to me like you have feelings for her."
"What?! No way! I'm a solo hedgehog. I don't have special feelings for anyone."
"Whatever, Sonic. Say what you like." Then he got up out of the Tornado. "All I can go by is what I observe."
"Can we change the subject?"
"Oh, alright. Just when it was getting fun. Can you press enter on the computer? Its energy should recharge the Tornado."
Sonic went up to the computer, and then pushed enter. Rather than charging up the Tornado, it drained from it, and then exploded. Sonic quickly jumped back.
"Hey Tails! What's with your computer?!"
Tails quickly got up, and ran over to it. He frantically searched around its remains.
"I'm not sure. It's a new model. The only way it could've reacted that way was if somebody sent a virus, but I don't know of any-"Tails stopped in mid sentence. "No way! How did Eggman do this?!"
"You mean he was here recently?"
"No. This was obviously done sometime ago."
"He probably did it when we were at the park or something."
"Perhaps, but now I have a lot of work to do. Could you go buy some more parts for me? I have a lot of debugging to do."
"Sure thing, buddy." Then he ran outside.
[Angel Island]
Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Knuckles and Rouge were where the master emerald was.
"Do you remember anything about this?" asked Knuckles as he pointed to the master emerald.
"Well, it 'does' ring a bell. I vaguely remember something of it, but it's still a blank."
"In the past, you've tried countless times to try and steal it."
"Why would I do such an awful thing?"
"Because you were a jewel thief."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"I wish I could say that it's alright, but it's not."
Rouge sighed at this. "Now I'm not so sure if I want to remember who I was. Why would I do this to you if I have such strong f-"She quickly stopped herself. "Um, I mean, I think I do."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. He was positive that what he heard was correct, but wasn't quite sure. "(Does this mean that her feelings were real? If so, she has quite a way of showing it! Is she really telling the truth? Or is it just the amnesia talking? Where's Omochao when you need him)?"
Rouge looked at him quizzically. "Um, Knuckles? What are you thinking about?"
Knuckles quickly broke his train of thought. "Um, well, it's, it's kinda hard to say."
"Well, I probably wouldn't understand anyways. Sorry for asking."
"No, you would. It's just kinda hard to admit it."
"Admit what?"
"Um, well, you know..."
"No, tell me."
At this time, they were only inches away from each other. Knuckles was still having trouble saying what was on his mind. Finally, he spoke clearly.
"Well, I sort of, kind of, feel the same way."
Rouge slightly blushed. "R-really? So, you're not mad?"
"That's the problem. Right now, it's nice to be around you. However, once you regain your memory, you might go back to your thieving ways, and that worries me."
"Oh, I see." She said a bit sadly. "You're worried that I might just use you to get the master emerald."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. I understand. I would probably do the same thing if I were in your position. However, couldn't we just wait and see? Maybe I'll still keep the memories I'm having right now. Maybe I'll give up stealing the master emerald."
"Well, it's worth a try. And if it doesn't work out, we can at least be rivaling acquaintances."
Yes, maybe. I just, hope that I can change, once I get my memory back, that is."
The two just stood there in silence for what seemed like hours, although it was only just minutes, staring into each others eyes. They continued to do so until their silence was broken by a car horn. They quickly turned to see who it was. It was Amy.
"There you are!" she said. "I was going to go shopping for something to wear on my date, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."
"Um, sure." Answered Rouge. "I'd like that very much."
"What about you?" Amy asked Knuckles.
"No thanks." He answered. "I'll stay here and do what I'm supposed to do. Guard the master emerald."
"Okay, suit yourself. Let's go, Rouge."
"By the way," Knuckles interrupted, "how did you get here?"
"Oh, that one's easy! My car can hover."
"Oh."
"Well, let's go, Rouge!"
So Rouge got in Amy's car, and the two drove off towards the station square mall. Knuckles just sat back down, and continued with his job of guarding the master emerald.
[Station Square Streets]
Meanwhile, Shadow was in the shady area of a street corner, watching all of the passers-by. Since he wasn't very sociable, he spent most of his time alone. While he was watching, a blue blur whizzed right past him, almost knocking him on the ground.
"That could only be Sonic!" He muttered to himself. "Can't he watch where he's running? I guess I'm gonna have to teach him a little lesson." Then he ran towards Sonic until he finally caught up with him.
When he did, Sonic noticed, and then glanced at him.
"Oh, hey Shadow. What brings you here?"
"You do!"
"Huh?"
"You weren't watching where you weren't running, and almost knocked me over!"
"Oh. Sorry about that."
"Could your date with Amy really be 'that' bad as to not respect others on the road?"
"More than you know, Shadow."
"Well in that case, I'm gonna have to teach you a little lesson in respect."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Yes. We'll have a race. First one who reaches the end of the Radical Highway wins."
"But the traffic is murder right now!"
"Exactly. That makes it more challenging."
"You're on! What do I get when I win?"
"You mean 'if' you win."
"Yeah, when I win."
Then the both of them stopped running.
"Whatever." Continued Shadow. "If you win, I'll do anything you ask. However, if 'I' win, I want you to show Amy the best time of her life."
"What?! What is it with you and wanting to get Amy and I together?!"
"I love to see you suffer. Besides, she deserves it after pursuing you for so long. Anyways, are you up to it?"
"I'll win this hands down!"
"Alright then, let's start!"
So the two of them ran, each one of them avoiding traffic. Sonic was way ahead of Shadow. Just when Sonic was near the finish line, Shadow used chaos control, and was already there. Sonic ran right in front of him.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
"I didn't say that we couldn't use aid."
"I would've won that too!"
"Could've, but didn't. Now, honor your part of the bargain tomorrow."
"Fine! But only because of that stupid bet!"
"Whatever. You know you're going to enjoy it."
"What do you know?!"
"Weren't you supposed to be going somewhere?"
Sonic then remembered. "Oh yeah! I was supposed to go buy parts! I gotta go! We'll discuss this later, Shadow!" Then he ran off.
Shadow grinned. "Well, that's two people I helped. Amy and Sonic, although he doesn't know it yet." Then he put the chaos emerald away, and left.
[Meanwhile: At Sonic and Tails home]
It's been hours since Sonic left, and he still hasn't gotten back from the shop yet.
"What's taking him so long?!" Tails said impatiently. "I really need those parts, and I need some help fixing these things!"
That's when Omochao appeared.
"Did you know that you have ten machines to fix?"
Tails groaned. He couldn't believe that he was about to ask Omochao for help. "Um, I'm kinda shorthanded, and was wondering if you could help me."
"I love helping people."
End of chapter 7
Well, that's it for chapter 7. Sorry for taking so long. Thanksgiving weekend took a lot of my time away. Thank you all for reviewing. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep updating.^_^
Sonic Tales Chapter 7
It has been a couple of days, and Amy was at her apartment, looking at the mirror, trying on new cosmetics. After a few minutes, the phone rang. Amy went to answer it. When she did, it was Shadow.
"Hello." Said Amy
"Hi Amy." Answered Shadow.
"Oh, hi Shadow. It's a little surprising to hear from you. What's up?"
"Just reminding you of the date that you and Sonic are having tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I remember. I could never forget something like that."
"Good. Just wanted to remind you, since I'll be reminding Sonic as well."
"Oh I'm sure he wouldn't forget."
"Then you overestimated him. I wouldn't normally be bothering myself with such trivial matters, but seeing Sonic do something reluctantly is a sight worth seeing. Besides, I can tell he's holding back emotions."
Amy's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Yep, just as long as you don't screw it up."
"Thanks Shadow. I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, whatever. It was Omochao's idea to tell you."
"He can be pretty helpful sometimes."
"Yeah, when he's not giving out useless information. Just yesterday, when I was running by the power plant, he told me that explosives were a bad thing! Like I didn't already know that!"
Amy was no longer paying attention, but was in a sort of bliss, thinking about her date with Sonic. Shadow noticed the silence, and hung up. After the annoying dial tone brought Amy out of her trance, she hung up the phone. She then looked at herself in the mirror again, and frowned.
"I'm going to need some new clothes. After all, first impressions count. I think I'll take Rouge with me. If I can find her, that is."
Then she exited her apartment, got in her car, and drove off.
[Meanwhile: White Jungle]
During this time, Eggman was searching the White Jungle for the other chaos emerald, since that was where the computer gave off a signal. He looked around, searching. He finally found a temple. Upon reaching the entrance, he read the sign that was in front of it.
"Warning. Dangerous traps inside. Enter at your own risk."
Eggman just grinned "Bah! Nothing is going to keep me from obtaining that chaos emerald! I'll just have to find a way to deactivate those traps."
He thought for a moment. After a while of thinking, he growled in frustration.
"This is taking too long! I'm doing this the easy way!"
Then he pulled a remote out of his pocket. He pressed a few buttons, and then put it back.
"There! In just a few moments, a few of my robots will just test the grounds for me. I'll just wait here."
So he waited and waited and waited. For what seemed like an eternity, the robots finally arrived.
"What took you so long!? You were supposed to be here hours ago!"
The robots just shrugged.
"Never mind! Just go in there! And stay in front of me!"
So they did. When they all entered the temple, the entrance shut itself closed. One of the robots took a few steps forward, and a barrage of stalagmites emerged from the ground, completely impaling it. One of the other robots took another step forward in a different direction, and nothing happened. However, when it took another couple of steps, it too met the same fate as the first robot.
Eggman was studying this pattern. That's when he noticed that the floor leading to the next room was all checkered. It was brown squares and beige squares. He noticed that the squares that the robots stepped on were beige squares. So he sent another robot to step on a brown square. When it did, nothing happened. He then grinned.
"Okay everyone, listen up! Step only on the brown squares! Stepping on the beige ones will cause you to be impaled by stalagmites!"
So that's what they all did. However, one of the robots accidentally stepped on a beige square, and was treated to a bath of spikes. When everyone was finally across, Eggman noticed a different looking robot in front of the door leading to the next room. He approached it, and sure enough, it was Omochao.
"Be careful for certain squares." Omochao said.
Eggman looked at the squares, and then back at Omochao.
"Where were you when we were crossing them?!"
Omochao looked at the temple entrance, and then back at Eggman.
"Oops, sorry. I stood in the wrong place."
"Fortunately for you, I wasn't hurt! Now, out of the way!"
Still in his Eggwalker, he stormed into the next room. He looked around. He saw eight cubes in the room. He looked at Omochao, expecting some kind of hint. Omochao looked around the cubes, then went back.
"One of these cubes led the right way to the final room, and the others lead to certain perils. To narrow your choices, find the one that is slightly different from the rest."
"I have a better, much faster idea." Said Eggman. He then signaled eight robots. "The eight of you each pick up a cube! Now!"
So they did. They approached them, and in unison, picked up the cubes. The incorrect cubes exploded, while the correct one remained intact. The exploding cubes impact was strong enough to destroy the robots holding them. The next door opened. So, with only two robots left, they entered the next room.
The final room was nothing like the other two. Instead of being filled with traps, it was plain and empty. The only thing in the room was a rather large robot that stood in the center of the room. It looked to be about thirty feet in height, rock-like features, human-like body, and a head that seemed all too familiar to the scientist. He looked closer. When he did, he gasped. He recognized the face of this specific robot. It had a head similar to that of a Pharaoh.
"It can't be! How is this possible?!"
That's when Omochao spoke up.
"This is the Egg Golem. It was once a minion of Dr. Ivo Eggman Robotnik, but it found a job right here in the temple. It asks a riddle, and if the person wants the treasure inside, the person answers it. If they are incorrect, the Egg Golem will destroy that person. If they answer correctly, it will give them passage."
The Egg Golem looked at Eggman, and smirked.
"I am going to enjoy this." It said. "I'll make sure this riddle is incredibly difficult. Are you ready?"
"Of course I'm ready!" answered Eggman. "I have an I.Q. of over three hundred! Besides, if worst comes to worst, I can always defeat you like I did before!"
"We shall see. Now, here is the riddle. 1, 2, 3, 5,8,13. What is the next number?"
Eggman thought for a minute, then answered. "21. Each number adds itself, leading to another answer."
The Egg Golem growled. "Perhaps that was too easy. I dare you to try one more!"
"And why should I?"
"Because.....you just have to!"
"Brat! Fine! Go ahead!"
"Good! Now, here is the final riddle. T, O, F, O, F, N, T, S. What is the next letter?"
"Why are you asking mathematical riddles?"
"Because these kinds of riddles are rarely solved, and not many people are good at math."
So Eggman thought about it for a while. It took a little longer for him to figure this one out, but he finally responded.
"The next letter is F."
"And explain how you came up with that conclusion."
"PI is used for 3, 14159265, the first letter of each number. Ha! I win!"
"Impossible! Only science geeks could've gotten those correctly!"
"I.Q. over 300, remember?"
"Damn! You weren't supposed to win!............No matter! I'll destroy you anyways!"
"Bring it on!"
So the boss battle began.
[E-G-G - G-O-L-E-M]
Eggman quickly moved to the right, just in time to dodge a laser blast. He fired at the stomach areas, creating little cracks in its body. The Egg Golem retaliated by thrusting its arms at him, but they are destroyed by Eggmans rail cannon. While it was reassembling itself, Eggman shot a barrage of missiles at its body, finally revealing the cores of its body. The Egg Golem finished reassembling its arms, and was now slashing and dashing at the Eggwalker.
After some dodging and some getting hit at times, an opening in the Egg Golems defenses was revealed. Wasting no time, Eggman fired frantically at one of the open spots until it was destroyed. The Egg Golem quickly turned around to try to protect its other vulnerable spots, but Eggman just fired more missiles at its back until the weak spots were revealed there as well. So he just fired and fired until all of the weak spots were destroyed. The Egg Golem then fell, face first, onto the floor.
Wanting to make sure it was completely destroyed, Eggman fired many rail cannon blasts at its body until it was nothing but a pile of rubble. Satisfied with his hard work, he jumped for joy (in his Eggwalker of course). He then proceeded to the final door, and entered it. Once inside, he gazed in awe at all of the many types of treasures that were contained in there.
He ordered the two remaining robots he had to hoard as much treasure as they could store, while he searched for the chaos emerald. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found it. He picked it up, admired it, and then put it in his pocket.
"Five down, two to go." Then he hoarded some treasure in his Eggwalker. He looked around, and saw that there was still much treasure to be collected. "I guess I'll have to come back here later. Taking over the world comes first!" Then he turned to the robots. "Let's move out! Get back to the base as fast as you can! This time, don't take so long!"
So they hurried along back to the entrance of the temple, which the door was already open, due to them solving all of the traps. The exited, and then went back to his base.
[Sonic and Tails house]
Meanwhile, Tails was working on the Tornado, while Sonic was in the same room, pacing back and forth with concern.
"Why did I ever agree to that date with Amy?" he asked. "What was I thinking?"
"You did it so that she couldn't claim you for herself." Answered Tails from under the Tornado. "What's the big deal anyways? It's just a date."
"Not just any date, but a date with Amy. Amy Rose! The same Amy Rose that's constantly around me! The same Amy Rose that I usually try to avoid!"
"That may be true, but you always could've told her off."
"I know, but, for some strange reason, looking into her eyes just, I don't know, calms whatever frustrations I've built up."
"Sounds to me like you have feelings for her."
"What?! No way! I'm a solo hedgehog. I don't have special feelings for anyone."
"Whatever, Sonic. Say what you like." Then he got up out of the Tornado. "All I can go by is what I observe."
"Can we change the subject?"
"Oh, alright. Just when it was getting fun. Can you press enter on the computer? Its energy should recharge the Tornado."
Sonic went up to the computer, and then pushed enter. Rather than charging up the Tornado, it drained from it, and then exploded. Sonic quickly jumped back.
"Hey Tails! What's with your computer?!"
Tails quickly got up, and ran over to it. He frantically searched around its remains.
"I'm not sure. It's a new model. The only way it could've reacted that way was if somebody sent a virus, but I don't know of any-"Tails stopped in mid sentence. "No way! How did Eggman do this?!"
"You mean he was here recently?"
"No. This was obviously done sometime ago."
"He probably did it when we were at the park or something."
"Perhaps, but now I have a lot of work to do. Could you go buy some more parts for me? I have a lot of debugging to do."
"Sure thing, buddy." Then he ran outside.
[Angel Island]
Meanwhile, on Angel Island, Knuckles and Rouge were where the master emerald was.
"Do you remember anything about this?" asked Knuckles as he pointed to the master emerald.
"Well, it 'does' ring a bell. I vaguely remember something of it, but it's still a blank."
"In the past, you've tried countless times to try and steal it."
"Why would I do such an awful thing?"
"Because you were a jewel thief."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"I wish I could say that it's alright, but it's not."
Rouge sighed at this. "Now I'm not so sure if I want to remember who I was. Why would I do this to you if I have such strong f-"She quickly stopped herself. "Um, I mean, I think I do."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow. He was positive that what he heard was correct, but wasn't quite sure. "(Does this mean that her feelings were real? If so, she has quite a way of showing it! Is she really telling the truth? Or is it just the amnesia talking? Where's Omochao when you need him)?"
Rouge looked at him quizzically. "Um, Knuckles? What are you thinking about?"
Knuckles quickly broke his train of thought. "Um, well, it's, it's kinda hard to say."
"Well, I probably wouldn't understand anyways. Sorry for asking."
"No, you would. It's just kinda hard to admit it."
"Admit what?"
"Um, well, you know..."
"No, tell me."
At this time, they were only inches away from each other. Knuckles was still having trouble saying what was on his mind. Finally, he spoke clearly.
"Well, I sort of, kind of, feel the same way."
Rouge slightly blushed. "R-really? So, you're not mad?"
"That's the problem. Right now, it's nice to be around you. However, once you regain your memory, you might go back to your thieving ways, and that worries me."
"Oh, I see." She said a bit sadly. "You're worried that I might just use you to get the master emerald."
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright. I understand. I would probably do the same thing if I were in your position. However, couldn't we just wait and see? Maybe I'll still keep the memories I'm having right now. Maybe I'll give up stealing the master emerald."
"Well, it's worth a try. And if it doesn't work out, we can at least be rivaling acquaintances."
Yes, maybe. I just, hope that I can change, once I get my memory back, that is."
The two just stood there in silence for what seemed like hours, although it was only just minutes, staring into each others eyes. They continued to do so until their silence was broken by a car horn. They quickly turned to see who it was. It was Amy.
"There you are!" she said. "I was going to go shopping for something to wear on my date, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."
"Um, sure." Answered Rouge. "I'd like that very much."
"What about you?" Amy asked Knuckles.
"No thanks." He answered. "I'll stay here and do what I'm supposed to do. Guard the master emerald."
"Okay, suit yourself. Let's go, Rouge."
"By the way," Knuckles interrupted, "how did you get here?"
"Oh, that one's easy! My car can hover."
"Oh."
"Well, let's go, Rouge!"
So Rouge got in Amy's car, and the two drove off towards the station square mall. Knuckles just sat back down, and continued with his job of guarding the master emerald.
[Station Square Streets]
Meanwhile, Shadow was in the shady area of a street corner, watching all of the passers-by. Since he wasn't very sociable, he spent most of his time alone. While he was watching, a blue blur whizzed right past him, almost knocking him on the ground.
"That could only be Sonic!" He muttered to himself. "Can't he watch where he's running? I guess I'm gonna have to teach him a little lesson." Then he ran towards Sonic until he finally caught up with him.
When he did, Sonic noticed, and then glanced at him.
"Oh, hey Shadow. What brings you here?"
"You do!"
"Huh?"
"You weren't watching where you weren't running, and almost knocked me over!"
"Oh. Sorry about that."
"Could your date with Amy really be 'that' bad as to not respect others on the road?"
"More than you know, Shadow."
"Well in that case, I'm gonna have to teach you a little lesson in respect."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Yes. We'll have a race. First one who reaches the end of the Radical Highway wins."
"But the traffic is murder right now!"
"Exactly. That makes it more challenging."
"You're on! What do I get when I win?"
"You mean 'if' you win."
"Yeah, when I win."
Then the both of them stopped running.
"Whatever." Continued Shadow. "If you win, I'll do anything you ask. However, if 'I' win, I want you to show Amy the best time of her life."
"What?! What is it with you and wanting to get Amy and I together?!"
"I love to see you suffer. Besides, she deserves it after pursuing you for so long. Anyways, are you up to it?"
"I'll win this hands down!"
"Alright then, let's start!"
So the two of them ran, each one of them avoiding traffic. Sonic was way ahead of Shadow. Just when Sonic was near the finish line, Shadow used chaos control, and was already there. Sonic ran right in front of him.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
"I didn't say that we couldn't use aid."
"I would've won that too!"
"Could've, but didn't. Now, honor your part of the bargain tomorrow."
"Fine! But only because of that stupid bet!"
"Whatever. You know you're going to enjoy it."
"What do you know?!"
"Weren't you supposed to be going somewhere?"
Sonic then remembered. "Oh yeah! I was supposed to go buy parts! I gotta go! We'll discuss this later, Shadow!" Then he ran off.
Shadow grinned. "Well, that's two people I helped. Amy and Sonic, although he doesn't know it yet." Then he put the chaos emerald away, and left.
[Meanwhile: At Sonic and Tails home]
It's been hours since Sonic left, and he still hasn't gotten back from the shop yet.
"What's taking him so long?!" Tails said impatiently. "I really need those parts, and I need some help fixing these things!"
That's when Omochao appeared.
"Did you know that you have ten machines to fix?"
Tails groaned. He couldn't believe that he was about to ask Omochao for help. "Um, I'm kinda shorthanded, and was wondering if you could help me."
"I love helping people."
End of chapter 7
Well, that's it for chapter 7. Sorry for taking so long. Thanksgiving weekend took a lot of my time away. Thank you all for reviewing. As long as you keep reading, I'll keep updating.^_^