A/N: Thanks to Shadow'sObsesser and robinsama for reviewing, they get
double chocolate chip cookies ^_^ Also as a note Tai's name is pronounced
"Thai" as in Thailand.
And the rest of you get a big helping of "sorry I don't own Sonic X"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Okay fine, a one handed cartwheel!" Amy said indignantly.
"Okay, jeez fine just give me a minute will ya?" Tai replied pulling her arms into her sweater.
"What's going on?" Knuckles asked walking in the room.
"Amy and Tai are having a competition to see who's better at..." Sonic started but words seemed to fail him as Tai pulled off her jumper leaving her standing there in only black hotpants and a shot black crop-top. She threw her jumper over the sofa and grinned at Amy. Knuckles growled at Sonic, the fool was practically drooling at Tai!
"Gymnastics?" Knuckles said with a hint of a growl in his voice.
"Uh, yeah. Heh." Sonic said realising that he had been gawking. Knuckles sniffed irritatedly and looked back at Tai; she folded one arm behind her back and after Amy proceeded to do a one-handed cartwheel. Knuckles watched as she moved with fluid grace that came from years of intense physical training, he knew that Tai could do more than pathetic one handed cartwheels, she was obviously just humouring Amy. He watched her straighten up triumphantly, Knuckles allowed his eyes to flick over her body quickly; she had definitely changed shape in the years since he had last seen her, she was admittedly quite beautiful. She noticed him and threw him a death glare; he returned it and walked past her.
"Stop being childish Tai." He shouted back to her, not even having to turn around to know that she was glaring at him.
"Only if you stop being a jerk Knuckles." She retorted annoyed.
"Wow, are you two always like that?" Sonic asked in wonder.
"I don't know what you mean." Tai said throwing her jumper back on and stalking off again.
"I think I see what Cream means." Amy said with a slight smirk on her face.
"This telekinesis power is incredible!" Professor Chuck said as he watched the chess-piece spin slowly in the air. Amy opened up the trapdoor to Professor Chuck's laboratory she smiled with relief at finding Tai there.
"Here you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Amy smiled standing up.
"Hey Amy." Tai replied from where she sat cross-legged on Professor Chuck's desk.
"Can you make it spin the other way?" Chuck asked looking over at Tai, she nodded and the chess piece stopped momentarily and then began to spin the opposite direction.
"Hey Tai, I just wanted to ask you something." Amy said tentatively.
"Shoot." She said with a smile.
"How come you hate Knuckles so much?" Amy asked curiously. The chess-piece exploded sending splinters everywhere, Tai bit her lip and took a deep breath.
"Because," she said slowly, "he is a traitor, a backstabber and a liar." Tai growled, her eyes narrowing.
"What did he do?" Amy asked in wonder.
"I don't want to talk about it Amy, it's not a nice memory." She said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry Tai, I didn't mean to upset you." Amy apologised, "We're still friends though... aren't we?" Amy asked hopefully.
"Sure." The green echidna smiled; there was no reason for Knuckles to stop her making friends she reasoned.
Knuckles' chest rose and fell gently in sleep along with a peaceful expression settled on his face, a shadow crossed over his face and he frowned. The owner of the shadow stepped to the right quickly and Knuckles was once again bathed in moonlight and he rolled over back into peaceful sleep.
Tai let her breath go slowly, that had been a close one, she could see no way out of the room; Sonic and Tails were asleep in front of the TV which unfortunately was turned off and Knuckles just had to make his bed in the only pathway between her and the door.
"Can't go 'round him, can't go under him, can't go through him, hafta go over him." Tai thought sarcastically to herself. She knew she couldn't just jump over Knuckles, he would feel the breeze and wake up, and he was an extremely light sleeper after all. She bit her lip, which would mean she would have to use her powers to levitate herself over him and at this close range that would mean that Knuckles would momentarily hear her thoughts.
"Okay," she thought to herself. "Calm, quiet..." she silenced her thoughts and floated up in the air, "good... No! I'm thinking! Shush..." She panicked mentally and landed softly on the other side of Knuckles. She held her breath and watched a frown pass lightly over Knuckles' face, not daring to breathe she crept towards the door and let herself out. Quietly easing the door shut she dashed off into the distance and towards Eggman's base.
At the soft sound of the door shutting Knuckles' eyes slid open, he sat up and looked around the room; nothing seemed to be amiss. Sonic snorted loudly and rolled over in his sleep. "Stupid hedgehog, waking me up..." Knuckles grumbled mentally. He laid back to go to sleep again but something still didn't feel right, he got up and wandered into the room that Tai was sleeping in with Amy and Cream. His eyes flicked over the beds, all occupied and with sleeping forms in them. Knuckles frowned at Tai's bed, something still didn't seem right; he crept over and found the bed to be full of pillows. His eyes widened, she was gone!
He dashed out the front door, slamming it behind him loudly and ran off in the same direction that Tai had gone in minutes earlier.
"What in the name of Chaos is she thinking?! Is the girl trying to get herself killed?" Knuckles thought angrily as he ran faster than ever to Eggman's base, but he already knew what she was thinking, revenge. When Knuckles arrived at Eggman's base he skidded to a halt, there appeared to be a full-scale war being waged.
"Tai!" Knuckles screamed at the top of his voice, and then he saw her. Tai stood in the middle of a circle of robots, she was blasting them up with massive releases of psychic energy, Knuckles could see that they were closing in on her and soon she would be defenceless. Knuckles dashed in her direction destroying every robot in his path as he did so, as he got closer to her he could see the blood starting to trickle out of her nose and wounds beginning to appear on her arms and legs.
Knuckles grabbed Tai and dived underground, he felt her kick and squirm from where she was held, under his right arm. Eventually she stopped struggling as he dug through the earth as fast as he could, Knuckles suddenly burst through the surface and ran back as fast as he could to Chris' house.
"No, please be okay." He said under his breath as he dashed through the front door, shoved everything off the table and laid her down there.
"What on...?" Sonic grumbled annoyed at being woken up. "What happened?!" He gasped seeing Tai bleeding from her nose, numerous cuts and stab wounds on her arms and legs and huge bruises swelling up.
"She snuck out, over used her powers. NOW GET ME SOME FREAKING BANDAGES!" Knuckles shouted and Sonic zipped off returning a moment later with a full medical kit. Knuckles grabbed it off him and began tending to Tai's wounds as fast as he could.
Half an hour later, everyone was up and gathered around Knuckles and Tai, he straightened up finally and sighed.
"It's lucky I got to her soon, she should be fine, she just needs rest." Knuckles said softly as he picked Tai up and carried her upstairs to sleep in a bed.
"I don't understand Knuckles, how did this happen?" the Professor asked, catching up to the red echidna.
"I'm no expert but when she uses her powers, it uses up some kind of energy in her body, when she doesn't use her powers enough she gets sick, but when she uses them too much, like tonight her body just falls apart." Knuckles sighed, "Anywhere weak on her body, basically anywhere that she's been injured before, breaks apart. Old wounds open up again, bruises re-appear, you get the point. Normally the odd cut here and there wouldn't be anything to worry about, but Tai has had an eventful and dangerous life so far; individually it's never anything serious, but added together like this and it could kill her easily." Knuckles said putting her down in her bed and brushing a stray lock of quills away.
"Does she know this?" Chuck asked curiously.
"Yes, that's why she's being so stupid. She knows it could and probably would kill her, she wants to destroy Eggman at whatever cost, even her own life. She's so bent on revenge that she doesn't see the danger in front of her!" Knuckles growled angry at Tai's idiocy. Chuck decided not to ask what it was that Tai wanted revenge for, he didn't feel like annoying the small red echidna, nor the green one when she awoke. As he silently left the room Knuckles pulled up a chair and sat by Tai's bedside.
"Why must you torture me like this Tai?" Knuckles sighed softly to himself.
And the rest of you get a big helping of "sorry I don't own Sonic X"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Okay fine, a one handed cartwheel!" Amy said indignantly.
"Okay, jeez fine just give me a minute will ya?" Tai replied pulling her arms into her sweater.
"What's going on?" Knuckles asked walking in the room.
"Amy and Tai are having a competition to see who's better at..." Sonic started but words seemed to fail him as Tai pulled off her jumper leaving her standing there in only black hotpants and a shot black crop-top. She threw her jumper over the sofa and grinned at Amy. Knuckles growled at Sonic, the fool was practically drooling at Tai!
"Gymnastics?" Knuckles said with a hint of a growl in his voice.
"Uh, yeah. Heh." Sonic said realising that he had been gawking. Knuckles sniffed irritatedly and looked back at Tai; she folded one arm behind her back and after Amy proceeded to do a one-handed cartwheel. Knuckles watched as she moved with fluid grace that came from years of intense physical training, he knew that Tai could do more than pathetic one handed cartwheels, she was obviously just humouring Amy. He watched her straighten up triumphantly, Knuckles allowed his eyes to flick over her body quickly; she had definitely changed shape in the years since he had last seen her, she was admittedly quite beautiful. She noticed him and threw him a death glare; he returned it and walked past her.
"Stop being childish Tai." He shouted back to her, not even having to turn around to know that she was glaring at him.
"Only if you stop being a jerk Knuckles." She retorted annoyed.
"Wow, are you two always like that?" Sonic asked in wonder.
"I don't know what you mean." Tai said throwing her jumper back on and stalking off again.
"I think I see what Cream means." Amy said with a slight smirk on her face.
"This telekinesis power is incredible!" Professor Chuck said as he watched the chess-piece spin slowly in the air. Amy opened up the trapdoor to Professor Chuck's laboratory she smiled with relief at finding Tai there.
"Here you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Amy smiled standing up.
"Hey Amy." Tai replied from where she sat cross-legged on Professor Chuck's desk.
"Can you make it spin the other way?" Chuck asked looking over at Tai, she nodded and the chess piece stopped momentarily and then began to spin the opposite direction.
"Hey Tai, I just wanted to ask you something." Amy said tentatively.
"Shoot." She said with a smile.
"How come you hate Knuckles so much?" Amy asked curiously. The chess-piece exploded sending splinters everywhere, Tai bit her lip and took a deep breath.
"Because," she said slowly, "he is a traitor, a backstabber and a liar." Tai growled, her eyes narrowing.
"What did he do?" Amy asked in wonder.
"I don't want to talk about it Amy, it's not a nice memory." She said through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry Tai, I didn't mean to upset you." Amy apologised, "We're still friends though... aren't we?" Amy asked hopefully.
"Sure." The green echidna smiled; there was no reason for Knuckles to stop her making friends she reasoned.
Knuckles' chest rose and fell gently in sleep along with a peaceful expression settled on his face, a shadow crossed over his face and he frowned. The owner of the shadow stepped to the right quickly and Knuckles was once again bathed in moonlight and he rolled over back into peaceful sleep.
Tai let her breath go slowly, that had been a close one, she could see no way out of the room; Sonic and Tails were asleep in front of the TV which unfortunately was turned off and Knuckles just had to make his bed in the only pathway between her and the door.
"Can't go 'round him, can't go under him, can't go through him, hafta go over him." Tai thought sarcastically to herself. She knew she couldn't just jump over Knuckles, he would feel the breeze and wake up, and he was an extremely light sleeper after all. She bit her lip, which would mean she would have to use her powers to levitate herself over him and at this close range that would mean that Knuckles would momentarily hear her thoughts.
"Okay," she thought to herself. "Calm, quiet..." she silenced her thoughts and floated up in the air, "good... No! I'm thinking! Shush..." She panicked mentally and landed softly on the other side of Knuckles. She held her breath and watched a frown pass lightly over Knuckles' face, not daring to breathe she crept towards the door and let herself out. Quietly easing the door shut she dashed off into the distance and towards Eggman's base.
At the soft sound of the door shutting Knuckles' eyes slid open, he sat up and looked around the room; nothing seemed to be amiss. Sonic snorted loudly and rolled over in his sleep. "Stupid hedgehog, waking me up..." Knuckles grumbled mentally. He laid back to go to sleep again but something still didn't feel right, he got up and wandered into the room that Tai was sleeping in with Amy and Cream. His eyes flicked over the beds, all occupied and with sleeping forms in them. Knuckles frowned at Tai's bed, something still didn't seem right; he crept over and found the bed to be full of pillows. His eyes widened, she was gone!
He dashed out the front door, slamming it behind him loudly and ran off in the same direction that Tai had gone in minutes earlier.
"What in the name of Chaos is she thinking?! Is the girl trying to get herself killed?" Knuckles thought angrily as he ran faster than ever to Eggman's base, but he already knew what she was thinking, revenge. When Knuckles arrived at Eggman's base he skidded to a halt, there appeared to be a full-scale war being waged.
"Tai!" Knuckles screamed at the top of his voice, and then he saw her. Tai stood in the middle of a circle of robots, she was blasting them up with massive releases of psychic energy, Knuckles could see that they were closing in on her and soon she would be defenceless. Knuckles dashed in her direction destroying every robot in his path as he did so, as he got closer to her he could see the blood starting to trickle out of her nose and wounds beginning to appear on her arms and legs.
Knuckles grabbed Tai and dived underground, he felt her kick and squirm from where she was held, under his right arm. Eventually she stopped struggling as he dug through the earth as fast as he could, Knuckles suddenly burst through the surface and ran back as fast as he could to Chris' house.
"No, please be okay." He said under his breath as he dashed through the front door, shoved everything off the table and laid her down there.
"What on...?" Sonic grumbled annoyed at being woken up. "What happened?!" He gasped seeing Tai bleeding from her nose, numerous cuts and stab wounds on her arms and legs and huge bruises swelling up.
"She snuck out, over used her powers. NOW GET ME SOME FREAKING BANDAGES!" Knuckles shouted and Sonic zipped off returning a moment later with a full medical kit. Knuckles grabbed it off him and began tending to Tai's wounds as fast as he could.
Half an hour later, everyone was up and gathered around Knuckles and Tai, he straightened up finally and sighed.
"It's lucky I got to her soon, she should be fine, she just needs rest." Knuckles said softly as he picked Tai up and carried her upstairs to sleep in a bed.
"I don't understand Knuckles, how did this happen?" the Professor asked, catching up to the red echidna.
"I'm no expert but when she uses her powers, it uses up some kind of energy in her body, when she doesn't use her powers enough she gets sick, but when she uses them too much, like tonight her body just falls apart." Knuckles sighed, "Anywhere weak on her body, basically anywhere that she's been injured before, breaks apart. Old wounds open up again, bruises re-appear, you get the point. Normally the odd cut here and there wouldn't be anything to worry about, but Tai has had an eventful and dangerous life so far; individually it's never anything serious, but added together like this and it could kill her easily." Knuckles said putting her down in her bed and brushing a stray lock of quills away.
"Does she know this?" Chuck asked curiously.
"Yes, that's why she's being so stupid. She knows it could and probably would kill her, she wants to destroy Eggman at whatever cost, even her own life. She's so bent on revenge that she doesn't see the danger in front of her!" Knuckles growled angry at Tai's idiocy. Chuck decided not to ask what it was that Tai wanted revenge for, he didn't feel like annoying the small red echidna, nor the green one when she awoke. As he silently left the room Knuckles pulled up a chair and sat by Tai's bedside.
"Why must you torture me like this Tai?" Knuckles sighed softly to himself.