BAD DAY
Julie-Su felt as if she was on top of the world. She strolled happily down the street with a bright smile on her face. She had great friends, lived in a great city, and had a great guy in her life. She sighed dreamily at the thought of Knuckles. 'I must be the luckiest guy on Mobius to be with a sweet, handsome guy like him!' she thought to herself. 'I don't even care about that Rouge girl anymore! He's honest with me, and he told me that they didn't...' She stopped walking as the smile faded from her face. Her mouth hung slightly open as she began to wonder. 'He never did say that they...was he avoiding the...would he hide that from me?' She sat down on a bench, trying to figure out what to do. 'Do I ask him? No. If nothing did happen, he would think I was accusing him of cheating on me. I don't want to make him mad...' Finally, a thought dawned on her mind. 'Should I ask Sally for advice? Maybe she would know what to do.' She quickly got up and ran back towards her apartment, hoping that her assumptions about Knuckles were wrong.
"Sally! We got a message for you from the Floating Island!" Tails yelled out the hut window. Sally, who was welcoming some new refugees to Knothole, excused herself and ran in. "Okay. Patch it through," she said. Sally was surprised when Julie-Su's nervous face showed up on the monitor. "Julie-Su! Hi! What's wrong?" Sally asked with great concern. "Can I talk to you alone?" she asked. Sally motioned for Tails to leave and he did so. "What's up?" Sally asked. "Well...It's about that girl, Rouge..." Julie-Su began. "I asked Knuckles last night if anything happened between them, and he said not to worry. That I was the only one for him." "Well, then what's the problem?" Sally asked. "He didn't answer the question," Julie-Su replied.
Sally widened her eyes in surprise. "So you think they..." "I don't know what to do, Sally. I know that he wouldn't lie to me, but I'm scared to ask him about it again...I don't know what to do," Julie-Su said as she sighed. "Ask her," Sally suggested. Julie-Su looked up, rather confused. "Ask Rouge. Just say to her 'Hi, Rouge. I'm Knuckles' friend, Julie-Su. Listen, this is going to be an odd question, but I need to know if anything happened between you and Knuckles. It's really important and I'd appreciate it if you'd just tell me', and that's all there is too it!" Sally said with a smile. "I guess your right...I have to know. Thanks, Sally. You're a good friend!" Julie-Su said with a smile. "No problem. And don't worry about this so much. I'm sure it's all in your head. I can tell Knux likes you. Talk to you later!" "Bye!" Julie-Su stood up, knowing what she had to do, and was out the door. She had to know the truth. She had to...no matter what. Sally walked out the door of the hut as Tails walked up with Sonic and Bunnie. "What's up with Julie-Su? What was so important?" Tails asked. "It's nothing," Sally answered. 'I hope...'
Knuckles quickly ran down the street to Julie-Su's apartment, only to find that she wasn't there. "Shoot. Now where would she go-," he said, stopping mid sentence when he saw her two blocks away running away from him. "Julie! Wait up!" he yelled, but she couldn't hear him. He began to run after her, but stopped short when he heard gunshots. "Why now?" he asked as he ran in the opposite direction.
It was starting to get very dark and cloudy. It was going to rain tonight. Julie-Su knew she had to hurry if she wanted to beat the rain. She turned the corner to the street where Rouge said she was staying, only to see the white bat walking up to the door of the apartment house. Rouge reached to open the door when she heard someone calling out her name. She turned around to see a pink echidna running towards her. The one she had met the night before. "Oh, hi! Julie-Su, right?" she asked as her guest huffed and puffed. "Yeah...Listen...I need to ask you something," Julie-Su said, looking at Rouge with a nervous expression on her face. "Sure," she answered, a bit confused about the whole matter. "This is really important, so please don't ask any questions and just answer this one: Did anything happen between you and Knuckles when you met?" Rouge's eyes widened as she blushed. "Well, this is kinda sudden...but yeah. We kissed each other a few times. He saved me from some gorillas and took me to this little pond in the jungle to bandage my injury. It was Valentines Day, and I thought he was cute, so I kissed him, and he kissed me back, and we spent most of the night together," she said.
Julie-Su bit her lip as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. She felt as if she had been kicked continuously in the stomach and was about to keel over. She started to feel sick, like she was going to throw up. She turned her back to Rouge as the tears that had gathered in her eyes got ready to fall. Rouge looked at Julie-Su with great concern. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "No..." Julie-Su sighed.
Just then, Knuckles turned around the corner and gasped. There was Julie-Su, with her back to Rouge, looking as if she was going to die. "Julie!" he yelled as he ran up to them. When they turned around to see him, Julie-Su's tears began to fall along with the rain. She turned around again and began to run. "Julie! Wait!" Knuckles yelled as he darted after her. Rouge stood there in confusion. "What just happened?" She gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Were they...oh, no..."
Julie-Su heard him yelling for her to stop running, but she didn't want to. She didn't want to hear any more excuses. Any more lies. She turned to go down an alley, hoping to lose him, but he quickly caught up and grabbed her arm. "Julie! Listen-"he began before receiving a hard slap right across the face. "I deserve that. But listen-" "NO! You listen! Did you think I was stupid?!?! That I wouldn't figure it out?!?! Why did you lie to me?!?!" she said as she slapped him again. Rain splattered from his dreadlocks as she slapped him. "Julie! I was going to tell you! I saw you at your apartment, but there was a robbery and I had to-"Slap again. This time, it was harder. "I'm sick to death of your excuses and your lies, Knuckles!!! So you took her to the pond in the jungle, huh??? The same one you took me to?!?!" Knuckles' mouth was hanging open. This was all happening so fast, he didn't know what to say. He had taken Julie-Su there after their first date on his birthday. It was perhaps the most romantic spot on the island.
"What about Sally?!?! Did you take her there, too?!?!" she asked in a furious voice. "Hey! We were kids!" "There you go again!!! Changing the freakin' subject to try and save yourself!!! ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. He didn't answer, but she knew what the answer was when he let out a sigh. "So is that it?!?! Am I just the next chick on the menu?!?! First Sally, then Rouge, now me?!?! Who's next?!?! YOU SLEAZY...!!!" she yelled as she slapped him yet again. Knuckles' cheek was almost as red as he was, but he didn't notice it. "Julie!!! Listen to yourself! Sal and I were friends! Rouge...that was a spur of the moment type thing! I was alone for so long...all I wanted was someone to be with! But you're different! I love you!" he said. "How can I believe you?!?! After what you kept from me!!! You never even told me that you loved me until now!!! You never said anything about having feelings for me!!! I just assumed that you liked me!!!" she yelled, tears still flowing from her eyes.
"If you won't believe in what I say, then believe in this," he said as he pulled her to him and kissed her. She tried to resist when he pulled her to him, but when he kissed her she just rolled with it, hoping deep down that the Soultouch would make things better. After about a second, Knuckles stopped kissing her and opened his eyes in shock. He pulled his lips away from hers and stared at her. Instead of anger , there was great sadness. He put his finger on his lips and was speechless. It was gone. The feeling, the passion, the love...the Soultouch...all gone. "I...I don't understand. How can this...? I love you..." "Obviously you don't. It happened to your parents, and now it's happened to us," she said, as tears erupted from her eyes. "This is all your fault!!! I HATE YOU, KNUCKLES!!!" she screamed as she slapped him as hard as she possibly could and ran out of the alley.
Knuckles staggered a bit from the blow, but when he regained his footing, he just stared as she disappeared around the corner. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe it. He shuttered and put his hands over his heart. It felt like there was a freezing chunk of ice in his chest. He looked up again and muttered, "...J-Julie..." One sentence repeated over and over in his mind: "I HATE YOU, KNUCKLES!!! I HATE YOU, KNUCKLES!!! I HATE..."
Mighty was walking down the street with an umbrella, heading towards the Commons Hall to meet the guys. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with the hood over his head, being that it was cold. As he walked, he heard a familiar voice crying as a familiar echidna ran towards him. "Julie-Su?" he asked, stepping in front of her. She tried to go around him, but he grabbed her wrist, being careful not to hurt her with his great strength. "Julie-Su, what's wrong? Jeez, you're soaked! Why are you crying?" "Because your best friend is the sleaziest guy I've ever met! I can't believe I ever believed that he really liked me!" she yelled as she tried to pull her wrist out of Mighty's hand. "You mean Knux? He didn't talk to you about..." "HE TOLD YOU INSTEAD OF ME?!?!?!" she yelled, stopping Mighty mid-sentence, looking at him with a mix of surprise and anger on her face. In his confusion, Mighty loosened his grip, she pulled her wrist free, and ran away in tears.
"Oh, man. I can't just let her go like that, but I need to go to the Hall tonight...I really need the money," he said, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, he had a thought and pulled out his cell phone. "No service?!? Why now?!?" he said as he shoved the phone back into the pouch of his sweatshirt, growling. He looked around and found a pay phone not too far away. He ran over and tried to get into the booth, but his umbrella caught the top of the door and pulled him backwards and laid him flat on his back. "Ouch," he moaned sarcastically as he got up. He put his hand into the pouch, only to remember that he had no money with him. Actually, he had no money at all. He was broke. "Not my DAY!!!" he yelled as he made a collect call. "Hopefully this thing has LONG distance," he muttered.
It was also raining down in Knothole. Sonic, Tails, Antoine and Rotor were playing cards while Sally, Bunnie and Amy were talking about nails and hair. Yep, they were bored. Suddenly, Nicole started beeping, gaining everyone's attention. Sally flipped Nicole open and asked, "What is it, Nicole?" "You have a collect call from Mighty. Do you wish to accept charges?" "Hell, no!" Sonic said. "I like the guy, but not that much!" "Yes, Nicole. Take it out of Sonic's account," Sally said, glaring at Sonic. Sonic sighed as he and the others went back to their card game. "Go fish," he growled.
"What's up, Mighty?" Sally asked. They could hear it raining in the background of the call. "Uhhh...I was you guys come up here? Like right now?" he asked. Sally raised a brow. "It's kind of sudden, don't you think?" Sally said. "Well, we kinda have an emergency. Julie-Su and Knuckles...well, they broke up."
"WHAT???" Sally yelled as the others looked at her in wonder. "I know. Last night, they were fine, but today...well I'm not obliged to mention the details, and now she hates him." Sally was really hit by this. "Could you hurry it up? The bill's gonna be huge at this rate!" Sonic said. "SHUT UP, SONIC!!!" Sally yelled angrily, shocking everyone and telling them that the call was serious. "I spoke to her a few hours ago. Does this have anything to do with that girl, Rouge?" "You guessed it. Listen, I feel bad dumping this on you guys, and not doing anything myself, but me and the Chaotix have to...work tonight. And we really need the money. I haven't even seen Knux yet. I'm sure he isn't taking it well." "Don't worry, Mighty. We'll be right over. It's no problem," Sally said. "Thanks, Sal. You're a lifesaver. Oh, man! I'm gonna be late! Bye! 'Click!'"
About an hour later, they were knocking on the door of Julie-Su's apartment. "Julie-Su! Come on, open the door. We just wanna talk," Sally said. "Just go away, Sally! You're the lucky one! You didn't become involved with him like I did!" Sally sighed, and Amy decided to try. "I'm sure that Knuckles-""I NEVER WANT TO HEAR THAT SLEAZY DIRTBAG'S NAME AGAIN!!!" Julie-Su yelled. From outside the door, they could hear her crying uncontrollably. "Let's try and find Knux," Tails suggested. Sonic ran over to Knuckles' home and knocked on the door, but he wasn't there. They asked around for about ten minutes, until someone said they saw the Guardian walking into the Commons Hall. After getting directions, they hurried over, and were a bit surprised. There was a rock concert going on tonight, and the headliner was a band named "The Chaotix". "Uhhh...O-kay. Hmmm...Well, I guess we might as well go in," Sonic said. They followed him into the Commons Hall, and were stunned at what they saw. Up on the stage, Mighty was shouting into a microphone as Vector played guitar, Espio played bass guitar, and Ray played drums. A crowd of teenagers was jumping up in down, some pushing each other back and forth. They sat for a second and listened to Mighty sing.
I woke up this morning and knew,
That the world would test me come unglued.
Is it me or do you feel my pain,
This world makes my blood boil again.
You rip the heart out of me! Rip the heart out of me!
You make it look easy.
You rip the heart out of me! Rip the heart out of me!
Control and deceive me.
You rip the heart out of me! Rip the heart out of me!
"Oh, come on! It can't be that bad! Just give her a few days to cool off, then sit down and talk with her. Then you'll live happily ever a-""SHUT UP, SONIC!!!" Knuckles yelled. "Knuckles, we're just trying to-""You can't help, okay?!?! It's over! We're done! The Soultouch is gone! There's proof right there!" Knuckles' shoulders began to sag as he put his head down again. "Soul what?" Tails asked. "That iz a very good qwestion." Antoine said. "It tells echidnas who their supposed to be with. Ya know? Their mate in life," Bunnie said.
Sally looked at Knuckles and said., "But you still love her, so maybe there's still a chance! Right now you just need some advice on how to handle-""Oh, and you're the perfect person to give me advice on my love life, huh Sally?!?! You have a perfect love story with blue boy, don't you?!?! Guess again!!!" Knuckles said, getting irritated. "Hey, back off!!!" Sonic yelled, getting between Knuckles and Sally. "You wanna mess, pushover?!?! Huh?!?! Well I'm right here!!! I'm ri-"Suddenly, Knuckles had a strange look in his eyes as his hands began to tremble and he started to breathe like he was freezing cold. "Hey, you okay?" Sonic asked, giving Knuckles a curious look. "Knuckles?" Sally asked. Knuckles' nose began to bleed as his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he began to stagger, still shaking. Amy screamed when she saw his eyes. "KNUCKLES!!!" Sally yelled. Knuckles' body began to fall backwards, but Bunnie and Antoine caught him and laid him down on the ground. "What's happening to him?!?!" Amy shouted. "I don't know!" Rotor yelled. Knuckles' body continued to shake slightly as his nose continued to bleed. His eyelids were wide open, but his eyes were still rolled back. "Tails! Go get Mighty!" Sonic yelled, knowing he wouldn't be able to run through the crowd.
"You all look good tonight!!!" Mighty yelled, getting a large response from the audience. "Well, here we go agai-""Mighty!!!" Tails yelled as he sailed over the crowd. "Tails? What are you doing here?" Mighty asked, rather confused. "Something's wrong with Knux! Look!" Tails said as he pointed to Knuckles in the back, lying on the ground. "Oh, man! EVERYBODY CLEAR A PATH!!!" Mighty yelled into the microphone as he jumped off the stage. The other members of the Chaotix soon followed as the crowd moved away so they could get through. Mighty knelt down next to Knuckles and was shocked. "What the hell is happening to him?!?!" Mighty asked. "We don't know! He seemed fine, then this started happening!" Amy responded. Knuckles arched his back, as if something was going to pop right out of his stomach, and then his body flopped down, his eyes closed, and he was out cold. Mighty's eyes widened as he stood up and yelled, "WE NEED A PARAMEDIC OVER HERE!!!"
Author's Note: Just for reference, I don't own the words to "Rip the Heart Out". That belongs to Adema. And...yeah, that's it.