Chapter 7: The Investigation is in Order!:

A few hours later, Knux heard a plane coming from inside the heli. He slowly got up and walked outside. He saw the Tornado 3 land right beside him. He saw a traumatized Tails turn it off and heading in his direction. Tails put his arms around Knux, shivering and shaking while breaking out in some major sweat.

"Make it stop, Knux! Make it stop!"

"Whoa! What are you talking about, man?" Tails slowly pointed toward the Tornado 3. He pulled Tails off him and headed towards the improved plane.

He entered the bigger plane. It was now equipped with a big tracking system and lots of extra room in the back, where Sonic and Amy stood. A karaoke machine lay beside them. They both had a microphone in one hand, with the other hand wrapped around the other's.

Knux just stared. The sight of them singing together would plague his nightmares forever. Sonic and Amy noticed Knux staring at them as if they were poison.

"Hey, Knux! Like our new karaoke machine?" Sonic asked. There was no reply. "Um, Knux, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, fine! You might wanna check out your buddy, man." Knux said pointing to Tails, who just came in.

He was clutching his head and moaning, "Make it STOP!! MOMMY, PLEA- Huh? It's no more! MOMMY, IT'S NO MORE!! I'M SAVED!!"

"Aw, Tails! We weren't that bad!" Amy said. "If we were that bad, you could've told us!"

"I was screaming the whole time!" he yelled. Sonic and Amy just looked at him weirdly.

"Okay, enough of this! We gotta find Rouge!" Knux interrupted.

"Where did you last see her?" Tails questioned, back to his old, technical self.

"We had just got out of the plane and separated to find the last Emerald pieces."

"Did you find them?"

"Yeah, but I found the pieces Rouge found in a big hole in the ground."

"Can you show me?" Tails asked. He got his answer as him and the couple followed Knux out the door.

They stopped at the hole and peered inside. By now, it wasn't thundering and lightening anymore.

"Wow, that's huge!" Amy shouted.

Sonic started to reply, "Not as big as my-"

"And I saw a flash of green light over here." Knux interrupted.

"Could it be that it was Chaos Control?" Tails asked.

"I wasn't close enough to tell, but it's possible." Knux guessed.

"Now how are we supposed to find her?" Sonic asked.

"I got it! You can run around and look on land, while the rest of us are on the Tornado. If you find something, you can use your walkie-talkie. It's directly connected to the Tornado." Tails said.

"Alright! I get to run again!" Sonic exclaimed.

"What about me?" Amy asked, saddened to hear that her "boo" was leaving her.

"We'll need you on the plane." Tails lied. "Anything to get them away from each other." he thought to himself.

Amy sighed. "Okay." she said to Tails. She turned to Sonic. "But you have to call me and write everyday!" She gave Sonic a hug.

"I'll never forget it." Sonic said before he took off.

"I miss him!" Amy wailed.

"We know! Just get on the plane!" Tails commanded.

"What about the heli?" Knux asked.

"We may need it, so you can drive it, if that's okay with you." Tails answered.

"It's okay, I don't mind. Let's go!" Tails and Amy ran towards the Tornado, while Knux went in the direction of the heli. They were off instantly.

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Rouge woke in a bed with red satin sheets. The memories of last night's torture played with her brain. Her head still hurt and she had a pain in her side from the grip he had on her. She looked around. He was nowhere in sight. This was her chance. She quickly got up and walked around before hearing a cold voice behind her.

"So, my Dark Angel has arisen." he said, emerging from the shadows.

"What do you want from me?" she asked angrily.

"I told you what I wanted last night."
"I don't care. You're not getting it." she spat at him.

"Oh, you say that now. Remember my name, you'll be screaming it later."

"Not on your life!"

"What about yours?"

"You would never kill me."

"And why do you guess that?"

"Because if you really loved me, you would never kill me. If you loved me that much, you would let me go and live my life. That's what a true friend would do." she explained.

He gave her a mysterious gaze. "But you see, I'm not your friend. I'm a lover, not a fighter, Dark Angel."

"I love Knuckles, and why do you keep calling me 'Dark Angel'?" she asked, annoyed by his words.

"If you really wanna know, it's because we were meant to be together." he answered.

"And how is that?"

"It's because of that." He pointed toward her pocket.

She took out the mysterious emerald, confused. "What does it have to do with what you're saying?" she asked.

"You and I are the only ones that can activate it."

"Well, in that case, I'm leaving." she stated, grasping the emerald in her hand.

"And how will you do that?"

"Just watch me." She looked at the emerald. It sat there in her hand with no glow or shine to it whatsoever. She closed her eyes, and before she could say anything, she felt a hand grab hers. Her eyes shot open.

"I ask you the same question." he said through clenched teeth. She honestly didn't know. She didn't have a reply. "Exactly. I'm the only one that has control, and right now I have control over you."

She backed away as he crept closer. She had to admit it, he was right. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get away from the power as long as he was controlling it. She hit a wall as he pressed his body against hers roughly. The emerald glowed slightly as this happened.

"You love me, Rouge. You and I know it." he said in a whisper. He looked into her fearful eyes with a stare that could kill.

Her heart refused the offer bitterly, but her mind was confused on the other hand. He did have a nice aggressiveness-wait, what was she thinking? She loved Knuckles. She couldn't throw that all away because Shadow felt the same way toward her. She loved Knuckles too much, or did she?

She could feel her heart beating wildly through her chest as he closed his eyes, leaning in for a kiss. She tried to push away, but it was no use. She was trapped between her mind and her heart. She saw the emerald's glow in her hand.

He had wanted this for so long. It was so strong, he didn't care what she thought. This was the closest he was getting, and he wasn't gonna throw it away. The emerald glowed brighter as it answered his mind's calling. He pried it out of Rouge's hand with his eyes still closed, getting closer.

Her mind slowly slipped away from all the control she had over herself. He was as close as he could ever be now. She could feel herself slowly slipping and falling.....

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