Chapter 2: Surprise Visit

It was early morning when a loud noise pierced Rouge's ear. "WHAAA!" she screamed. Knux was jerked awake.

"Eh?" he groaned.

"I hear a plane coming toward us," she said with warning.

His eyes were wide open by now. She unraveled herself from him and rushed to the helicopter when she saw the plane overhead. Knux was already in fighting stance. Rouge did the same.

The plane flew even closer. They could make it out as the Tornado 3, with Sonic, Tails, and Amy inside. They both relaxed as it landed near Knux. Sonic and Tails jumped out, with Amy close behind.

"Heeey, Knux! Long time, no see!" Sonic greeted while Rouge walked over to the company. Tails was the first to notice her.

"Rouge, I've been looking all over for you! You need to give me a comm. connection!" he complained.

"Um, sorry.I'll get to that." she apologized.

Sonic looked over to Rouge and back to Knux and gave a perverted look. "Tails, I think I know why you can't contact her. Knux and Rouge got a looooove connection!" he teased. Knux and Rouge looked at each other and nodded. Knux did a Hammer Punch as Rouge did a Hip Drop, heading straight to Sonic. He landed on his butt, with no idea where he was for a second. "Ohhhhh." he moaned.

Amy gasped and ran to her hero. "How dare you hurt Sonic like that!" She put his arms around him. "Are you okay, boo?"

Sonic rose and gained his senses and gently pushed Amy away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Tails rolled his eyes at the "couple" and continued. "There has been a strange detection of a mysterious and very powerful gem. From my tracking system, it seems to be very powerful if caught in the wrong hands. It's described as twice the size of the Master Emerald and a creamy white color."

Knux's eyes grew wide. "You've gotta be kidding me! That's the Angel Emerald!"

"The Angel Emerald?" Sonic asked, confused. Knux told the same story he told Rouge. "It couldn't have just reappeared instantly. It disappeared."

"Are you sure this story is absolutely true?" Tails asked.

"It's a myth, so it might be partially true." Knux replied.

"So the emerald can teleport." Tails said to himself, scribbling notes on a notepad he took out.

"Is it all in one piece, or is it shattered?" Rouge asked.

"As of now, it's fully intact, but that could change if someone like Eggman retrieves it. We have to get to that desert! It might be hidden underground, so we'll need you and Knuckles."

"Great! We can follow you in my helicopter! Up for it, knucklehead?"

"As long as I get to ride with you." Everyone except Rouge look at him strangely. They had never seen him say anything that friendly to Rouge.

"Cause you know how Sonic gets after chili dogs! I don't see how you and Amy can stand it!" he lied, scratching his neck nervously.

"I looove my Sonikku, even when he's stinky!" Amy exclaimed, hugging Sonic tighter.

"Ack! Can't breathe." he choked.

"Um, let's go!" Knux exclaimed.

Tails, Amy, and Sonic boarded the Cyclone while Knux and Rouge got into her heli (A/N: Hella good shorthand, huh? Hella heli, too! I'll stop now!).

"What's with the whole subject change?" Rouge asked inside the heli.

"What we do is none of their business."

"And what did we actually do?"

"We slept together, babe."

"That can mean so many things these days."

"Let it mean what it wants to."

"And what if I don't?"

"Guess we'll have to make the meaning true."

"I could go for that."

"I could go for that, too." He started staring at her curvatious figure while she concentrated on the Tornado.

"Okay, time to get technical!" she exclaimed. Knux was a little surprised by this statement, but he figured out what he meant when she pressed a small purple button. The whole white inside turned light purple. The control panel flipped over to show even more buttons and levers. A tracking screen appeared on the main window and the inside blocked out any sunlight from outside. She pressed a few more buttons setting the heli on autopilot to follow Tails, then picked up the speaker.

"Rouge to Tails, can you hear me?" she called in inside the speaker.

Back on the Cyclone, Tails was driving while Amy and Sonic were in the back. Sonic was trying very hard to keep his distance from Amy. All Tails could hear was Amy's kissing and Sonic yelling, "Rape! Tails help!" He laughed to himself when he heard Rouge over the comm. He picked it up and put it to his mouth.

"Tails here. What's up?"

"Nothing, just testing. Exactly where is the Emerald?"

"It's in an old tomb in Omari Desert."

"Where is that?"

"We should be there in a half hour."

"Alright, thanks!" she exclaimed as she put the comm. back down.

"Rouge, wait!"

She picked it back up and put it to her mouth. "Huh?"

"Can we have codenames, just in case we're heard by someone else?"

"Sure, fox boy."

"Not that one. I wanna be Foxy! You can be Hot Mama!"

"Alright, Tails." she agreed with a confused look.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" he scolded.

"Foxy."

"This is Foxy, over and out!"

Rouge put down the comm. and made a few location adjustments. She looked at Knux with confusion. "What the hell was that?" she asked him.

"Well, when he was on his way to the security door, he was hit by a laser and got electrocuted."

"Are you serious?"

"Would I ever lie to you?"

"You have nothing to lie about."

"Damn right. I have nothing to hide."

"You are so right." She looked him up and down, then shook her head slowly.

He realized what she was looking for and grinned. "I only take that out when there's an ultimate emergency."

"Which is never. Do you even remember what it looks like?" she questioned him.

"Wanna look for it? I dare you to find it."

"You've got the nerve to ask me that. I'm so lonely." She turned away dramatically.

"You're never lonely with me," he said, coming closer.

"I won't be if you don't stop."

"Guess I'll go on then. Like they say, a guy with big hands has a big- -"

She turned to him and shoved her tongue down his throat, enclosing his lips in a passionate kiss. His mouth open and closed in a pattern, with his tongue touching hers. She let go when she was out of breath. "Well.that.shut you up."

"Uh-huh." he replied, dumbfounded.

She giggled. "Who's desperate now?" she joked, gaining her senses.

He shook out of his trance, growing more serious. "Payback, huh?"

"Guess you could say that..you okay? I'm sorry if I."

"No, no. Don't worry. I'm alright. I-ow!" He fell to the floor, gasping in pain. Rouge got on her knees and put a hand on her back. "You okay?" she asked again with more concern. He took out the Master Emerald, which was glowing furiously.

"It.burned me." he replied.

"What?" she asked, confused. Jewels don't burn.do they?

"It's glowing. That must mean the Angel Emerald's near."

"You're right. We're almost there. I'll speed up the heli. You tell Tails what's up." Knux approached the comm. and contacted Tails. Both aircrafts sped up quickly.

Back at the Tornado, Tails was beginning to land. Sonic's screams became soft whispers. He finally pushed Amy off of him. She banged against the wall.

"Ooooooh, feisty! " She tackled him again. Sonic's torture annoyed Tails.

"Amy, lay off Sonic! Sonic, get out now and get the emerald!"

"Thanks, buddy!" He jumped out and sped off towards the tomb.

"I'll miss you, Sonic!" Amy called.

From the heli, Knux saw a small blue dot moving toward the emerald. "Hey, what's that?" he asked Rouge.

"Oh, that's probably Sonic, I'm sure of it.Wait, Knu--" By then, he had already jumped out of the plane, landing on his knuckles. He did a quick flip and sped off toward Sonic. It took a lot of practice, but Knux had finally improved his speed over the years. He was almost as fast as Sonic, which he had no problem catching up to.

"Sonic STOP!!" he called. The speedy hedgehog was running too fast to hear his friend. Wind and sand whipped at his face, not slowing him down.

"Crap." Knux said under his breath. He could feel the sand beating on him, slightly slowing him down.

Sonic entered the dark tomb and saw a white gem glowing in front of him. He reached for the emerald..

Knux tripped into the tomb panting heavily, and clutching his tense left leg. He had never run so fast in his life. He had pulled a hamstring in his leg. "Sonic." he whispered as he blacked out.

Sonic grabbed the emerald and tossed it up and down in his palm. A few minutes later, everyone else had arrived in the tomb. Rouge came in first and saw an unconscious Knux on the ground. She slowly picked him up and cradled him in her arms.

"Sonic, let go of the emerald!" she cried.

He was about to ask why when he felt the gem vibrate in his hand. It started to produce a bright light, blinding all of them. It moved out of Sonic's hand and floated in midair. In a split second, it broke into shards and zoomed into different directions.

"Oh no!" Tails exclaimed, clutching his head. "I wasn't thinking! Now this is my fault!"

"Don't flatter yourself, foxy. I guess I'm back in the hunting business, and so is my friend here. Glad to be back. We'll start looking tomorrow!" She went out of the tomb and walked back to the heli.

She opened a secret room inside the heli, revealing a small, dark bedroom. She laid Knuckles on the bed and spread his arms apart. She noticed that one of his white gloves were gone. She tucked him in and went back outside.

She spotted it quickly and brushed the sand off it. As she walked back, something gleamed in the sand. She approached the shiny object. She saw a dark purple shard half-buried in the sand. She picked it up and looked at the gem shard. It looked so beautiful. She slipped it into her pocket and went back into the heli.