Chapter Four: Stranded
Rouge and Knuckles sat for minutes in complete silence; unsteady breathing and panting occasionally broke the silence now and then.
Suddenly, BAM!
"What the-?" Knuckles frowned and immediately rose to his feet, glaring at the entrance of the cave suspiciously.
The entrance was all of sudden blocked by a huge boulder.
Knuckles and Rouge sweat dropped before nervously glancing at each other and then back at the boulder.
"So…it looks like we're trapped," Knuckles said after a long pause.
"Unfortunately," Rouge scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I mean, of all people to be trapped with – I'm trapped with you?" she closed her eyes angrily as she continued, "What is this, some sort of punishment? What have I ever done?" she ended dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air.
Knuckles glared at her. "You think I'm thrilled about it?" he sneered.
Rouge smirked. "Well I should think so. People would die to get stuck somewhere with me," she closed her eyes half way and kept her smirk again.
"Well I can just about die thinking about it," Knuckles sniped, "-and that was by no means a compliment," he added angrily.
Rouge scoffed again. "Whatever knucklehead. I know you like me deep down."
Knuckles narrowed his eyes. "That is probably one of the funniest things I have ever heard," he commented dryly. "Dream on, bat girl," he added while closing his eyes and putting his hands on his hips. He took a seat next to her.
"Oh come on, you can be honest with me. I won't tell anyone," Rouge closed her eyes halfway and shoved herself closer to him.
Knuckles squinted at her anime style before sneering. "I don't have the slightest bit of feelings for you, Rouge," he addressed her properly before looking smug, "but I guess you like me since you're so interested in my feelings for you."
Rouge closed her eyes before crossing her arms over her chest and coughing a laugh. "Yeah right!"
They sat in silence for a minute, thinking about how much they didn't like each other.
"Well we can't just sit here," Knuckles finally said, glancing at Rouge.
"Well, no…but how do you suppose we escape?" Rouge said, rising to her feet and putting her hands on her hips. Knuckles rose to his feet too.
Rouge watched Knuckles carefully as he took a deep breath and then dove into the ground. Ground particles and sand sprayed everywhere, and Rouge shielded her face with her arm. When Knuckles got back up from the ground, he was grinning.
"What are you so happy about?" Rouge snapped, putting her hand back to her side and moving toward the hole Knuckles dug.
"I think I just found our way outta here," Knuckles grinned.
Rouge got in front of him and started pulling at his head.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Knuckles snapped, glaring at her.
She smirked. "Move aside, knucklehead!"
"No way, bat girl. You can follow my lead. I found the way out, so I should leave first," Knuckles argued.
Rouge shifted her weight to her right leg and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Haven't you ever heard of 'Ladies first'?" she sneered.
"Yeah, but that only applies to ladies," Knuckles fought back.
"Out of all the insults – " Rouge mumbled angrily before adding loudly over his groans and mumbles, "when this is over I'll get you good!"
Knuckles growled angrily before digging deep into the ground.
"Ah!" Rouge stepped back a bit and shielded herself again. "Now you've made me mad," she said angrily before digging into the ground after him.
Knuckles emerged from the ground after digging a tunnel. He looked at his new surroundings. "This must be…" he took out his map and scanned it before noticing his next destination, "Devil's Land."
Rouge suddenly popped out of the ground beside him and glared at him. "You are the biggest–" she started angrily, but was abruptly stopped when Knuckles put his hand over her mouth.
"Get your hands off of me!" her words seeped though clenched teeth. She threw his hand off of her mouth.
Knuckles glared at her. "You know, your voice does get tiring," he said coldly.
Rouge opened her mouth but no sound came out; obviously insulted. She balled up her fist and sent it torpedoing toward Knuckles' jaw. He caught it calmly, seconds before it would have hit him.
Frustrated, she returned her hand back to her waist and pushed herself up from the ground so she was standing. Knuckles also rose to his feet.
"There's no time for games," he said firmly before walking slightly in front of her.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Master Emerald pieces to find," he said with his eyes closed before gliding toward a tall dark red mountain and then climbing up it, curiously.
'Stupid echidna. He's so persistent. Ugh…who needs him?' Rouge thought angrily. 'I'll show him how much he needs me!' she thought determinedly before leaving.
Knuckles scaled up the wall with ease before reaching the top of the mountain. He looked down from the top and didn't see Rouge. "Ha! Looks like I'm faster than you, bat girl!" he called down.
No response came.
Knuckles' haughty expression turned a little soft. "Uh…Rouge?"
His lonely words echoed.
Knuckles frowned. "Whatever…I don't need her," he said calmly, "I don't need anybody," he added, trying to convince himself.
Meanwhile, at Knuckles' next destination…
"Ha!" Rouge laughed to herself; "it's a good thing I saw Knuckles' map. I'll just steal these emeralds, and then he'll have to give up. I'm so good," she smiled evilly to herself, before tucking away two emerald shards. "Just one more to go!"
Meanwhile…
Knuckles tucked away his three emerald shards. "Piece of cake," he smiled as he dusted his hands off.
He took out his map, "My next destination is: Cemetery Cove," he read, before cringing. "Sounds creepy…" he paused briefly, "…but I'm not afraid. After all, I have no weak spots."
Meanwhile,
Rouge's eyes lit up at her three beautiful emerald shards. "Wow," she gasped as they shone and twinkled. "I love my job," she smiled a little wickedly before she heard someone landing nearby.
"Ah! He's here," she quickly tucked away the emerald shards and hid behind a large rock. "It's showtime," she smiled before hiding.
"Okay detector," Knuckles smiled down at his detector before pecking it quickly, "work your magic!"
He flew around the huge environment three or four times. The detector didn't respond at all. "What the -?" Knuckles looked down at the detector and examined it. 'It looks fine…but why isn't it reacting? Without the detector working, it'll take me hours to find the pieces!' Knuckles thought in frustration.
"So do you give up yet?" a voice came from a high perch above where Knuckles was.
"Huh?" he turned his head quickly to where the voice came from.
Rouge came out from the shadows, using her wings to slowly float down to his level. She brought out the emerald shards when she was inches above his head, and juggled them around playfully. Her eyes were half-closed. "You'll have to work on that speed of yours, knucklehead."
Knuckles gaped. "Those are mine!" his shocked look turned into an angry expression.
Rouge smirked. "Oh really? Because it looks like they're mine. I got here first, knucklehead," she teased before putting the emerald shards away safely.
Knuckles took a swipe at her, and Rouge calmly dodged it. She examined her nails before blowing on them. "Too slow," she said in singsong, before flying above his head.
"All you can do is give up, Knuckles. That would be the only way I would give these pieces back to you – knowing that I challenged you and you gave in to me…would just make my day," Rouge smiled evilly; which annoyed Knuckles.
"Never!" he shook his head. "I'll never give up, or give in! Especially to you!"
"Okay," Rouge smiled before waving the emeralds in front of his face, "then I guess these are mine!" she said, closing her eyes half way.
Knuckles quickly knocked over her hands, and the shards went flying.
Rouge gasped, before glancing at him. He glared at her before diving for the pieces. She flew down and quickly caught them all within millimetres of his reach. She tucked them away. "Ah, ah, ah!" she waved her index finger.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Knuckles asked in frustration.
"Because I love to annoy you," Rouge smiled evilly.
Knuckles scoffed. "Fine then – keep the pieces! See if I care!" he dashed off.
Rouge's evil expression turned questionable. "What?" she said in surprise, before gliding slightly above him as he ran. "What do you mean? You need these pieces to go to the next stage!"
"Yeah," Knuckles glared at her, "I know."
Rouge was still confused. "So…how are you going to proceed without the pieces?"
"I won't," Knuckles said simply. "I'm quitting."
"What?" Rouge's eyes widened, and she gasped in shock. She suddenly began to panic a little. "Q-quit?" she choked out.
"You heard me," Knuckles said calmly.
"B-but that means…" it suddenly hit her. Hard. "But that means I won't have any more competition!"
Knuckles nodded. "Guess so."
"And it means I won't have a rival anymore!" she blinked a little, and her expression turned soft.
Knuckles nodded. "Yep." His plan was working nicely. He would never actually quit.
She jumped in front of him. "You can't quit!" she said firmly, looking into his eyes.
"I can, and I will," Knuckles said coldly.
"No, you can't quit!" she repeated angrily.
"And why not?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow calmly.
"Because I…you…" Rouge fumbled with her words. "Because then my job will be worthless! Treasure hunting means nothing without competition! And my competition is you…" Rouge trailed off. "So…I…"
"…You?" Knuckles coaxed.
"I…guess…I…kind of…need you," Rouge forced out, avoiding eye contact.
Knuckles couldn't help but smile a little. "Then I guess it's safe to say I won't quit."
"Really?" Rouge smiled. But not her usual haughty, determined, cocky smile. It was a happy, joyful smile that Knuckles had never seen before.
Knuckles smiled truthfully, too. "Really. But…I'm going to need those emerald pieces you took," he said.
Rouge smirked. "Okay, okay," she took them out and gave them to him. "But don't think I'm going soft or anything! This is a one time thing!"
For a brief moment they smiled at each other. But not in determination, or competitiveness…it was a very friendly smile…almost…caring!
Also for a brief moment, a tingling sensation washed through them both. They were both strangers to the feeling. It felt like they were so happy they were going to burst.
'What is this feeling?' Rouge thought in confusion. 'It feels like I'm flying…without wings…or something. It's so…warm and…nice!'
'Wow…this feeling is so…weird. I wonder what it is…' Knuckles thought basically the same thing, in confusion. 'I hope I can get it again…'
What they didn't know, was that they were both feeling love for one another.
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~ Satokasu Suki