A/N: Sorry I didn't update sooner…my Internet access died for a week. It was horrible. Also, we're getting close to the end of Operation: Seduce Echidna, only one more chapter after this! But fear not! I'll be back with brand new fics for you all. Though I probably won't be writing any more Rouge/Knuckles fics. You people probably don't know it, but I am a huge Shadow/Knuckles fan. However, that doesn't mean I can't write a decent Rouge/Knuckles, can I?
Enjoy the show.
~Raiegki Leviathan
DarkXeno: Don't be hard on yourself, buddy. I was only poking fun at you. And yes, there is a bit of platinum hiding around in that treasure trove. Not much, but there's some there, and I bet Rouge has some as well.
SepirothsGoddess: I got my Sonic and Tails plushies about seven years ago (not exactly sure on the date, but Sonic 2 was just about the hottest game at the moment) at a Best Buy. There was a pile of Sonic Plushies and my mom bought one for me. A few months later on Valentine's Day, there were Tails Plushies in a pile in the exact same place. My mom also bought me one. Once I steal…er…borrow my dad's digital camera, I'll put up a picture of them. Must…get…Knuckles…Plushie…!
~*~
Operation: Seduce EchidnaChapter Five: Fallen Angels
~*~
"I'm jealous." Rouge pouted as she sat with Knuckles at the base of a gorgeous waterfall just as the sun had retired for the day.
"Of what?" Knuckles asked.
The bat pointed at the thundering cascade in front of her. "I'm jealous of the way you get to live. You get to sit back, enjoy nature, and have some time all to yourself. And me? It's always "Rouge, I've got an assignment for you." Or, "Rouge, I'm counting on you. Don't let me down." Sometimes even, "Rouge, don't let jewels get in the way of your mission." I wish I didn't have so many obligations like you."
Silence. Rouge waited for a response, but none seemed to come. She moved slightly forward to better see his face, but the echidna turned away.
"…Is something wrong? Did I say something-"
"You think my life is easy!?" Knuckles snarled, glaring at her with the eyes of a ravenous wolf. "That I can goof off all I want all day? Oh, how I wish I could!" He yelled with intense hostility. "I am attached ball and chain to that stupid, stupid giant green rock day and night. If it disappears, whose fault is it? Mine, of course! Not a day goes by when I don't wish I could someday do what I want, live my life. I love my island, really, I do. But I could love it even more if I could just get away for a while, not chasing after Eggman, but for me."
He hung his head low and took a few deep breaths. His vision was blurry as he blinked and allowed a few tears to run down his cheek.
"Then, when I come back, I can finally feel at home. There are times I wanted you to steal the Master Emerald. So I can stop being a lapdog for it. I considered actually letting you take it more than once, but that would be cowardly of me, and I'd be letting so many people down. I thought that maybe you would understand, but, you don't. So do me a favor and leave me alone for a while."
Rouge felt compelled to obey. "You've been wanting to say that for a while, haven't you?" Without waiting for an answer, she got up, extended her wings, and pushed off the ground, catching a warm air current and rising up into the sky.
~*~
Something clicked in the bat's mind as she flapped her wings against the wind and did an about face in midair. She leaned forward slightly and allowed the soft breezes to run over her sleek purple wings and keep her aloft as she gazed at the floating island below. She then turned her nose up at the heavens, spread those wings, and went into a nosedive back towards very place she was leaving. As she drew closer, she straightened herself out horizontally at about thousand feet or so above the treetops and circled the perimeter like a vulture over a dead carcass, looking for a place to land.
Upon finding a spot suitable for landing, she swooped down closer to the ground. Before impact, she again straightened, but this time vertically, and gave her wings a powerful flap to slow the descent before touching her feet down, one after another, plus her right hand to steady herself, on the soft ground.
Rouge folded the limbs she used for flight neatly across her back as she looked around at the surroundings and noticed a subtle sound that sounded like a rainstorm. She then realized she was standing on a cliff, and she had a pretty good idea on which one. She peered over the edge and saw a red echidna still moping around where she left him, staring lifelessly at his own reflection in the water.
If the echidna knew she was there, he chose not to acknowledge it, but it didn't seem very likely. Rouge turned away and dashed off as quickly and quietly as possible.
Rouge glanced over her shoulder to see if Knuckles was in pursuit of her. He was not, so she concentrated on what was ahead of her and pressed for more speed as she raced across the island, leaving a trail of dust and upturned leaves behind her.
Upon reaching her destination, she skidded to a halt. Okay, so things didn't work out exactly as planned, but Rouge figured this was fine as well. She then turned and looked over her shoulder again. She didn't know why, but she felt guilty. But what was there to be guilty of?
She plopped down on the ground, torn between two choices. She sat there for a good ten minutes, as she kicked the dirt in frustration. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a tiny notepad and a pencil and doodled on it for a while.
Finally, she tore out all the badly drawn doodles and scribbled one last thing.
~*~
Knuckles was beginning to regret driving Rouge away. He desperately needed someone to talk to, and he had neither the strength, nor the willpower, to get up and find her or anyone else.
"Idiot!" He cried, swiping at the surface of the water and destroying his own reflection. However, it just came back. "You. Irrational. Self centered. Idiot!" He insulted, attacking his own image for a second time, but like before, it only rematerialized in front of him. He sunk down as low to the earth as he could and whimpered like lonely, defeated puppy. "I whine at her, she tries to be nice, and what do I do? I blow her off, that's what! Real smooth, Knuckles. Real smooth. No wonder your social life totally sucks."
With what little motivation his body had left in him, Knuckles flipped himself onto his back like a pancake ready to be cooked on the other side. The sky was clear, and he had a great view of the stars.
"I wonder if they're watching me right now." He mused. By "they", he meant the ancient echidnas that had passed the duty of the protection of the Master Emerald to him. "…Are they mad that I'd rather not watch the Master Emerald? Surely, you guys must have felt the same way I do at one point of their lives or another. I really meant it when I said I loved this island, but it doesn't feel like home unless I can appreciate it and be grateful for it a bit more. I'm trying really hard to be focused, but with all that's going on nowadays and Rouge being so clingy to the point that it's Amy-like and creepy, it's getting pretty hard to concentrate."
He sighed, certain that the echidnas of the past were disappointed in him. He was half expecting Tikal to appear in front of him and scold him like a child, but such did not happen.
"And now I'm talking to myself!" He laughed. "Can I get any more pathetic?" He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Apparently so." He muttered, turning on his side. The grass tickled his nose and caused him to sneeze. "Angel Island's home to many angels, but I'm not one of them."
~*~
"Huh? Again?" Knuckles muttered as the ground began to shake for the second time that day. "What could it…The Master Emerald! I need to get to the Master Emerald!"
The guardian tried his best to get up and not fall back down. It seemed to him that the tremors were more intense than before, but he wasn't sure if they really were, being sleepy with headache medication the first time the ground rumbled. He clung to a nearby tree as if it was his only means of survival and once he felt he had gotten used to the rumbling, he tried to continue on. Unfortunately, he underestimated the power of the quakes beneath his shoes as he tripped and almost ran head first into another tree. Forcing himself back up again, he grabbed onto the aforementioned tree as he slowly made his way towards the precious emerald, a task that seemed nearly impossible due to his recent lapse of self-esteem, but he refused to back down from his duties.
Slowly, but steadily, he made his way towards the Master Emerald like the tortoise that raced the hare, but this time, speed was important. Knuckles had no idea what was going on, all he knew was that the Master Emerald was in trouble, for natural earthquakes never happened on his island. If the ground was shaking, then something had to be up with his treasure.
Finally, he did reach the chamber in which the Master Emerald was kept. Fighting the vibrations with all his might, he made his way up the old steps eaten away by time. When he reached the end of the staircase, the shaking gave one last, violent tremor as he was thrown off his feet. Knuckles got up and prepared himself for combat, but what Knuckles saw was nothing.
Not even the Master Emerald.
Where the emerald used to rest, he saw a scrap of paper that wasn't there before. He snatched it and read the barely legible handwriting.
Consider your wish granted.
The echidna's eyes grew wide as he let the paper float down to the ground, stunned. If he had angel's wings, he felt as if every last feather on them was brutally yanked out.
He sunk to his knees and buried his face in his hands.