Luff: Hello peeps! You may or may not be pleased to know that I haven't
actually set Knuckles on fire yet! But this matchstick is starting to burn
my hand now. *chucks matchstick behind her*
Knuckles: Argh! *Knuckles runs around with his arse on fire*
Luff: Oops.
S. Chensu: LUUUUUUUUFFFFF!
Luff: Argh!
S. Chensu: .Good work!
Luff: Nani?
Sonic: Look, are you going to stand there all day making up silly comments or are you actually going to get on with the episode?
Luff: Uhh.
Knuckles: Yes, yes!
S. Chensu: OK! Shut up, everyone! This episode, Sonic and Tails go to Japan and meet some more well known characters, and a surprise one just for you! They also end up in Canada, with more of our favourite characters! There is also some stuff going on between Knux and Rouge, too, but nothing rude. Not yet. (Luff: Dammit!) So if you don't want to know who else will be appearing, don't read the disclaimer! Luff, if you would read the disclaimer.
Luff: I always read it!
S. Chensu: Pwease? Pwetty pwetty pwease?
Luff: Oh, fine then.
S. Chensu: Yay! *Hugs her sister*
Luff: Okey dokey. *Takes a deep breath* We do not own any of the characters in this story apart from Zelgan and Gelest. And Bruce. Marth and Roy are © of Nintendo (we think), Yoda is © George Lucas, and Link and Zelda are © Nintendo. I think that's it. oh, wait, there's also a line from the Lord of the Rings in there! See if you can spot it! Wow, that one was short!
S. Chensu: Yeah, too right it was! It should be longer!
Tails: Look, this introduction is already long enough as it is! *Gags Luff and S. Chensu* There, that's better! Now, on with the episode!
Note: . Telekinetic power
***************************************************************************
Episode four: Of supreme swordsmen and sticky situations
Sonic and Tails flew to Japan and landed in the Kitsumi Park. They hid the Tornado in the trees and set off for the city centre. It was very busy and soon they were being swept along the road with the crowd.
"Tails, I think you'd better hold my hand, otherwise, we'll lose each other." Sonic shouted but when no reply came, he looked around in a panic. Tails had disappeared! "Tails, Tails where are you?" He called out.
"Sonic, don't go so fast, I can't keep up with you!" Tails shouted and Sonic turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. Sonic grabbed him by the wrist.
"Hold on Tails, I'm going to try and get out of this!" He ran through the crowd and soon they were standing in front of the Imperial Palace.
"Wow Sonic, this is the Imperial Palace! Who did Banjo and Kazooie say would be here?" Tails asked.
"Marth and Roy, whoever they are." Sonic replied.
"You don't know who Marth and Roy are? They're only the best swordsmen in the whole of Japan!" They saw a small boy standing in front of them.
"Do you know where they will be?" Sonic asked.
"Of course I do. They'll be training around the back like they always do at this time of day." He led them around the back of the palace and they saw a training ground where two people were having a sword fight.
When they saw Sonic and Tails looking at them, they stopped and walked up to them. The taller one wore blue clothes while the smaller one wore blue as well but he had white trousers and red hair.
"Hello blue hedgehog and Kitsune. Were you looking for us?" The taller one asked.
"We're looking for Marth and Roy. We were told by Banjo and Kazooie that they could help us in our quest." Tails said.
"Well I'm Marth and this is Roy. Banjo and Kazooie eh? We haven't talked to them in ages. How are they doing?" The taller one said.
"They were doing fine when we left two days ago. We should introduce ourselves. I'm Sonic and this is Tails." Sonic said.
"Are you thirsty?" Roy asked and they nodded their heads. "Come and have some tea with us and you can tell us about your quest." He sheathed his sword and they followed Marth and Roy out of the ground.
They entered a room with a low table and they sat at it.
"Bruce, could you get us some tea please?" Marth asked the boy and he left. He came back a few moments later with a pot of tea. When everyone had a cup, they started talking.
"So what's this about a quest?" Marth asked.
"We're looking for a friend of ours who's on Earth but we don't know where he is, so we were told that if we ever came here we should ask you for help." Sonic explained.
"What does he look like?" Roy asked.
"He's a black hedgehog with red highlights in his hair." Tails said.
"How many other countries have you been to?" Roy asked.
"Three. Antarctica, Brazil and Egypt. Have you actually seen him then?" Sonic persisted.
"No. We aren't going to bother looking either because we go and look around the mountains where most people turn up." Marth said and Sonic and Tails sighed.
"At least that's another country down." Tails said. They finished their tea and Sonic stood up.
"Thank you for talking to us anyway. Come Tails, we had better get going."
"Wait a minute. You've only been here for a short time. Why don't you stay for a few more hours and we'll show you some sites?" Roy suggested.
"We may as well Sonic. I would really like to see some of the technology here." Tails pleaded and Sonic gave in.
"Ok Tails we'll stay. Where is the best place to see your technology?" Sonic asked and Marth and Roy thought for a moment.
"Let's go to the Ginza district. It has the best shops and restaurants." Marth said and they followed him.
When they finally arrived at the district, Tails eyes widened in delight. He started grinning madly and he looked very strange.
"Tails are you ok?" Sonic asked worried.
"I've only just remembered what technology and machines do to me." He giggled and ran down to the road.
"Oh how could I forget about that?" Sonic whacked his head.
"Forget about what?" Roy asked exasperated.
"Tails has some sort of condition that makes him go hyper whenever he sees a large amount of machinery together!" Sonic ran after Tails and Roy and Marth followed hurriedly.
"Tails slow down! Be careful! Wait a minute, please!" They heard Sonic shout at various points and they soon caught up with him. They saw Tails running across the road in excitement and cars had to stop and a jam was being created. He decided to stop at the other side of the road and he continued running down.
"Where have they gone?" Roy asked, looking around.
"Just listen to the shouting and they'll be there." Marth replied.
"Oy you, what do you think you're doing?" They heard someone yell out.
"This way!" Marth shouted and they set off in the direction where the voice came from.
"Roy, Marth thank god I've found you!" They heard Sonic cry out and he appeared in front of them. "I have an idea but I need your help. Do you know somewhere with lots of machinery and a large glass door at the front?"
"Yeah the Kismet. What's your idea?" Roy asked.
"I'm going to try and attract Tails to it and hopefully he'll be so insane that he will knock himself out trying to go through the door!" Roy and Marth nodded their heads and they set off to help change the direction of Tails.
"Tails come this way! I know a great place!" Sonic shouted to Tails and he stopped. This meant that the three of them could catch up with him.
They found him twitching and looking around as though he couldn't keep still. Sonic grabbed his hand before he could run off again and pointed down the road.
"Down there is the Kismet, the biggest technology centre in Tokyo. Why don't we go there?" Tails had been wriggling hard and as soon as Sonic had finished, he started dragging Sonic along the road. Sonic dug his heels in though, and he was forced to walk normally.
When he saw the building though, nothing, not even Sonic, could stop him from running towards the door. Sonic remembered just in time to let go of his hand and as he did so, Tails sped off. Sonic and the others walked after Tails and found him lying flat on the floor.
"That's sorted him out at least. I don't know what I'm going to do with him though." Sonic said.
"Come back to where we live and you can stay for the night. I'll carry him." Marth suggested and picked Tails up.
They walked along many a road until they reached a temple. They entered it and were met by numerous people sword fighting.
"This is the school where we train people. He can stay in one of the empty bedrooms and you can spend the afternoon watching us train if you want." Roy said as Marth found a room for Tails. "We could give you a lesson as well if you want."
"We had better go and see master Yoda first though." Marth added when he arrived. They left this room and found Yoda in a room meditating (Note: I won't bother describing him, coz you all know what he looks like and if you don't, shame on you!).
"Ah, come back Marth and Roy have at last." Yoda said in his usual fashion.
"Greetings Yoda, this is Sonic. He's spending the afternoon with us until his friend wakes up." Marth said and Yoda opened his eyes.
"Sonic you are?" Sonic nodded his head in amazement. "Swordsmen you want to become?"
"I don't think I could learn all there is to know about sword fighting in an afternoon." Sonic admitted.
"Feel the Force and you can do anything." Was all he would say before he closed his eyes.
They left the room and entered a garden where they sat down on a bench.
"Does he always act like that?" Sonic asked, extremely puzzled by the conversation that had just gone on.
"He may talk weird but he is very wise. Where are you going to go now?" Roy asked.
"Hmm.Canada I think. It depends on how one of my friends is feeling. He had a little accident and currently can't do much travelling so it's just me and Tails at the moment." Sonic said.
"Did you say Canada? I think you had better learn some sword skills then. Link lives there, an old friend of ours but he won't talk to you unless you at least know the basic moves." Marth left and came back with padding and a sword.
"We'll teach you some fencing moves so you can show him some fancy stuff." They put the padding on Sonic and by the time they were finished, Sonic felt very stupid and he had trouble moving too.
"Are you sure this is all necessary?" He asked.
"Yes." Marth gave him the sword and Sonic saw it had a cork on the end.
"How am I meant to hurt you if there's no point?" He asked.
"We're not going to let you try and stab us right from the beginning." Marth said and he took out his fencing sword while Roy called out instructions.
"You have to start in the on-guard position. Stand with your right foot in front and have your left arm curved upwards by your side. Cross your sword over Marth's and point it slightly upwards." Sonic did so and felt very stupid. "Ok the first thing you should learn is the 'passado'. It's a forward thrust and you just stab forward with the sword." Sonic did so and he hit Marth in the middle of his chest.
"Well done! Now you should learn the 'punto reverso'. It's a back handed blow and you have to swing the sword in front of you to the right." Sonic did this as well.
"Now the 'hay'. This is a stab to the heart. Just aim your sword at the heart area." Roy said and Sonic did this too.
They spent the afternoon teaching him more moves and soon he knew the lunge, parry, feint and Preinitiative Tempo too. By now, Sonic was very tired and when he was told he could stop now, he collapsed on the ground. He took off all of the padding and breathed in the cool air.
"Thanks for teaching me these moves you two." He said.
"No problem. Do you want something to eat now because dinner will be ready in a few minutes? You can wake up Tails too if you want." They put the equipment away and led him to where Tails was.
He had already woken up and smiled when he saw them.
"Thanks for stopping me go insane there. I think from now on, I'm going to stay away from Japan or at least from the machines." He got out of bed and followed them down to dinner. Dinner was very enjoyable and Sonic told Tails all about the moves he had learned.
"You learned to fence? Wow, that's so cool! Can you show me some of the moves you've learnt?" He asked.
"Even better than that, you can watch him have a match with me." Marth promised. Sonic gulped but seeing Tails' face he smiled tightly.
"I can? Great, this is going to be fun!" Tails said excitedly.
"Fight you Marth? Very brave of you to accept Sonic. Marth great fighter." This could only come from Yoda who had overheard what Marth had said.
When dinner had finished, they went to a room, which was like a stadium. It had seats going up on either side and in the middle was a field where the stage was. Roy helped Sonic put the padding back on and gave him the sword he used before while Marth also got ready. The whole school had come to watch and were waiting excited to see the match between one of the masters and a stranger.
"I need to explain the stage quickly. This line is where you start from, called the on-guard line. This line here is the warning line and if you cross it, you have about a metre before you end up off the stage. This is the centre line which you have to try and cross. Basically, you have to hit the opponent a certain number of times without being hit yourself or ending up of the stage. Well, good luck Sonic, I'm sure you'll do well." Roy walked off and sat down at the front with Yoda and Tails.
Sonic walked up to the on-guard line and stood in the correct position. The referee stood at the centre line.
"The match is between Sonic the hedgehog and Marth of the Jitu house. This will be a five-point fight. The match starts now!" He backed away and the fight started.
The two people parried for a while, testing out each other's defence when Marth lunged. Sonic, not expecting this was forced to move back and lost his concentration. He was hit on the chest and the referee confirmed the point. Not wanting to lose, Sonic increased his attacking and managed to score a point too. The lunge had hit Marth harder than Sonic meant it too but now that he had weakened Marth's defence, Sonic saw his chance to win. He scored another point but from there onwards, Marth attacked relentlessly. The score was three-two to Marth and Sonic was getting tired. It was therefore easy for Marth to score the last two points.
"The match ends and Marth wins!" The referee shouted out and Sonic collapsed on the ground and started gasping. He looked up and saw Marth holding out his hand.
"You are a most worthy fighter Sonic. I enjoyed that fight." Sonic took his hand and stood up. Sonic took off his mask and so did Marth.
"Thanks for the fight. I don't mind losing, you're a great swordsman." Sonic said and they shook hands. The whole school started cheering and they waved to them.
"Very well you fight, Sonic. Do good here, you would." Yoda said when he had reached them.
"Sonic, you were great! And when you hit Marth right in the heart." Tails gushed. Marth rubbed his chest and winced.
"Yeah, I can still feel it now." Roy laughed at his pain.
"It's been a long time since someone hit you eh?"
They left the room and Roy showed Sonic a room next to Tails', where he could sleep.
"I assume you're going tomorrow?" Roy asked.
"Yes, we had better get on." Sonic replied.
"Well, find us before you go. We will be up already training. We have something to give you, too." Roy left and Sonic sank down into his bed, fast asleep.
The next morning, Sonic was woken up by the clanging of swords and shouting. He got out of bed and went outside to see Marth and Roy fighting with Tails watching.
"Morning Sonic! Look at them two go, they've been going like that for half an hour already." Tails greeted Sonic and he sat down next to him. Marth and Roy were trading blows at an extraordinary rate yet they managed to dodge most of them. They soon stopped though and Roy sat down on the bench while Marth walked off.
"Phew, that was tiring! Sonic, you must have done something to him, he's working harder than before!" Roy exclaimed. Marth had now come back and he gave Sonic a sword.
"Here is your present. It's the foil that you used yesterday. There's also a sheath that goes with it." And Marth handed that over too. It was blue, just like Sonic and there were swirling gold patterns wrapped around it.
"Wow, thanks Marth! And thank you for letting us staying here and helping me to deal with Tails." Sonic said.
"No problem. Is it ok if we see you off?" Marth asked.
"Of course. We left the Tornado in the Kitsumi Park." Tails replied and they walked to the entrance where they met Yoda.
"Farewell, Sonic. May the force be with you."
"And you too." Sonic replied and they set off for the Kitsumi Park.
Sonic and Tails climbed into the Tornado and they waved goodbye to Marth and Roy.
"Let's go to Canada! I'm ready to fight this Link person." Sonic said and Tails directed the Tornado to Canada.
************************
They soon found the lake and Rouge placed Knuckles beside a bench and she sat on it so they were level. Although they had talked on the way to the lake, there wasn't much more polite conversation they could make. They both stared in silence at the lake and it remained like this for what seemed like an age.
"There they are! Doesn't look like they're saying anything though. This could get boring." Gelest sighed as she settled herself on a branch in a tree behind them.
"Did you just hear something?" Knuckles suddenly asked and he looked around to the tree. Rouge did the same and Knuckles stared for several minutes at the tree. He finally turned back again and sighed. "Must have been my imagination."
"I wonder where Sonic and Tails are now?" Rouge asked.
"In Japan I assume. Sonic is probably trying to calm Tails down or trying to knock him out." Knuckles laughed.
"Eh?" Rouge was totally confused.
"When they said they were going to Japan this morning and Sonic said that Tails would be the only one who would want to go I tried to think why. Then I suddenly remembered that Japan is famed for its technology and how Tails reacts to it." Knuckles explained.
"I assume it's not a good thing." Rouge commented.
"Technology makes him go high and he usually runs round like a headless chicken when he does." Knuckles grinned at the thought and even Rouge chuckled.
"I can just image it." Her eyes widened. She took a deep breath and turned to Knuckles. "Knuckles, can I ask you something?" They stared at each other for a few moments but he averted his eyes.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Do you think we'll ever find Shadow?" She asked seriously.
"Of course we will. There aren't many more places we will have to look once Sonic and Tails get back. They're probably going to Canada after Japan."
"How did you know they're going to Canada?" Rouge asked suspiciously.
"I think Sonic mentioned it to me. Anyway, after that it's just Australia and.what's the other place?" Knuckles asked.
"How could you forget? It's Italy." She replied and suddenly Knuckles remembered what Italy was famed for. He went a lovely shade of scarlet and coughed.
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?" He whispered and fell into silence. ~ Maybe that would be a good time to tell her.~ He thought to himself.
"Ah how sweet. What's this? Rouge is going to tell him something important, I can feel it." Gelest whispered to herself.
"Knuckles can I tell you something? Something I've never told anyone before?" Rouge suddenly said. Knuckles looked at her puzzled and this time, he stared straight at her.
"What it is?" He asked concerned.
"I need to tell you something important.about how I feel." She stumbled and she looked really embarrassed. Knuckles remained quiet though and after a pause, she continued. "I feel.I mean.I really.I really li-" But just then, Gelest heard crashing in the trees.
"Damn her! She had to come just then, didn't she?" Gelest cursed Zelgan as she appeared by the lake.
"Hi you two, it's getting a bit dark now so I thought I'd finish your legs off Knuckles, if that's all right." She saw the look on Rouge's face. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" She asked.
"No, nothing." Rouge said hurriedly and she pushed Knuckles back to the house with Zelgan walking beside them. Gelest set off into the air so she could reach the house before them.
By the time they had reached the house, Gelest had settled herself down in the kitchen and was eating an apple. She soon stopped though when they entered.
"Zelgan, can I have a word with you please?" She asked sweetly.
"Oh hello Gelest, of course you can. You two go to the rehabilitation room, I'll be there in a minute." She sat down at the table and Rouge and Knuckles left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Gelest exploded.
"Zelgan, you don't realise what you've just done do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you realise that they're in love? They haven't had the guts to tell each other until now and she was going to tell him and they could have been very happy except for you insisted on barging in on them!" She didn't trouble with keeping her voice down as she assumed they weren't outside the door.
"Well, I'm sorry but I didn't know!" Zelgan was shocked.
"How could you not know? It's so obvious!" She yelled out in frustration.
"Don't you think you're over reacting?" Zelgan asked.
"Over reacting? Over reacting? You can't see their emotions, so you can't tell how it's torturing both of them! I just want them to be happy that's all! I want them to have what I never had!" She burst into tears and stormed out of the room.
Rouge and Knuckles who were standing outside, were trying to hear what was happening. They could only catch snatches of conversation though. 'To tell each other', 'she was going to', 'barging in', 'you can't see their emotions' and 'want them to be happy'. When they heard Gelest storm towards the door though, Rouge quickly pushed Knuckles to the rehabilitation room and they entered the door just as Gelest ran down the corridor in tears.
"What's wrong with her?" Knuckles asked.
"I don't know. I wonder what that conversation was about?" Rouge asked but as they didn't know the answers, they waited until Zelgan appeared. She entered the room looking troubled but at Knuckles and Rouge's puzzled looks she smiled hurriedly.
"I suppose you heard most of that eh? She shouted loud enough for people on Earth to hear no doubt."
"No, we just saw her running down the corridor and we wondered if she's ok." Rouge said.
"Yeah, she just got a bit upset that's all. It happens sometimes, especially after." But she stopped. She shrugged her shoulders. "Never mind. Let's get this over and done with, I'm sure you want to talk alone." Rouge helped Knuckles onto the chair again and Zelgan laid her hands on his legs.
She concentrated for a moment and then straightened up.
"It looks like the force field has worked very well. I just need to strengthen the new bone between the break so it won't snap when you take your casts off. This will take a bit more time though so be prepared to wait." She laid her hands on his legs and suddenly, Knuckles felt a stabbing pain in his leg. He yelped and Zelgan's focus was broken.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't expect that to happen." Knuckles apologised.
"No don't worry about it. I should have told you that you would be able to feel your bones re-growing. Just grab onto something if it hurts, which it probably will do." She smiled and closed her eyes again.
The pain came back again, only this time more painful. He took Zelgan's advice and grabbed the first thing he could. Only he didn't expect it to be Rouge's hand. She didn't shake him off though and she even gripped his hand tighter. He smiled and leant his head against the back of the chair. The pain gradually grew worse as his grip on Rouge's hand tightened but she never said anything. She just looked concerned for Knuckles, which Zelgan noticed out of the corner of her eye.
~I may as well get the screaming over and done with.~ She thought to herself and she concentrated all of her efforts.
"ARRRGH!" Knuckles screamed out and then it stopped. Zelgan opened her eyes as she tried to get her breath back again. Knuckles looked like he was just about to faint.
"You all right there?" She asked lightly and when Knuckles didn't reply she smiled. "I take that as a yes. Sorry I had to do that, otherwise you would have been sitting here for the next four or five hours." But Knuckles hadn't even moved. "Knuckles, are you all right?" She asked and she took a closer look at him.
It turned out that he had fainted but she just shrugged her shoulders.
"I kind of expected him to do that. Will you be all right with him here? I need to go and find Gelest. I should be able to talk to her now without her biting my head off." She laughed and as she left the room, she noticed that Rouge was still holding Knuckles' hand.
Knuckles stirred a few minutes later and when Rouge saw him, she quickly let go of his hand. He woke up and looked around.
"What happened? I just remember, actually, I don't want to remember that." He frowned.
"You just fainted that's all. Come on, I don't know about you but I'm hungry." She helped him back in the chair and they set off for the kitchen. They entered it and saw Zelgan making a pot of tea.
"Awake at last is he? Do you want some tea?" They both nodded their heads and Zelgan poured out three mugs. She placed them on the table and everyone took theirs. The door opened again and Gelest appeared.
"Zelgan I.oh hello you two, I didn't realise you were here." She looked closely at them but she couldn't discern anything. "I'll come back later." She opened the door but stopped.
Zelgan had sent a thought to Gelest.
"Was there? Hmm.you'll have to tell me in a minute. Anyway, I came to apologise to you. And to give you this." She walked over to the table and let the object fall to it. It was a white feather.
"Gelest, you didn't need to do that! Are you ok?" She asked worriedly. Gelest laughed.
"Yes just a bit sore. You'd better take it or I might have to hit you!" She joked and Zelgan took the feather and put it in her hair.
"I haven't had one of these in such a long time that I thought you had forgotten about the promise. But then, you haven't really."
"Yeah, must have been about four months since the last one." Gelest commented. Rouge and Knuckles were completely confused by this conversation.
"Do you two want to talk alone?" Rouge coughed. Zelgan turned to them and smiled apologetically.
"I forgot you were here for a moment. You can stay; Gelest and me will talk later. Now then, I suppose you will want something to eat?"
"I must admit, I am a bit hungry." Knuckles said. Zelgan got up and started dinner. Soon they were all sat at the table eating food.
"Zelgan, can I ask you something?" Rouge asked and Zelgan nodded. "What is the white feather for?" Zelgan frowned and turned to Gelest.
"It's a promise I made to Zelgan a long time ago. I told her that if I ever had one of my fits, I would give her one of my feathers." Gelest explained.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Knuckles asked.
"Of course it does. That's the whole point. I can remember at the beginning, I had so many fits that I nearly went bald." Zelgan and Gelest laughed but Gelest stopped quickly. She looked sad at that memory so Rouge quickly changed the conversation.
"I don't suppose you've heard from Sonic or Tails have you?" She asked.
"No but I do know that they will be back tomorrow, quite late." Zelgan said. Gelest stood up and stretched.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm tired so I'm going to bed." She put her plate in the sink on top of a very large pile of dishes and left the room.
"That's typical of her to leave me to do the dishes! And look at how much there is!" Zelgan stood up and searched the cupboards for washing up liquid.
"I'll help if you want to." Rouge said and she stood up.
"Oh thank you for volunteering. Are you going to be all right there Knuckles?" Zelgan asked. Knuckles nodded his head and Rouge and Zelgan set themselves to the task of washing the dishes.
An hour later, they had finished the washing and Zelgan sat down exhausted.
"I didn't realise that a sink could hold so many dishes. At least I can see the bottom of it now." She stood up and walked to the entrance. "I'm going to bed too. See you tomorrow. And before you leave, can you turn off the light please?" Zelgan left the room.
"I think that's a good idea. All the events of today have tired me out. Come on Knuckles. Knuckles?" She looked at Knuckles and saw that he had already fallen asleep.
She took the wheelchair and pushed him slowly out of the room. She turned the light out and set off for his room. She entered it and managed to get him into bed without him waking up.
"Goodnight Knuckles." She whispered and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying out of the room. The door closed and Knuckles opened his eyes. Although it was dark his grin was evident as he tried to get to sleep.
************************
They landed in Canada by Lake Ontario and got out to have a look around.
"I can't see anyone around here. Maybe we should shout and see if he appears." Sonic suggested.
"Why don't we have a look in those trees over there?" Tails pointed to them and Sonic shrugged his shoulders.
"Ok then." They set off for the trees and entered them. The sun was shining through the gaps in them and dust was dancing in the air.
"Who goes there?" Someone shouted out and a man jumped out of a tree.
The man wore a green tunic and floppy hat, white clothes underneath, boots and gloves. But the most noticeable thing was the sword and shield he carried. He stood in front of them with his sword at Sonic's throat.
"My name is Sonic. Please don't kill me!" Sonic squeaked.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
"We're looking for Link and Zelda. We were told to find them if we ever came here." He replied.
"Who told you this?"
"Marth and Roy. Hang on a minute, why am I scared of you? If you're a real swordsman you'd give me fight!" Sonic pushed the sword away and stared at him.
"I like your attitude! I don't think you would want to fight me. My name is Link and if Marth and Roy told you about me then you must be trustworthy." He sheathed his sword and held out his hand.
"Excuse me, where is Zelda?" Tails asked.
"I'll get her in a minute. But what is your name and what are you two doing here?" He asked.
"My name is Tails. Me and Sonic are looking for a friend of ours and we thought we would ask you for your help." Tails explained. Link jumped up into the tree and a few moments later he came back down with a woman.
She wore a long pink dress, with gold around the shoulders. She was very pale and had long blonde hair. She looked very wise and had a gold circlet on her head.
"Hello Sonic and Tails. I'm sorry about Link; he's very suspicious of strangers. Won't you come up?" She asked.
"We would love to but we're in a bit of a hurry. We just wanted to know whether you had seen our friend or not." Sonic said.
"What does he look like?" She asked.
"He's a hedgehog, black with red highlights." Sonic replied.
"No we haven't seen anyone of that description. You can't go back now to Kikuyu, they're not expecting you until tonight." Zelda said.
"How do you know that?" Tails was astounded.
"I have seen it. If you won't stay here then I suggest you go to Toronto and visit the Eaton Centre. It's a great place for tourists." She suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea. Well, thank you for not killing us anyway." Sonic turned away.
"Before you go, you'll want to know who'll you see in Italy won't you?" Zelda asked. "Ask for Mario and Luigi." She then walked up to Tails and whispered to him, "Your plan will go very well. I can see that while you were away, it has gone further than it would have done if you had remained." She then walked over to Sonic.
"Beware of the ones you know. And be careful how you look at other people." She disappeared in a whirl of colour.
"Has she been giving you bits of advice?" Link laughed. "Listen to what she has to say. She has a knack of knowing what will happen. Enjoy your time in Toronto." He jumped up into the tree and they were left alone.
"That was interesting." Sonic commented. They walked out of the woods and hopped back into the Tornado. They flew to the centre of Toronto and landed on top of the Eaton Centre.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Tails said as he jumped out. They walked to the entrance and entered.
The number of people who were in there immediately hit them. Sonic and Tails walked forward and they appeared in a food court.
"Oh Sonic, can we get some chilli dogs?" Tails said.
"Yeah, why not? I could do with something to eat." They queued up and bought a dozen each. They sat down and ate them. By the end, they were pretty stuffed.
"That was good!" Sonic said as he patted his stomach.
"Sonic, let's go and have a look around." So they got up and looked at a map. "I never realised you could get so many shops in this sort of space." Tails looked at the map and his eyes widened when he saw that there was a theme park here. "There's even a theme park here, Sonic!" Sonic looked to where Tails was pointing.
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic ran off with Tails close behind him.
They heard the shouts long before they saw the park and when they arrived they gasped in awe. There were many rides but in the middle was the best roller coaster they had ever seen. It had two loop the loops and three corkscrews. They stood at the end of the queue and after what seemed like an age, they managed to get onto the front seats.
"Here we go!" Sonic shouted as the ride started. His excitement soon turned to horror though after the first loop when he realised that he had just eaten 12 chilli dogs. Tails was already looking green and they were concentrating on not being sick so much to notice that the ride had finished. They ran off and found a toilet. Anyone who had been there at the time would have been able to hear retching noises, as Sonic and Tails were being violently sick.
They soon came out and leant against the sinks, as they were exhausted. They managed to grin at each other after a few moments and they walked out of the toilets.
"Next time I want to do something like that you stop me ok?" Sonic said and Tails laughed. They settled on having some chips instead to make up for the lost food and they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, remembering the good times. They ended up back at the entrance and saw that it was getting dark.
"We had better go back now, the others will worry about us." Tails said so they climbed back up to the roof and set off for Kikuyu.
************************
Gelest entered the kitchen in the morning and saw Zelgan cooking breakfast.
"Morning Gelest. I've cooked some sausages, tomatoes and nice crispy bacon." She said in a strange West Country accent.
"Hi Zelgan, so then what were you going to tell me?" She asked as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"In the rehabilitation room, I had to fix Knuckles' bones-" Zelgan started but Gelest interrupted her.
"Poor old thing, I can still remember the pain of it-"
"Anyway, as you know, it's a bit painful so I suggested that Knuckles should hold onto something. And guess what? It turned out to be Rouge's hand! And she didn't seem to mind either." Zelgan gossiped and Gelest grinned.
"I think we're getting there. I must tell Tails when he gets back."
"What has Tails got to do with this?" Zelgan asked.
"He's the one who told me about it in the first place. I've been helping him with his plan. He hasn't really told me about the rest of it though. I assume it's for when they start to travel again." Just then Rouge entered with Knuckles.
"Morning you two. Are you ready for more bone fixing?" Zelgan asked Knuckles and seeing his panicked look, she laughed.
"Don't do that Zelgan, that's just cruel." Gelest scolded.
"And this is coming from you." Zelgan pointed out. "I will have to do your arm but it'll be less painful. For a start off there's only one arm and it's smaller. But I think you should have some breakfast first." They did so and afterwards they headed for the rehabilitation room. Knuckles looked like he was going to be sick.
"Don't worry, I have to do the same thing as I did for your legs. They won't be fixed properly unless I put the force field around it." Zelgan explained and Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.
She closed her eyes and light appeared around her hands as it did before. The light seeped into the cast and she opened her eyes. She quickly checked his legs as well.
"It looks like the casts can come off today. Now then, where has Gelest got to?" Just as she said this Gelest appeared holding a sharp cutting tool.
"Is this the one?" She asked as she entered the room.
"Yep, that's it. Right then Knuckles, this will cut the cast off. Keep still or I might cut you by accident." Zelgan explained and she turned it on. The blade started to spin around and she started to cut the cast.
Ten minutes later, in which Knuckles had been craning his neck and Gelest had been grinning, they were off.
"Before you do anything I need to tell you some stuff. First of all don't do any strenuous exercise and leave stairs for today too. Apart from that, you should be ok." Zelgan went to exit the room but Gelest wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh, the wonderful smell of skin which has been enclosed for two days. I have my own advice to give: have a wash. The bathroom is just along the corridor from where you're sleeping. Have a good day you two, I need to do some stuff. Come Zelgan, you never finished telling me about what you found out." And with that, Gelest left the room with Zelgan and Knuckles and Rouge were left behind.
"Shall we go and have a look then? I must admit, I do need a shower." Rouge said and she walked to the door. Knuckles lifted himself out of the chair and took a few tentative steps. He didn't fall over so he followed Rouge. They went up the lift and at the end of the corridor they found the bathroom.
They entered the bathroom and it was made up of a large bath with hooks for towels etc. They also found a cupboard full of the usual bathroom stuff. But as there was only one bath, they weren't sure what to do. So they stood there undecided.
"Do you want to go first?" Rouge finally said.
"You can go first if you want." Knuckles replied and at this, Rouge sighed.
"Right, you're going first or I'll break your legs again!" She threatened and Knuckles gulped.
"Ok, ok, I'm going first." He got into the bath and looked around.
"You might need this." Rouge said as she handed him a towel. He hung it over the edge of the bath and leant forward to turn the taps on. Rouge turned away and sat down, staring at the wall. There was the sound of running water for a few minutes and then it stopped.
"Um Rouge? Could you pass me some soap please?" Knuckles asked and Rouge unwrapped a new bar. But just as she was about to pass it to him, she squeezed it too hard and it flew out of her hand, landing on the other side of the bath, hitting Knuckles square on the nose on the way.
"Ow!" He rubbed his nose, trying to make it feel better. Rouge sighed and she bent over to get it. As she did though, her assets (Note: her cleavage, not her knockers!) were right in front of Knuckles' face. His eyes crossed and he couldn't help staring. She looked up and noticed his face. Her immediate reaction was to make a nasty comment to him, as she used to.
"Oy you pervert, don't you dare look at me like that! And also the other day, what did you think you were doing, holding my hand? You're pathetic, trying to attract me like that! Did you think I really liked you?" She shouted. Knuckles looked shocked but then his face hardened.
"So that's what you think of me eh? I actually thought that you were all right but now I know the truth! No wonder you're so ugly, it's to remind people not to like you!" He retaliated and got out of the bath. He dried himself quickly before storming out of the room, slamming the door.
"I'm ugly am I? Well it's lucky that I didn't tell him about my feelings then." She said to herself before emptying the bath and refilling it so she could have one.
************************
"What was that?" Gelest said as she heard the door slam. She stopped walking and watched as Knuckles entered the garden.
"And she has the cheek to assume I liked her!" She heard him say loudly. She walked over slowly and as she got closer, she could feel Knuckles' anger.
"Are you ok Knuckles? You look all hot and bothered." She said. He spun around but when he realised it was her, he was suddenly cheerful.
"No it's nothing. It's just that Rouge." At the mention of her name, he scowled.
"What happened? Did she insult you?" Gelest asked.
"You could say that." He said before walking off. Gelest suddenly realised what had occurred.
"Oh no, Tails' plan is ruined! I have to get them to make up, even if it means." She said to herself. "I can't do it, Zelgan would kill me and it goes against my beliefs." She shook her head. "I'll see what happens before I do anything." She also walked away, deep in thought.
***********************
"We're back at last, I wonder what everyone's been doing?" Sonic announced as they landed by the mansion. They got out and walked towards the entrance.
"Me too. I want to see how Knuckles is feeling." Tails said but added to himself, "Especially towards Rouge." The first person they saw was Gelest who was running towards them.
"Hi you two, how did the trip go?" She asked.
"We didn't find Shadow but we did see lots of sites." And Sonic explained what they had done as they walked towards the kitchen. When she heard about the chilli dogs, she laughed.
"Well you certainly did a lot of things. Not much has happened here apart from Knuckles' leg casts have come off."
"Really? So you mean we can go soon?" Tails asked.
"Yep, you should be able to go tomorrow if nothing happens." She confirmed. They entered the kitchen and Sonic immediately rummaged through the cupboards. "You'll be all right for a moment won't you Sonic? I have to talk to Tails for a minute." She heard a grunt from Sonic so she beckoned Tails outside the room.
"Tails something happened while you were gone." She explained the whole situation with Knuckles and Rouge. "And when I saw Rouge later on, she looked just as angry as Knuckles did. I'm not sure exactly what the argument was about, but they obviously have had one."
"And they're both so stubborn! We may never be able to get them to apologise to each other." Tails wailed.
"But there is one good thing that would occur because of this. If they really love each other, then they will make up. Your plan might still work but you may have to extend it slightly." Gelest said.
"That's a point. Well thank you for telling me. We should be going to Italy next and hopefully the atmosphere will help them." He said.
"Oh I wanted to tell you about keeping them two happy. Don't make them sit next to each other and when we have dinner, try not to ask them about what they did. The sooner they forget about this, the better." She explained. They walked back into the kitchen and saw Zelgan sitting at the table but Sonic had gone.
"Where's Sonic?" Tails asked.
"He said he was tired so I told him to have a nap and that you would call him when it's dinner. Gelest, what's wrong? You look worried." She asked concerned. Yet again, Gelest told her what had happened.
"You don't say? This certainly has put a dent in your plan." She commented. She stood up and started to prepare dinner. "We can only hope that they'll make up soon." Just then, Knuckles entered the kitchen and they immediately stopped and looked at him. He sat down and stared at them.
"Are you all right?" He asked and they started talking again.
"So then Tails, what is this about chilli dogs? I didn't hear the whole conversation." Gelest quickly said.
Tails told them about the chilli dogs and then retold the whole trip for Knuckles' benefit.
"Sword fighting eh? I never really learned about that, I prefer the non armed methods of combat but it would be useful." He commented.
"Do you know martial arts then?" Gelest asked interested.
"I know a bit." Knuckles said.
"A bit? You know more than a bit! He's what you would call an expert when it comes to fighting." Tails said and Knuckles went pink.
"Oh yes, I wanted to tell you that the cast for your arm can come off tonight after-" Zelgan started but Knuckles interrupted her.
"Oh please not the-" He whimpered.
"Yes, it has to be done. You can wait until after dinner though if you want to." Knuckles nodded his head.
"Um, what was that all about?" Tails asked Gelest.
"Well, Zelgan has been fixing Knuckles' bones but it's a bit painful and he's scared after what happened with his legs." Gelest explained. "Nothing went wrong or anything but it was just the fact that it was two bones being fixed at once."
"Oh I see. Before them two had the argument, how were they getting on?" Tails asked. Gelest glanced over at Knuckles, who looked interested in what they were talking about.
"Why don't I help you put your machine away?" She said loudly and then added in an undertone, "I'll explain then."
They left the kitchen and on the way to where Tails had left the Tornado, Gelest explained that they had been getting on very well with each other. Tails was now guiding the Tornado into the garage.
"So you're saying that they could have told each other really soon? We were so close."
"Yet so far." Gelest finished. They both sighed as Gelest closed the garage door. "I think dinner should be ready soon, why don't you go and get Sonic? And see if you can find Rouge at the same time." Gelest suggested before walking back to the kitchen. Tails walked up the stairs and saw that Sonic had just woken up.
"I must have smelt the dinner in my sleep." Sonic laughed but seeing Tails' face he stopped. "What's wrong Tails?"
"I may as well tell you." Tails said and thought, ~Seeing as you're so ignorant of the whole situation.~ He continued, "Rouge and Knuckles have had a big argument with each other. I'm not sure what it was about but they seem to hate each other now."
"Why don't we ask them?" Sonic asked.
"No, we can't do that! We need them to forget about it as soon as possible." Tails replied. "When we have dinner, we should make sure that they don't sit next to each other ok?" Sonic nodded his head and they entered the kitchen. They sat down on either side of Knuckles and dinner was served.
"Where is Rouge?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.
"I couldn't find her. Do you want me to look?" He asked.
"Don't worry, I'll do it." Gelest replied before walking out of the room.
She found Rouge sitting in her room, staring out of the window.
"Rouge, dinner is ready." Gelest said and Rouge followed her to the kitchen. They entered it and Rouge sat down. Gelest did the same and they started eating.
To pass the time, Tails and Sonic told Rouge what they had done in Japan and Canada. Although Rouge enjoyed what they said and laughed at the right points, she still managed to give Knuckles several withering glares, which if looks could kill, he would have left in a matchbox. He managed to glower at her too and when Sonic and Tails finished talking Sonic kept looking at the two of them.
"That's it, I'm fed up of you two trying to kill each other with your looks. What's wrong?" He suddenly announced. When they didn't say anything though, he tapped the table with his fingers. "I'm waiting!" Just then a hand came down from the big computer in the sky and proceeded to strangle Sonic for several seconds before disappearing.
"Sonic!" Gelest hissed but it didn't matter because Rouge and Knuckles hadn't heard his question. Sonic gave up on getting any answer from them two and instead helped Zelgan with the dishes.
As soon as dinner finished Knuckles and Rouge both got up at the same time and Rouge got to the door just as Knuckles did. When she didn't move though, Knuckles pushed her out of the way and stalked out of the room. She gasped and then exited as well, going in the opposite direction to Knuckles.
"I've just remembered that Knuckles has to have his arm fixed. I don't suppose you would go and find him please?" Zelgan asked Sonic and he got up.
He went to his room and knocked on the door. When no reply came though, he opened the door and found Knuckles laying on his bed, deep in thought.
"Err.Knuckles, you have to get your arm fixed." Sonic said. Knuckles turned his head and saw him. Sonic noticed he looked not angry now but sad. He stood up and followed Sonic out of the room. They met Zelgan and Tails at the bottom of the stairs. "Where's Gelest?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, she's gone for a shower." Zelgan replied and the mention of showers and baths in general reminded Knuckles of what Rouge said. Although he was angry at what she had said, he had also been upset by her comments. Any hope of her liking him at all had now faded into oblivion and now he was just depressed. Zelgan led the way to the rehabilitation room and Knuckles got into the chair soundlessly.
Sonic and Tails stayed, as they were interested in what actually happened. Zelgan started the process and was surprised when Knuckles didn't seem to react at all. Even when the cast was being cut off, he remained silent.
"Knuckles, I've finished and your arm looks all right. Knuckles, are you ok?" Zelgan said. After repeating the question several times, and not getting an answer, she exited the room with Tails and Sonic. Knuckles seemed to wake up and when he saw his arm, he smiled a little but all he could think about was what Rouge had said to him.
~Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you?~ Those words filled all of his thoughts and wiping a tear away, he exited the room.
"Gelest, I think you should talk to Knuckles. After all, you are good with emotions." Zelgan told Gelest, who was sitting in the living room.
"Sometimes it's better to leave people alone when they're upset." Gelest replied.
"Yes but it's obviously not doing him any good. You didn't see him in there, he didn't move at all. He didn't even twitch when I was fixing his bone." Zelgan said. "I know, why don't you show him the Holus beach? I always go there when I'm sad."
"Do you really think it will help?" Gelest sounded sceptical.
"Of course it will. I think he's the type of person who likes natural beauty." Zelgan confirmed.
"Then maybe I should go. I'll see what I can do." She stood up.
"Thanks Gelest." Zelgan said.
"No problem." She left the room and quickly changed into her costume before walking to Knuckles' room. She knocked on the door and when no reply came she opened it.
The first thing she noticed was that the room was quite cold and soon realised why. The window was open and Knuckles was sat on the window ledge. Gelest walked over to him and sat on the ledge too.
"Knuckles are you ok?" She asked gently. He turned to her and she could immediately feel the sadness in him. ~He really does love her.~ She thought to herself.
"No. I don't really want to talk about it though." He replied.
"Well I have an idea if you want to hear." He didn't say anything so she continued, "Whenever I feel upset or sad there's a place I go to. It's called Holus beach and if you want, I can show you where it is and you can think there. There's never anyone there so you'll be alone and I'll leave you there for a couple of hours until you want to go back again." She explained.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes. I want to help you, that's all. And I remembered that I would always go there if I wanted to think." She stood up and climbed onto the roof. He followed her and she opened her wings. "Can you fly?" She asked. He nodded his head. "That's good. It shouldn't take too long so just follow me." She jumped into the air and set off with Knuckles following her.
They arrived at the beach and Gelest landed by the coast. Coconut trees on one side surrounded the beach and there was a jetty going out into the sea. Behind the coconuts was a jungle. Not far out into the sea was a tree- covered island. Fireflies filled the air and the only noise was the waves crashing onto the shore.
~Ow, my back! I haven't gone this far for a long time.~ She thought as she walked out onto the jetty. Knuckles followed her and sat down on the edge. "You'll be all right here won't you?" She stretched her back to try and make it feel better. "I'll be on that island there ok? When you're finished here, just get up and wander around. I'll see you and you can go then." She jumped up again and started to flap her wings but she landed again wincing.
"It looks like my back isn't taking any more punishment from me. Luckily I know a path that goes around the jungle which will take me a few hours." She started to walk to the trees.
"Wait a minute Gelest! Can I talk to you?" Knuckles called out. Gelest smiled slightly and turned back. She sat down next to him and folded her wings away. She looked out and Knuckles did the same.
There was silence for several minutes but Gelest knew he would speak soon.
"I suppose you know how I feel?" He asked.
"No. You love Rouge but as I have never felt love, I don't know how it feels." She explained.
"It's strange. Even after what she said to me, I still love her. But I know she doesn't feel the same way."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"That's one of the things she told me. I know I was too assumptive though." He sighed.
"She may have just reacted in the wrong way to something you did. Are you sure you don't do the same thing?"
"Sometimes. And that's the worse thing. I insulted her too. Even if she did like me, she won't now." Gelest turned to him and saw that tears were running down his face.
"Oh Knuckles, I'm sure she still loves you. You have to talk to her, it's the only way you'll find out." Knuckles wiped his face with his hand.
"I can't. You saw her at dinner. Every time she looks at me, my insides freeze up." (Note from Luff: Ahhh, so sweet!)
"Yes but that was then and this is now. In this sort of situation, time is the best healer. Just give her a few days. I should know, after all the times I was spiteful to Zelgan."
"But you two always seem to get along." He replied.
"Yeah, we do now but not a few years ago. I was under a lot of stress then so I would snap at her all the time." She explained.
"What happened to get you stressed?" He asked.
"It's just a phase I went through. We all do at some point and it would seem that Rouge is going through it now." She replied quickly. "The best thing to do is if she says or does anything nasty, just ignore her. In the end she'll be so fed up that she'll just start talking to you again." She suggested.
"Thanks Gelest.for talking to me." He said quietly.
"Hey, if I couldn't help, I'd be a bit useless." She laughed and stood up. "Hmm.my back should be ok now. Do you want to go now?" She asked. He nodded his head and followed her back into the sky.
They arrived back at the mansion and landed in Knuckles' room. She closed the window and said good night before leaving the room. She fell into her bed fast asleep but Knuckles remained awake for several more hours, thinking about what Gelest had said.
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Luff: At last, the end of another (hopefully) exciting instalment of The STREKS gang!
S. Chensu: Thank you to all those peeps out there who actually managed to read this thing the whole way through and not fall asleep!
Luff: We promise that it will get more exciting later on! Much, much more exciting!
Knuckles: Yeah, just as long as it doesn't involve me and Rouge.
Luff: 0.o
S. Chensu: ^-^;;
Rouge: It does, doesn't it?
Luff: Maybe.
S. Chensu: Anyways, Read and Review! And any flames will be used as a threat for Knuckles! Knuckles: 0.o
Luff: Mwaohahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Knuckles: Argh! Please R&R!
Knuckles: Argh! *Knuckles runs around with his arse on fire*
Luff: Oops.
S. Chensu: LUUUUUUUUFFFFF!
Luff: Argh!
S. Chensu: .Good work!
Luff: Nani?
Sonic: Look, are you going to stand there all day making up silly comments or are you actually going to get on with the episode?
Luff: Uhh.
Knuckles: Yes, yes!
S. Chensu: OK! Shut up, everyone! This episode, Sonic and Tails go to Japan and meet some more well known characters, and a surprise one just for you! They also end up in Canada, with more of our favourite characters! There is also some stuff going on between Knux and Rouge, too, but nothing rude. Not yet. (Luff: Dammit!) So if you don't want to know who else will be appearing, don't read the disclaimer! Luff, if you would read the disclaimer.
Luff: I always read it!
S. Chensu: Pwease? Pwetty pwetty pwease?
Luff: Oh, fine then.
S. Chensu: Yay! *Hugs her sister*
Luff: Okey dokey. *Takes a deep breath* We do not own any of the characters in this story apart from Zelgan and Gelest. And Bruce. Marth and Roy are © of Nintendo (we think), Yoda is © George Lucas, and Link and Zelda are © Nintendo. I think that's it. oh, wait, there's also a line from the Lord of the Rings in there! See if you can spot it! Wow, that one was short!
S. Chensu: Yeah, too right it was! It should be longer!
Tails: Look, this introduction is already long enough as it is! *Gags Luff and S. Chensu* There, that's better! Now, on with the episode!
Note: . Telekinetic power
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Episode four: Of supreme swordsmen and sticky situations
Sonic and Tails flew to Japan and landed in the Kitsumi Park. They hid the Tornado in the trees and set off for the city centre. It was very busy and soon they were being swept along the road with the crowd.
"Tails, I think you'd better hold my hand, otherwise, we'll lose each other." Sonic shouted but when no reply came, he looked around in a panic. Tails had disappeared! "Tails, Tails where are you?" He called out.
"Sonic, don't go so fast, I can't keep up with you!" Tails shouted and Sonic turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. Sonic grabbed him by the wrist.
"Hold on Tails, I'm going to try and get out of this!" He ran through the crowd and soon they were standing in front of the Imperial Palace.
"Wow Sonic, this is the Imperial Palace! Who did Banjo and Kazooie say would be here?" Tails asked.
"Marth and Roy, whoever they are." Sonic replied.
"You don't know who Marth and Roy are? They're only the best swordsmen in the whole of Japan!" They saw a small boy standing in front of them.
"Do you know where they will be?" Sonic asked.
"Of course I do. They'll be training around the back like they always do at this time of day." He led them around the back of the palace and they saw a training ground where two people were having a sword fight.
When they saw Sonic and Tails looking at them, they stopped and walked up to them. The taller one wore blue clothes while the smaller one wore blue as well but he had white trousers and red hair.
"Hello blue hedgehog and Kitsune. Were you looking for us?" The taller one asked.
"We're looking for Marth and Roy. We were told by Banjo and Kazooie that they could help us in our quest." Tails said.
"Well I'm Marth and this is Roy. Banjo and Kazooie eh? We haven't talked to them in ages. How are they doing?" The taller one said.
"They were doing fine when we left two days ago. We should introduce ourselves. I'm Sonic and this is Tails." Sonic said.
"Are you thirsty?" Roy asked and they nodded their heads. "Come and have some tea with us and you can tell us about your quest." He sheathed his sword and they followed Marth and Roy out of the ground.
They entered a room with a low table and they sat at it.
"Bruce, could you get us some tea please?" Marth asked the boy and he left. He came back a few moments later with a pot of tea. When everyone had a cup, they started talking.
"So what's this about a quest?" Marth asked.
"We're looking for a friend of ours who's on Earth but we don't know where he is, so we were told that if we ever came here we should ask you for help." Sonic explained.
"What does he look like?" Roy asked.
"He's a black hedgehog with red highlights in his hair." Tails said.
"How many other countries have you been to?" Roy asked.
"Three. Antarctica, Brazil and Egypt. Have you actually seen him then?" Sonic persisted.
"No. We aren't going to bother looking either because we go and look around the mountains where most people turn up." Marth said and Sonic and Tails sighed.
"At least that's another country down." Tails said. They finished their tea and Sonic stood up.
"Thank you for talking to us anyway. Come Tails, we had better get going."
"Wait a minute. You've only been here for a short time. Why don't you stay for a few more hours and we'll show you some sites?" Roy suggested.
"We may as well Sonic. I would really like to see some of the technology here." Tails pleaded and Sonic gave in.
"Ok Tails we'll stay. Where is the best place to see your technology?" Sonic asked and Marth and Roy thought for a moment.
"Let's go to the Ginza district. It has the best shops and restaurants." Marth said and they followed him.
When they finally arrived at the district, Tails eyes widened in delight. He started grinning madly and he looked very strange.
"Tails are you ok?" Sonic asked worried.
"I've only just remembered what technology and machines do to me." He giggled and ran down to the road.
"Oh how could I forget about that?" Sonic whacked his head.
"Forget about what?" Roy asked exasperated.
"Tails has some sort of condition that makes him go hyper whenever he sees a large amount of machinery together!" Sonic ran after Tails and Roy and Marth followed hurriedly.
"Tails slow down! Be careful! Wait a minute, please!" They heard Sonic shout at various points and they soon caught up with him. They saw Tails running across the road in excitement and cars had to stop and a jam was being created. He decided to stop at the other side of the road and he continued running down.
"Where have they gone?" Roy asked, looking around.
"Just listen to the shouting and they'll be there." Marth replied.
"Oy you, what do you think you're doing?" They heard someone yell out.
"This way!" Marth shouted and they set off in the direction where the voice came from.
"Roy, Marth thank god I've found you!" They heard Sonic cry out and he appeared in front of them. "I have an idea but I need your help. Do you know somewhere with lots of machinery and a large glass door at the front?"
"Yeah the Kismet. What's your idea?" Roy asked.
"I'm going to try and attract Tails to it and hopefully he'll be so insane that he will knock himself out trying to go through the door!" Roy and Marth nodded their heads and they set off to help change the direction of Tails.
"Tails come this way! I know a great place!" Sonic shouted to Tails and he stopped. This meant that the three of them could catch up with him.
They found him twitching and looking around as though he couldn't keep still. Sonic grabbed his hand before he could run off again and pointed down the road.
"Down there is the Kismet, the biggest technology centre in Tokyo. Why don't we go there?" Tails had been wriggling hard and as soon as Sonic had finished, he started dragging Sonic along the road. Sonic dug his heels in though, and he was forced to walk normally.
When he saw the building though, nothing, not even Sonic, could stop him from running towards the door. Sonic remembered just in time to let go of his hand and as he did so, Tails sped off. Sonic and the others walked after Tails and found him lying flat on the floor.
"That's sorted him out at least. I don't know what I'm going to do with him though." Sonic said.
"Come back to where we live and you can stay for the night. I'll carry him." Marth suggested and picked Tails up.
They walked along many a road until they reached a temple. They entered it and were met by numerous people sword fighting.
"This is the school where we train people. He can stay in one of the empty bedrooms and you can spend the afternoon watching us train if you want." Roy said as Marth found a room for Tails. "We could give you a lesson as well if you want."
"We had better go and see master Yoda first though." Marth added when he arrived. They left this room and found Yoda in a room meditating (Note: I won't bother describing him, coz you all know what he looks like and if you don't, shame on you!).
"Ah, come back Marth and Roy have at last." Yoda said in his usual fashion.
"Greetings Yoda, this is Sonic. He's spending the afternoon with us until his friend wakes up." Marth said and Yoda opened his eyes.
"Sonic you are?" Sonic nodded his head in amazement. "Swordsmen you want to become?"
"I don't think I could learn all there is to know about sword fighting in an afternoon." Sonic admitted.
"Feel the Force and you can do anything." Was all he would say before he closed his eyes.
They left the room and entered a garden where they sat down on a bench.
"Does he always act like that?" Sonic asked, extremely puzzled by the conversation that had just gone on.
"He may talk weird but he is very wise. Where are you going to go now?" Roy asked.
"Hmm.Canada I think. It depends on how one of my friends is feeling. He had a little accident and currently can't do much travelling so it's just me and Tails at the moment." Sonic said.
"Did you say Canada? I think you had better learn some sword skills then. Link lives there, an old friend of ours but he won't talk to you unless you at least know the basic moves." Marth left and came back with padding and a sword.
"We'll teach you some fencing moves so you can show him some fancy stuff." They put the padding on Sonic and by the time they were finished, Sonic felt very stupid and he had trouble moving too.
"Are you sure this is all necessary?" He asked.
"Yes." Marth gave him the sword and Sonic saw it had a cork on the end.
"How am I meant to hurt you if there's no point?" He asked.
"We're not going to let you try and stab us right from the beginning." Marth said and he took out his fencing sword while Roy called out instructions.
"You have to start in the on-guard position. Stand with your right foot in front and have your left arm curved upwards by your side. Cross your sword over Marth's and point it slightly upwards." Sonic did so and felt very stupid. "Ok the first thing you should learn is the 'passado'. It's a forward thrust and you just stab forward with the sword." Sonic did so and he hit Marth in the middle of his chest.
"Well done! Now you should learn the 'punto reverso'. It's a back handed blow and you have to swing the sword in front of you to the right." Sonic did this as well.
"Now the 'hay'. This is a stab to the heart. Just aim your sword at the heart area." Roy said and Sonic did this too.
They spent the afternoon teaching him more moves and soon he knew the lunge, parry, feint and Preinitiative Tempo too. By now, Sonic was very tired and when he was told he could stop now, he collapsed on the ground. He took off all of the padding and breathed in the cool air.
"Thanks for teaching me these moves you two." He said.
"No problem. Do you want something to eat now because dinner will be ready in a few minutes? You can wake up Tails too if you want." They put the equipment away and led him to where Tails was.
He had already woken up and smiled when he saw them.
"Thanks for stopping me go insane there. I think from now on, I'm going to stay away from Japan or at least from the machines." He got out of bed and followed them down to dinner. Dinner was very enjoyable and Sonic told Tails all about the moves he had learned.
"You learned to fence? Wow, that's so cool! Can you show me some of the moves you've learnt?" He asked.
"Even better than that, you can watch him have a match with me." Marth promised. Sonic gulped but seeing Tails' face he smiled tightly.
"I can? Great, this is going to be fun!" Tails said excitedly.
"Fight you Marth? Very brave of you to accept Sonic. Marth great fighter." This could only come from Yoda who had overheard what Marth had said.
When dinner had finished, they went to a room, which was like a stadium. It had seats going up on either side and in the middle was a field where the stage was. Roy helped Sonic put the padding back on and gave him the sword he used before while Marth also got ready. The whole school had come to watch and were waiting excited to see the match between one of the masters and a stranger.
"I need to explain the stage quickly. This line is where you start from, called the on-guard line. This line here is the warning line and if you cross it, you have about a metre before you end up off the stage. This is the centre line which you have to try and cross. Basically, you have to hit the opponent a certain number of times without being hit yourself or ending up of the stage. Well, good luck Sonic, I'm sure you'll do well." Roy walked off and sat down at the front with Yoda and Tails.
Sonic walked up to the on-guard line and stood in the correct position. The referee stood at the centre line.
"The match is between Sonic the hedgehog and Marth of the Jitu house. This will be a five-point fight. The match starts now!" He backed away and the fight started.
The two people parried for a while, testing out each other's defence when Marth lunged. Sonic, not expecting this was forced to move back and lost his concentration. He was hit on the chest and the referee confirmed the point. Not wanting to lose, Sonic increased his attacking and managed to score a point too. The lunge had hit Marth harder than Sonic meant it too but now that he had weakened Marth's defence, Sonic saw his chance to win. He scored another point but from there onwards, Marth attacked relentlessly. The score was three-two to Marth and Sonic was getting tired. It was therefore easy for Marth to score the last two points.
"The match ends and Marth wins!" The referee shouted out and Sonic collapsed on the ground and started gasping. He looked up and saw Marth holding out his hand.
"You are a most worthy fighter Sonic. I enjoyed that fight." Sonic took his hand and stood up. Sonic took off his mask and so did Marth.
"Thanks for the fight. I don't mind losing, you're a great swordsman." Sonic said and they shook hands. The whole school started cheering and they waved to them.
"Very well you fight, Sonic. Do good here, you would." Yoda said when he had reached them.
"Sonic, you were great! And when you hit Marth right in the heart." Tails gushed. Marth rubbed his chest and winced.
"Yeah, I can still feel it now." Roy laughed at his pain.
"It's been a long time since someone hit you eh?"
They left the room and Roy showed Sonic a room next to Tails', where he could sleep.
"I assume you're going tomorrow?" Roy asked.
"Yes, we had better get on." Sonic replied.
"Well, find us before you go. We will be up already training. We have something to give you, too." Roy left and Sonic sank down into his bed, fast asleep.
The next morning, Sonic was woken up by the clanging of swords and shouting. He got out of bed and went outside to see Marth and Roy fighting with Tails watching.
"Morning Sonic! Look at them two go, they've been going like that for half an hour already." Tails greeted Sonic and he sat down next to him. Marth and Roy were trading blows at an extraordinary rate yet they managed to dodge most of them. They soon stopped though and Roy sat down on the bench while Marth walked off.
"Phew, that was tiring! Sonic, you must have done something to him, he's working harder than before!" Roy exclaimed. Marth had now come back and he gave Sonic a sword.
"Here is your present. It's the foil that you used yesterday. There's also a sheath that goes with it." And Marth handed that over too. It was blue, just like Sonic and there were swirling gold patterns wrapped around it.
"Wow, thanks Marth! And thank you for letting us staying here and helping me to deal with Tails." Sonic said.
"No problem. Is it ok if we see you off?" Marth asked.
"Of course. We left the Tornado in the Kitsumi Park." Tails replied and they walked to the entrance where they met Yoda.
"Farewell, Sonic. May the force be with you."
"And you too." Sonic replied and they set off for the Kitsumi Park.
Sonic and Tails climbed into the Tornado and they waved goodbye to Marth and Roy.
"Let's go to Canada! I'm ready to fight this Link person." Sonic said and Tails directed the Tornado to Canada.
************************
They soon found the lake and Rouge placed Knuckles beside a bench and she sat on it so they were level. Although they had talked on the way to the lake, there wasn't much more polite conversation they could make. They both stared in silence at the lake and it remained like this for what seemed like an age.
"There they are! Doesn't look like they're saying anything though. This could get boring." Gelest sighed as she settled herself on a branch in a tree behind them.
"Did you just hear something?" Knuckles suddenly asked and he looked around to the tree. Rouge did the same and Knuckles stared for several minutes at the tree. He finally turned back again and sighed. "Must have been my imagination."
"I wonder where Sonic and Tails are now?" Rouge asked.
"In Japan I assume. Sonic is probably trying to calm Tails down or trying to knock him out." Knuckles laughed.
"Eh?" Rouge was totally confused.
"When they said they were going to Japan this morning and Sonic said that Tails would be the only one who would want to go I tried to think why. Then I suddenly remembered that Japan is famed for its technology and how Tails reacts to it." Knuckles explained.
"I assume it's not a good thing." Rouge commented.
"Technology makes him go high and he usually runs round like a headless chicken when he does." Knuckles grinned at the thought and even Rouge chuckled.
"I can just image it." Her eyes widened. She took a deep breath and turned to Knuckles. "Knuckles, can I ask you something?" They stared at each other for a few moments but he averted his eyes.
"Yes?" He asked.
"Do you think we'll ever find Shadow?" She asked seriously.
"Of course we will. There aren't many more places we will have to look once Sonic and Tails get back. They're probably going to Canada after Japan."
"How did you know they're going to Canada?" Rouge asked suspiciously.
"I think Sonic mentioned it to me. Anyway, after that it's just Australia and.what's the other place?" Knuckles asked.
"How could you forget? It's Italy." She replied and suddenly Knuckles remembered what Italy was famed for. He went a lovely shade of scarlet and coughed.
"Oh yeah, how could I forget?" He whispered and fell into silence. ~ Maybe that would be a good time to tell her.~ He thought to himself.
"Ah how sweet. What's this? Rouge is going to tell him something important, I can feel it." Gelest whispered to herself.
"Knuckles can I tell you something? Something I've never told anyone before?" Rouge suddenly said. Knuckles looked at her puzzled and this time, he stared straight at her.
"What it is?" He asked concerned.
"I need to tell you something important.about how I feel." She stumbled and she looked really embarrassed. Knuckles remained quiet though and after a pause, she continued. "I feel.I mean.I really.I really li-" But just then, Gelest heard crashing in the trees.
"Damn her! She had to come just then, didn't she?" Gelest cursed Zelgan as she appeared by the lake.
"Hi you two, it's getting a bit dark now so I thought I'd finish your legs off Knuckles, if that's all right." She saw the look on Rouge's face. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" She asked.
"No, nothing." Rouge said hurriedly and she pushed Knuckles back to the house with Zelgan walking beside them. Gelest set off into the air so she could reach the house before them.
By the time they had reached the house, Gelest had settled herself down in the kitchen and was eating an apple. She soon stopped though when they entered.
"Zelgan, can I have a word with you please?" She asked sweetly.
"Oh hello Gelest, of course you can. You two go to the rehabilitation room, I'll be there in a minute." She sat down at the table and Rouge and Knuckles left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Gelest exploded.
"Zelgan, you don't realise what you've just done do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you realise that they're in love? They haven't had the guts to tell each other until now and she was going to tell him and they could have been very happy except for you insisted on barging in on them!" She didn't trouble with keeping her voice down as she assumed they weren't outside the door.
"Well, I'm sorry but I didn't know!" Zelgan was shocked.
"How could you not know? It's so obvious!" She yelled out in frustration.
"Don't you think you're over reacting?" Zelgan asked.
"Over reacting? Over reacting? You can't see their emotions, so you can't tell how it's torturing both of them! I just want them to be happy that's all! I want them to have what I never had!" She burst into tears and stormed out of the room.
Rouge and Knuckles who were standing outside, were trying to hear what was happening. They could only catch snatches of conversation though. 'To tell each other', 'she was going to', 'barging in', 'you can't see their emotions' and 'want them to be happy'. When they heard Gelest storm towards the door though, Rouge quickly pushed Knuckles to the rehabilitation room and they entered the door just as Gelest ran down the corridor in tears.
"What's wrong with her?" Knuckles asked.
"I don't know. I wonder what that conversation was about?" Rouge asked but as they didn't know the answers, they waited until Zelgan appeared. She entered the room looking troubled but at Knuckles and Rouge's puzzled looks she smiled hurriedly.
"I suppose you heard most of that eh? She shouted loud enough for people on Earth to hear no doubt."
"No, we just saw her running down the corridor and we wondered if she's ok." Rouge said.
"Yeah, she just got a bit upset that's all. It happens sometimes, especially after." But she stopped. She shrugged her shoulders. "Never mind. Let's get this over and done with, I'm sure you want to talk alone." Rouge helped Knuckles onto the chair again and Zelgan laid her hands on his legs.
She concentrated for a moment and then straightened up.
"It looks like the force field has worked very well. I just need to strengthen the new bone between the break so it won't snap when you take your casts off. This will take a bit more time though so be prepared to wait." She laid her hands on his legs and suddenly, Knuckles felt a stabbing pain in his leg. He yelped and Zelgan's focus was broken.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't expect that to happen." Knuckles apologised.
"No don't worry about it. I should have told you that you would be able to feel your bones re-growing. Just grab onto something if it hurts, which it probably will do." She smiled and closed her eyes again.
The pain came back again, only this time more painful. He took Zelgan's advice and grabbed the first thing he could. Only he didn't expect it to be Rouge's hand. She didn't shake him off though and she even gripped his hand tighter. He smiled and leant his head against the back of the chair. The pain gradually grew worse as his grip on Rouge's hand tightened but she never said anything. She just looked concerned for Knuckles, which Zelgan noticed out of the corner of her eye.
~I may as well get the screaming over and done with.~ She thought to herself and she concentrated all of her efforts.
"ARRRGH!" Knuckles screamed out and then it stopped. Zelgan opened her eyes as she tried to get her breath back again. Knuckles looked like he was just about to faint.
"You all right there?" She asked lightly and when Knuckles didn't reply she smiled. "I take that as a yes. Sorry I had to do that, otherwise you would have been sitting here for the next four or five hours." But Knuckles hadn't even moved. "Knuckles, are you all right?" She asked and she took a closer look at him.
It turned out that he had fainted but she just shrugged her shoulders.
"I kind of expected him to do that. Will you be all right with him here? I need to go and find Gelest. I should be able to talk to her now without her biting my head off." She laughed and as she left the room, she noticed that Rouge was still holding Knuckles' hand.
Knuckles stirred a few minutes later and when Rouge saw him, she quickly let go of his hand. He woke up and looked around.
"What happened? I just remember, actually, I don't want to remember that." He frowned.
"You just fainted that's all. Come on, I don't know about you but I'm hungry." She helped him back in the chair and they set off for the kitchen. They entered it and saw Zelgan making a pot of tea.
"Awake at last is he? Do you want some tea?" They both nodded their heads and Zelgan poured out three mugs. She placed them on the table and everyone took theirs. The door opened again and Gelest appeared.
"Zelgan I.oh hello you two, I didn't realise you were here." She looked closely at them but she couldn't discern anything. "I'll come back later." She opened the door but stopped.
Zelgan had sent a thought to Gelest.
"Was there? Hmm.you'll have to tell me in a minute. Anyway, I came to apologise to you. And to give you this." She walked over to the table and let the object fall to it. It was a white feather.
"Gelest, you didn't need to do that! Are you ok?" She asked worriedly. Gelest laughed.
"Yes just a bit sore. You'd better take it or I might have to hit you!" She joked and Zelgan took the feather and put it in her hair.
"I haven't had one of these in such a long time that I thought you had forgotten about the promise. But then, you haven't really."
"Yeah, must have been about four months since the last one." Gelest commented. Rouge and Knuckles were completely confused by this conversation.
"Do you two want to talk alone?" Rouge coughed. Zelgan turned to them and smiled apologetically.
"I forgot you were here for a moment. You can stay; Gelest and me will talk later. Now then, I suppose you will want something to eat?"
"I must admit, I am a bit hungry." Knuckles said. Zelgan got up and started dinner. Soon they were all sat at the table eating food.
"Zelgan, can I ask you something?" Rouge asked and Zelgan nodded. "What is the white feather for?" Zelgan frowned and turned to Gelest.
"It's a promise I made to Zelgan a long time ago. I told her that if I ever had one of my fits, I would give her one of my feathers." Gelest explained.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Knuckles asked.
"Of course it does. That's the whole point. I can remember at the beginning, I had so many fits that I nearly went bald." Zelgan and Gelest laughed but Gelest stopped quickly. She looked sad at that memory so Rouge quickly changed the conversation.
"I don't suppose you've heard from Sonic or Tails have you?" She asked.
"No but I do know that they will be back tomorrow, quite late." Zelgan said. Gelest stood up and stretched.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm tired so I'm going to bed." She put her plate in the sink on top of a very large pile of dishes and left the room.
"That's typical of her to leave me to do the dishes! And look at how much there is!" Zelgan stood up and searched the cupboards for washing up liquid.
"I'll help if you want to." Rouge said and she stood up.
"Oh thank you for volunteering. Are you going to be all right there Knuckles?" Zelgan asked. Knuckles nodded his head and Rouge and Zelgan set themselves to the task of washing the dishes.
An hour later, they had finished the washing and Zelgan sat down exhausted.
"I didn't realise that a sink could hold so many dishes. At least I can see the bottom of it now." She stood up and walked to the entrance. "I'm going to bed too. See you tomorrow. And before you leave, can you turn off the light please?" Zelgan left the room.
"I think that's a good idea. All the events of today have tired me out. Come on Knuckles. Knuckles?" She looked at Knuckles and saw that he had already fallen asleep.
She took the wheelchair and pushed him slowly out of the room. She turned the light out and set off for his room. She entered it and managed to get him into bed without him waking up.
"Goodnight Knuckles." She whispered and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying out of the room. The door closed and Knuckles opened his eyes. Although it was dark his grin was evident as he tried to get to sleep.
************************
They landed in Canada by Lake Ontario and got out to have a look around.
"I can't see anyone around here. Maybe we should shout and see if he appears." Sonic suggested.
"Why don't we have a look in those trees over there?" Tails pointed to them and Sonic shrugged his shoulders.
"Ok then." They set off for the trees and entered them. The sun was shining through the gaps in them and dust was dancing in the air.
"Who goes there?" Someone shouted out and a man jumped out of a tree.
The man wore a green tunic and floppy hat, white clothes underneath, boots and gloves. But the most noticeable thing was the sword and shield he carried. He stood in front of them with his sword at Sonic's throat.
"My name is Sonic. Please don't kill me!" Sonic squeaked.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
"We're looking for Link and Zelda. We were told to find them if we ever came here." He replied.
"Who told you this?"
"Marth and Roy. Hang on a minute, why am I scared of you? If you're a real swordsman you'd give me fight!" Sonic pushed the sword away and stared at him.
"I like your attitude! I don't think you would want to fight me. My name is Link and if Marth and Roy told you about me then you must be trustworthy." He sheathed his sword and held out his hand.
"Excuse me, where is Zelda?" Tails asked.
"I'll get her in a minute. But what is your name and what are you two doing here?" He asked.
"My name is Tails. Me and Sonic are looking for a friend of ours and we thought we would ask you for your help." Tails explained. Link jumped up into the tree and a few moments later he came back down with a woman.
She wore a long pink dress, with gold around the shoulders. She was very pale and had long blonde hair. She looked very wise and had a gold circlet on her head.
"Hello Sonic and Tails. I'm sorry about Link; he's very suspicious of strangers. Won't you come up?" She asked.
"We would love to but we're in a bit of a hurry. We just wanted to know whether you had seen our friend or not." Sonic said.
"What does he look like?" She asked.
"He's a hedgehog, black with red highlights." Sonic replied.
"No we haven't seen anyone of that description. You can't go back now to Kikuyu, they're not expecting you until tonight." Zelda said.
"How do you know that?" Tails was astounded.
"I have seen it. If you won't stay here then I suggest you go to Toronto and visit the Eaton Centre. It's a great place for tourists." She suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea. Well, thank you for not killing us anyway." Sonic turned away.
"Before you go, you'll want to know who'll you see in Italy won't you?" Zelda asked. "Ask for Mario and Luigi." She then walked up to Tails and whispered to him, "Your plan will go very well. I can see that while you were away, it has gone further than it would have done if you had remained." She then walked over to Sonic.
"Beware of the ones you know. And be careful how you look at other people." She disappeared in a whirl of colour.
"Has she been giving you bits of advice?" Link laughed. "Listen to what she has to say. She has a knack of knowing what will happen. Enjoy your time in Toronto." He jumped up into the tree and they were left alone.
"That was interesting." Sonic commented. They walked out of the woods and hopped back into the Tornado. They flew to the centre of Toronto and landed on top of the Eaton Centre.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Tails said as he jumped out. They walked to the entrance and entered.
The number of people who were in there immediately hit them. Sonic and Tails walked forward and they appeared in a food court.
"Oh Sonic, can we get some chilli dogs?" Tails said.
"Yeah, why not? I could do with something to eat." They queued up and bought a dozen each. They sat down and ate them. By the end, they were pretty stuffed.
"That was good!" Sonic said as he patted his stomach.
"Sonic, let's go and have a look around." So they got up and looked at a map. "I never realised you could get so many shops in this sort of space." Tails looked at the map and his eyes widened when he saw that there was a theme park here. "There's even a theme park here, Sonic!" Sonic looked to where Tails was pointing.
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Sonic ran off with Tails close behind him.
They heard the shouts long before they saw the park and when they arrived they gasped in awe. There were many rides but in the middle was the best roller coaster they had ever seen. It had two loop the loops and three corkscrews. They stood at the end of the queue and after what seemed like an age, they managed to get onto the front seats.
"Here we go!" Sonic shouted as the ride started. His excitement soon turned to horror though after the first loop when he realised that he had just eaten 12 chilli dogs. Tails was already looking green and they were concentrating on not being sick so much to notice that the ride had finished. They ran off and found a toilet. Anyone who had been there at the time would have been able to hear retching noises, as Sonic and Tails were being violently sick.
They soon came out and leant against the sinks, as they were exhausted. They managed to grin at each other after a few moments and they walked out of the toilets.
"Next time I want to do something like that you stop me ok?" Sonic said and Tails laughed. They settled on having some chips instead to make up for the lost food and they spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, remembering the good times. They ended up back at the entrance and saw that it was getting dark.
"We had better go back now, the others will worry about us." Tails said so they climbed back up to the roof and set off for Kikuyu.
************************
Gelest entered the kitchen in the morning and saw Zelgan cooking breakfast.
"Morning Gelest. I've cooked some sausages, tomatoes and nice crispy bacon." She said in a strange West Country accent.
"Hi Zelgan, so then what were you going to tell me?" She asked as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"In the rehabilitation room, I had to fix Knuckles' bones-" Zelgan started but Gelest interrupted her.
"Poor old thing, I can still remember the pain of it-"
"Anyway, as you know, it's a bit painful so I suggested that Knuckles should hold onto something. And guess what? It turned out to be Rouge's hand! And she didn't seem to mind either." Zelgan gossiped and Gelest grinned.
"I think we're getting there. I must tell Tails when he gets back."
"What has Tails got to do with this?" Zelgan asked.
"He's the one who told me about it in the first place. I've been helping him with his plan. He hasn't really told me about the rest of it though. I assume it's for when they start to travel again." Just then Rouge entered with Knuckles.
"Morning you two. Are you ready for more bone fixing?" Zelgan asked Knuckles and seeing his panicked look, she laughed.
"Don't do that Zelgan, that's just cruel." Gelest scolded.
"And this is coming from you." Zelgan pointed out. "I will have to do your arm but it'll be less painful. For a start off there's only one arm and it's smaller. But I think you should have some breakfast first." They did so and afterwards they headed for the rehabilitation room. Knuckles looked like he was going to be sick.
"Don't worry, I have to do the same thing as I did for your legs. They won't be fixed properly unless I put the force field around it." Zelgan explained and Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief.
She closed her eyes and light appeared around her hands as it did before. The light seeped into the cast and she opened her eyes. She quickly checked his legs as well.
"It looks like the casts can come off today. Now then, where has Gelest got to?" Just as she said this Gelest appeared holding a sharp cutting tool.
"Is this the one?" She asked as she entered the room.
"Yep, that's it. Right then Knuckles, this will cut the cast off. Keep still or I might cut you by accident." Zelgan explained and she turned it on. The blade started to spin around and she started to cut the cast.
Ten minutes later, in which Knuckles had been craning his neck and Gelest had been grinning, they were off.
"Before you do anything I need to tell you some stuff. First of all don't do any strenuous exercise and leave stairs for today too. Apart from that, you should be ok." Zelgan went to exit the room but Gelest wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh, the wonderful smell of skin which has been enclosed for two days. I have my own advice to give: have a wash. The bathroom is just along the corridor from where you're sleeping. Have a good day you two, I need to do some stuff. Come Zelgan, you never finished telling me about what you found out." And with that, Gelest left the room with Zelgan and Knuckles and Rouge were left behind.
"Shall we go and have a look then? I must admit, I do need a shower." Rouge said and she walked to the door. Knuckles lifted himself out of the chair and took a few tentative steps. He didn't fall over so he followed Rouge. They went up the lift and at the end of the corridor they found the bathroom.
They entered the bathroom and it was made up of a large bath with hooks for towels etc. They also found a cupboard full of the usual bathroom stuff. But as there was only one bath, they weren't sure what to do. So they stood there undecided.
"Do you want to go first?" Rouge finally said.
"You can go first if you want." Knuckles replied and at this, Rouge sighed.
"Right, you're going first or I'll break your legs again!" She threatened and Knuckles gulped.
"Ok, ok, I'm going first." He got into the bath and looked around.
"You might need this." Rouge said as she handed him a towel. He hung it over the edge of the bath and leant forward to turn the taps on. Rouge turned away and sat down, staring at the wall. There was the sound of running water for a few minutes and then it stopped.
"Um Rouge? Could you pass me some soap please?" Knuckles asked and Rouge unwrapped a new bar. But just as she was about to pass it to him, she squeezed it too hard and it flew out of her hand, landing on the other side of the bath, hitting Knuckles square on the nose on the way.
"Ow!" He rubbed his nose, trying to make it feel better. Rouge sighed and she bent over to get it. As she did though, her assets (Note: her cleavage, not her knockers!) were right in front of Knuckles' face. His eyes crossed and he couldn't help staring. She looked up and noticed his face. Her immediate reaction was to make a nasty comment to him, as she used to.
"Oy you pervert, don't you dare look at me like that! And also the other day, what did you think you were doing, holding my hand? You're pathetic, trying to attract me like that! Did you think I really liked you?" She shouted. Knuckles looked shocked but then his face hardened.
"So that's what you think of me eh? I actually thought that you were all right but now I know the truth! No wonder you're so ugly, it's to remind people not to like you!" He retaliated and got out of the bath. He dried himself quickly before storming out of the room, slamming the door.
"I'm ugly am I? Well it's lucky that I didn't tell him about my feelings then." She said to herself before emptying the bath and refilling it so she could have one.
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"What was that?" Gelest said as she heard the door slam. She stopped walking and watched as Knuckles entered the garden.
"And she has the cheek to assume I liked her!" She heard him say loudly. She walked over slowly and as she got closer, she could feel Knuckles' anger.
"Are you ok Knuckles? You look all hot and bothered." She said. He spun around but when he realised it was her, he was suddenly cheerful.
"No it's nothing. It's just that Rouge." At the mention of her name, he scowled.
"What happened? Did she insult you?" Gelest asked.
"You could say that." He said before walking off. Gelest suddenly realised what had occurred.
"Oh no, Tails' plan is ruined! I have to get them to make up, even if it means." She said to herself. "I can't do it, Zelgan would kill me and it goes against my beliefs." She shook her head. "I'll see what happens before I do anything." She also walked away, deep in thought.
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"We're back at last, I wonder what everyone's been doing?" Sonic announced as they landed by the mansion. They got out and walked towards the entrance.
"Me too. I want to see how Knuckles is feeling." Tails said but added to himself, "Especially towards Rouge." The first person they saw was Gelest who was running towards them.
"Hi you two, how did the trip go?" She asked.
"We didn't find Shadow but we did see lots of sites." And Sonic explained what they had done as they walked towards the kitchen. When she heard about the chilli dogs, she laughed.
"Well you certainly did a lot of things. Not much has happened here apart from Knuckles' leg casts have come off."
"Really? So you mean we can go soon?" Tails asked.
"Yep, you should be able to go tomorrow if nothing happens." She confirmed. They entered the kitchen and Sonic immediately rummaged through the cupboards. "You'll be all right for a moment won't you Sonic? I have to talk to Tails for a minute." She heard a grunt from Sonic so she beckoned Tails outside the room.
"Tails something happened while you were gone." She explained the whole situation with Knuckles and Rouge. "And when I saw Rouge later on, she looked just as angry as Knuckles did. I'm not sure exactly what the argument was about, but they obviously have had one."
"And they're both so stubborn! We may never be able to get them to apologise to each other." Tails wailed.
"But there is one good thing that would occur because of this. If they really love each other, then they will make up. Your plan might still work but you may have to extend it slightly." Gelest said.
"That's a point. Well thank you for telling me. We should be going to Italy next and hopefully the atmosphere will help them." He said.
"Oh I wanted to tell you about keeping them two happy. Don't make them sit next to each other and when we have dinner, try not to ask them about what they did. The sooner they forget about this, the better." She explained. They walked back into the kitchen and saw Zelgan sitting at the table but Sonic had gone.
"Where's Sonic?" Tails asked.
"He said he was tired so I told him to have a nap and that you would call him when it's dinner. Gelest, what's wrong? You look worried." She asked concerned. Yet again, Gelest told her what had happened.
"You don't say? This certainly has put a dent in your plan." She commented. She stood up and started to prepare dinner. "We can only hope that they'll make up soon." Just then, Knuckles entered the kitchen and they immediately stopped and looked at him. He sat down and stared at them.
"Are you all right?" He asked and they started talking again.
"So then Tails, what is this about chilli dogs? I didn't hear the whole conversation." Gelest quickly said.
Tails told them about the chilli dogs and then retold the whole trip for Knuckles' benefit.
"Sword fighting eh? I never really learned about that, I prefer the non armed methods of combat but it would be useful." He commented.
"Do you know martial arts then?" Gelest asked interested.
"I know a bit." Knuckles said.
"A bit? You know more than a bit! He's what you would call an expert when it comes to fighting." Tails said and Knuckles went pink.
"Oh yes, I wanted to tell you that the cast for your arm can come off tonight after-" Zelgan started but Knuckles interrupted her.
"Oh please not the-" He whimpered.
"Yes, it has to be done. You can wait until after dinner though if you want to." Knuckles nodded his head.
"Um, what was that all about?" Tails asked Gelest.
"Well, Zelgan has been fixing Knuckles' bones but it's a bit painful and he's scared after what happened with his legs." Gelest explained. "Nothing went wrong or anything but it was just the fact that it was two bones being fixed at once."
"Oh I see. Before them two had the argument, how were they getting on?" Tails asked. Gelest glanced over at Knuckles, who looked interested in what they were talking about.
"Why don't I help you put your machine away?" She said loudly and then added in an undertone, "I'll explain then."
They left the kitchen and on the way to where Tails had left the Tornado, Gelest explained that they had been getting on very well with each other. Tails was now guiding the Tornado into the garage.
"So you're saying that they could have told each other really soon? We were so close."
"Yet so far." Gelest finished. They both sighed as Gelest closed the garage door. "I think dinner should be ready soon, why don't you go and get Sonic? And see if you can find Rouge at the same time." Gelest suggested before walking back to the kitchen. Tails walked up the stairs and saw that Sonic had just woken up.
"I must have smelt the dinner in my sleep." Sonic laughed but seeing Tails' face he stopped. "What's wrong Tails?"
"I may as well tell you." Tails said and thought, ~Seeing as you're so ignorant of the whole situation.~ He continued, "Rouge and Knuckles have had a big argument with each other. I'm not sure what it was about but they seem to hate each other now."
"Why don't we ask them?" Sonic asked.
"No, we can't do that! We need them to forget about it as soon as possible." Tails replied. "When we have dinner, we should make sure that they don't sit next to each other ok?" Sonic nodded his head and they entered the kitchen. They sat down on either side of Knuckles and dinner was served.
"Where is Rouge?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.
"I couldn't find her. Do you want me to look?" He asked.
"Don't worry, I'll do it." Gelest replied before walking out of the room.
She found Rouge sitting in her room, staring out of the window.
"Rouge, dinner is ready." Gelest said and Rouge followed her to the kitchen. They entered it and Rouge sat down. Gelest did the same and they started eating.
To pass the time, Tails and Sonic told Rouge what they had done in Japan and Canada. Although Rouge enjoyed what they said and laughed at the right points, she still managed to give Knuckles several withering glares, which if looks could kill, he would have left in a matchbox. He managed to glower at her too and when Sonic and Tails finished talking Sonic kept looking at the two of them.
"That's it, I'm fed up of you two trying to kill each other with your looks. What's wrong?" He suddenly announced. When they didn't say anything though, he tapped the table with his fingers. "I'm waiting!" Just then a hand came down from the big computer in the sky and proceeded to strangle Sonic for several seconds before disappearing.
"Sonic!" Gelest hissed but it didn't matter because Rouge and Knuckles hadn't heard his question. Sonic gave up on getting any answer from them two and instead helped Zelgan with the dishes.
As soon as dinner finished Knuckles and Rouge both got up at the same time and Rouge got to the door just as Knuckles did. When she didn't move though, Knuckles pushed her out of the way and stalked out of the room. She gasped and then exited as well, going in the opposite direction to Knuckles.
"I've just remembered that Knuckles has to have his arm fixed. I don't suppose you would go and find him please?" Zelgan asked Sonic and he got up.
He went to his room and knocked on the door. When no reply came though, he opened the door and found Knuckles laying on his bed, deep in thought.
"Err.Knuckles, you have to get your arm fixed." Sonic said. Knuckles turned his head and saw him. Sonic noticed he looked not angry now but sad. He stood up and followed Sonic out of the room. They met Zelgan and Tails at the bottom of the stairs. "Where's Gelest?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, she's gone for a shower." Zelgan replied and the mention of showers and baths in general reminded Knuckles of what Rouge said. Although he was angry at what she had said, he had also been upset by her comments. Any hope of her liking him at all had now faded into oblivion and now he was just depressed. Zelgan led the way to the rehabilitation room and Knuckles got into the chair soundlessly.
Sonic and Tails stayed, as they were interested in what actually happened. Zelgan started the process and was surprised when Knuckles didn't seem to react at all. Even when the cast was being cut off, he remained silent.
"Knuckles, I've finished and your arm looks all right. Knuckles, are you ok?" Zelgan said. After repeating the question several times, and not getting an answer, she exited the room with Tails and Sonic. Knuckles seemed to wake up and when he saw his arm, he smiled a little but all he could think about was what Rouge had said to him.
~Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you? Did you think I really liked you?~ Those words filled all of his thoughts and wiping a tear away, he exited the room.
"Gelest, I think you should talk to Knuckles. After all, you are good with emotions." Zelgan told Gelest, who was sitting in the living room.
"Sometimes it's better to leave people alone when they're upset." Gelest replied.
"Yes but it's obviously not doing him any good. You didn't see him in there, he didn't move at all. He didn't even twitch when I was fixing his bone." Zelgan said. "I know, why don't you show him the Holus beach? I always go there when I'm sad."
"Do you really think it will help?" Gelest sounded sceptical.
"Of course it will. I think he's the type of person who likes natural beauty." Zelgan confirmed.
"Then maybe I should go. I'll see what I can do." She stood up.
"Thanks Gelest." Zelgan said.
"No problem." She left the room and quickly changed into her costume before walking to Knuckles' room. She knocked on the door and when no reply came she opened it.
The first thing she noticed was that the room was quite cold and soon realised why. The window was open and Knuckles was sat on the window ledge. Gelest walked over to him and sat on the ledge too.
"Knuckles are you ok?" She asked gently. He turned to her and she could immediately feel the sadness in him. ~He really does love her.~ She thought to herself.
"No. I don't really want to talk about it though." He replied.
"Well I have an idea if you want to hear." He didn't say anything so she continued, "Whenever I feel upset or sad there's a place I go to. It's called Holus beach and if you want, I can show you where it is and you can think there. There's never anyone there so you'll be alone and I'll leave you there for a couple of hours until you want to go back again." She explained.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Yes. I want to help you, that's all. And I remembered that I would always go there if I wanted to think." She stood up and climbed onto the roof. He followed her and she opened her wings. "Can you fly?" She asked. He nodded his head. "That's good. It shouldn't take too long so just follow me." She jumped into the air and set off with Knuckles following her.
They arrived at the beach and Gelest landed by the coast. Coconut trees on one side surrounded the beach and there was a jetty going out into the sea. Behind the coconuts was a jungle. Not far out into the sea was a tree- covered island. Fireflies filled the air and the only noise was the waves crashing onto the shore.
~Ow, my back! I haven't gone this far for a long time.~ She thought as she walked out onto the jetty. Knuckles followed her and sat down on the edge. "You'll be all right here won't you?" She stretched her back to try and make it feel better. "I'll be on that island there ok? When you're finished here, just get up and wander around. I'll see you and you can go then." She jumped up again and started to flap her wings but she landed again wincing.
"It looks like my back isn't taking any more punishment from me. Luckily I know a path that goes around the jungle which will take me a few hours." She started to walk to the trees.
"Wait a minute Gelest! Can I talk to you?" Knuckles called out. Gelest smiled slightly and turned back. She sat down next to him and folded her wings away. She looked out and Knuckles did the same.
There was silence for several minutes but Gelest knew he would speak soon.
"I suppose you know how I feel?" He asked.
"No. You love Rouge but as I have never felt love, I don't know how it feels." She explained.
"It's strange. Even after what she said to me, I still love her. But I know she doesn't feel the same way."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"That's one of the things she told me. I know I was too assumptive though." He sighed.
"She may have just reacted in the wrong way to something you did. Are you sure you don't do the same thing?"
"Sometimes. And that's the worse thing. I insulted her too. Even if she did like me, she won't now." Gelest turned to him and saw that tears were running down his face.
"Oh Knuckles, I'm sure she still loves you. You have to talk to her, it's the only way you'll find out." Knuckles wiped his face with his hand.
"I can't. You saw her at dinner. Every time she looks at me, my insides freeze up." (Note from Luff: Ahhh, so sweet!)
"Yes but that was then and this is now. In this sort of situation, time is the best healer. Just give her a few days. I should know, after all the times I was spiteful to Zelgan."
"But you two always seem to get along." He replied.
"Yeah, we do now but not a few years ago. I was under a lot of stress then so I would snap at her all the time." She explained.
"What happened to get you stressed?" He asked.
"It's just a phase I went through. We all do at some point and it would seem that Rouge is going through it now." She replied quickly. "The best thing to do is if she says or does anything nasty, just ignore her. In the end she'll be so fed up that she'll just start talking to you again." She suggested.
"Thanks Gelest.for talking to me." He said quietly.
"Hey, if I couldn't help, I'd be a bit useless." She laughed and stood up. "Hmm.my back should be ok now. Do you want to go now?" She asked. He nodded his head and followed her back into the sky.
They arrived back at the mansion and landed in Knuckles' room. She closed the window and said good night before leaving the room. She fell into her bed fast asleep but Knuckles remained awake for several more hours, thinking about what Gelest had said.
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Luff: At last, the end of another (hopefully) exciting instalment of The STREKS gang!
S. Chensu: Thank you to all those peeps out there who actually managed to read this thing the whole way through and not fall asleep!
Luff: We promise that it will get more exciting later on! Much, much more exciting!
Knuckles: Yeah, just as long as it doesn't involve me and Rouge.
Luff: 0.o
S. Chensu: ^-^;;
Rouge: It does, doesn't it?
Luff: Maybe.
S. Chensu: Anyways, Read and Review! And any flames will be used as a threat for Knuckles! Knuckles: 0.o
Luff: Mwaohahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Knuckles: Argh! Please R&R!