S. Chensu: Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the amount of random
characters in the intros. I do realise that not everyone knows who they
are. It's just that they just suddenly appear for no reason at all!
Fox: Hehehehe, bet you didn't spot us coming!
Luff: Actually we did because we said you would be last episode.
Fox: D'oh!
Falco: Well done idiot.
Fox: Who you calling an idiot?
Falco: Well there's only you and me here and I'm obviously not going to be talking about myself.
Peppy: *Comes in* Now stop it you two, we're not even meant to be here.
Falco: And you think that's a good enough reason?
Luff: Excuse me; you're not even in this story at all!
S. Chensu: Yeah, get the hell out! *Brandishes marine shotgun* Otherwise I'll use this on you turkey!
Falco: Who you calling a turkey?
Slippy: Falco, I really think we should just leave while we still can.
Fox: I agree.
*Group run off screen screaming their heads off*
Luff: Wow, where did you get that from?
S. Chensu: Borrowed it off Edwin Lindsey.
Luff: Oh here she goes. *Puts face in hands*
S. Chensu: He's from Eternal Darkness in case you were wondering. Great game, I suggest you go and buy it.
Luff: *Gags S. Chensu* Right, I'll do the disclaimer. We don't own the Sonic characters, pokémon characters or Star Fox characters (we may as well say it). We do own Gelest and Zelgan though. And the story of course.
Fox: *Head pops through side of screen* Now read people!
***************************************************************************
Episode seven: The return of Eggman and char grilled Sonic
Tails woke up in the morning and remembered what he saw last night. Knuckles and Rouge looking very flushed.
"Yuck! That's disgusting!" He could only imagine what they had done and although he was certain they hadn't had sex, he didn't really want to think about it. He got out of bed and noticed that everyone else was asleep. "Oh well, that just means I get to use the shower first." He did so and when he had finished drying himself off, went to find some breakfast.
He went to the dining room and found Pikachu sitting on the table eating an apple.
"Hello Tails, you're up early." He greeted and indicated to a table in the far corner. "Just take what you want from there." The table was laid out with a large breakfast and so Tails had a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.
"Have you heard anything from Team Rocket since yesterday?" Tails asked as he chewed his breakfast.
"No, none of the pokémon have been able to find a trace of them. It can only be a good thing though." Pikachu replied.
"What actually happened? I was knocked out before the end and so I didn't see anything." Pikachu said that he wasn't there until the end so he didn't know about Shadow. He did describe the end though and Tails looked amazed when Pikachu described the combination of attacks. "Wow, you must be really powerful."
"I just keep myself fit and healthy. Where are your friends anyway?"
"Still asleep. Knuckles and Rouge probably won't be up for ages but Sonic is usually out by now..." Tails looked puzzled until the door swung open and Sonic entered.
"Morning you two. Oh breakfast! I'm really hungry." Sonic piled food onto his plate and sat down, his eyes focused on the small mountain in front of him. He started eating as fast as he could and Tails laughed.
"Sonic slow down! You'll get indigestion doing that!" Tails said and Sonic stopped eating.
"You're probably right." He ate more slowly now and he finished it. Knuckles and Rouge still weren't up and Tails sighed.
"They must have been doing a lot to still be in bed." Tails said to himself.
"I wonder where Knuckles and Rouge have got to?" Sonic asked.
"Probably still in bed. They looked really tired last night. Why don't we go and see Shadow and ask him about yesterday?" Tails suggested.
"That's a good idea." Sonic stood up and walked to the door. "If you do see them Pikachu, can you tell them we've gone to Shadow?" He said, looking at him. Pikachu nodded his head and they left the room.
They entered Shadow's room to see him sitting up awake. He was obviously miles away as he looked startled when he saw them standing by his bed.
"Oh hello you two. Where are Knuckles and Rouge?" He asked and noticed that Tails face crinkled slightly.
"They're probably in bed still." He replied. They sat down nearer to Shadow and he sat up a bit higher.
"Can you tell us what happened yesterday?" Sonic asked.
"If you want, if you tell me what happened before." He listened to Sonic and then Tails as they told him what had happened while he wasn't there. He then told them about his plan and how Knuckles and Rouge managed to hit Team Rocket when he had got them outside. He didn't tell them about his dream though.
"You managed to attack them in your condition. Wow, that's really brave of you." Tails said. This embarrassed Shadow slightly so he didn't reply.
"I wonder when Eggman will get here?" Sonic said.
"He told me that he would be here in." Tails looked at his watch. "About ten minutes time. I suppose we had better find Knuckles and Rouge before he arrives." They stood up and walked by the door. "We'll be back in a minute." Sonic said and Shadow nodded his head.
They left the room and walked back to the dining room.
"Those two have been acting really strangely recently. I don't suppose you know anything about it do you?" Sonic asked Tails. Not trusting himself if he opened his mouth, he simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. They entered the dining room and found them eating breakfast. "We've found you at last! God, how long were you in bed?" Sonic said.
"I don't know. We were just tired after yesterday. In case you hadn't noticed, you and Tails got to sleep while me and Knuckles had to fight Team Rocket on our own until Shadow came along." Rouge explained.
"I may have been able to sleep but that didn't stop the pain of my nose coming through when I woke up. It still feels bruised." Sonic rubbed his nose for a few seconds.
"Anyway, Eggman is going to be here in about five minutes. We just wanted to find you so you would know." Tails said. Knuckles and Rouge stood up, their plates empty.
"Shall we go then?" Knuckles asked before leaving the room with the others following him.
They entered the reception to see Eggman walk through the door. He had obviously bought more clothes, as he now looked different. It even looked like he had lost some weight. He saw them and headed in their direction. Tails who suddenly remembered Meowth walked over to the reception.
"I assume that's Mr. Eggman?" Meowth asked. Tails nodded his head and Meowth tapped a few keys. "I've got him in the security system now so he's now able to walk around."
"Thanks Meowth." He walked back to the others and said hello to Eggman.
"Ah Tails, I was just telling the others that we can now move in to the apartment. It's not fully furnished yet so we have to do that when we get back." Eggman explained. "I should be really telling you this with Shadow as well. Where is he?" He asked.
"He's in bed in the hospital ward." Sonic said and he led them to Shadow's room.
They entered and sat down in the chairs. Shadow saw Eggman and smiled slightly.
"It's good to see you again Professor. Where have you been then?" Shadow asked.
"It is also good to see you looking all right. Haven't the others told you about the apartment?"
"Oh yes, I forgot about that. Where is this apartment then?"
"In London, England. Now then are you all definitely sure you want to live in the apartment?" He asked.
"I see no reason why we shouldn't. Why, what's wrong with us living there?" Sonic asked suspiciously.
"There's nothing wrong, it's just that if you want to, it means you have to go to school." These immediately brought back old memories of times before Sonic in Tails' mind.
"Are you sure we have to?" Knuckles asked.
"When I bought the apartment, I needed to fill in details of who will be living there. And as you four are all under sixteen, you are legally required to go to school. You can still change your minds if you want to though." Eggman explained.
"What, after all of the effort you put in to getting it in the first place? School doesn't really bother me." Rouge shrugged her shoulders. Of course Knuckles agreed and Sonic looked at Tails, knowing what he was thinking.
"Would you be all right with that Tails?" Sonic asked quietly. Tails looked up and Sonic could see the fear of old memories in his eyes but he nodded his head.
"Yeah, no problem." He smiled and Sonic hugged him.
"We'll go, no problem." Sonic said and Eggman smiled.
"What about you Shadow?" Eggman turned to him.
"I don't really have anywhere else to go. Then I shall stay with you." Shadow decided. Eggman clapped his hands.
"Well, now that that is sorted out how about telling me what actually happened on your journeys?"
The group all told the story and particular things that had happened to them. Of course one major thing was left out, this being the whole Knuckles and Rouge situation. Shadow was extremely vague about what had happened to him but he blamed it on his memory. They finished the story with the appearance of Team Rocket and how thanks to Shadow, they had managed to get rid of them.
"Well you certainly have been doing a lot of things over the last week. When will you be allowed out of bed Shadow?"
"They said yesterday at least another day but since the Team Rocket event, I don't know." Just as he was saying this, Pikachu and Chansey walked in. "Maybe now we can find out." Shadow said. Chansey did the usual check up and Pikachu waited for the results so he could tell the others. Chansey looked happy when he talked to Pikachu so it could only be good news.
"Chansey says she doesn't see why you can't get out of bed for a little while today as long as you don't overdo yourself like yesterday." Pikachu suddenly remembered something. "Ah yes, I've just recalled that once you were out of bed, we would celebrate by having a traditional ozzie barbeque. If you follow me to the garden, I'll start setting it up."
"Oh, a barbeque!" Tails squealed and was met with frightened looks from everyone. "What? Someone had to sound excited." They shrugged their shoulders and mutterings of 'I suppose so' were heard.
They followed Pikachu into the garden. It was large, with a gazebo in the middle. Because of the hot climate, there were many eucalyptus trees lining the sides. A pond stood in one corner, surrounded by rocks and in the opposite corner there was a large grill.
Pokémon were already lying in the shade or perched in trees, chatting to each other. Ash, Misty and Brock were sitting on a bench chatting too. Rouge and Knuckles immediately went to sit on the grass in the far right corner but as it wasn't too hot yet, the others contented themselves with a table near the barbeque. Brock stood up when he saw them and they realised that yet again, he had the pink, frilly apron on.
He walked over to the barbeque and poured some paraffin (Note from S. Chensu: I think that's what you use anyway) in it before setting it alight. Unfortunately, he had gone over the top with the paraffin so not only were the coals on fire, he got burnt too. He blinked for a few moments before quickly dunking his head in the pond, which was quite close. He then continued like nothing had ever happened and soon there was the smell of roasting meat. Pikachu had put his cork hat on and was sitting on the table with Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Eggman.
Sonic, who was sitting across from Shadow remained quiet while the conversation took place. He was remembering what Shadow had said to him once.
~I think I now know who the ultimate life form is. I think it might be you Sonic.~ He had thought about it then but he must have forgotten it, what with all the events that followed it. These words continued to dominate his thoughts and he wondered if they were true. He stared at Shadow trying to find himself in that face, anything that resembled him. He therefore did not hear the others telling him that the food was ready.
"Earth to Sonic, Earth to Sonic! God, he's acting almost as weird as Rouge and Knuckles." Tails waved his hand in front of Sonic's eyes and they crossed as Sonic woke up from his thinking.
"Hmm?" Sonic looked at them and only half concentrated on the reply that Tails gave.
"Don't you want anything to eat?" He asked exasperated.
"Oh yeah, I suppose I should." Sonic walked over aimlessly as he continued to think. ~We're both hedgehogs but apart from that. What's that smell?~ Sonic sniffed the air and the odour of burning curled towards his nose. He just then felt a sharp pain in his arse and looking down, saw his behind on fire.
It turned out that Sonic had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten about the barbeque and had backed up into it. Now his backside was on fire and as he realised this, he panicked and started running around with his arms in the air.
"ARRRGH!" He screamed as he ran around and the others looked on with mild interest.
"Well, at least it woke him up." Tails shrugged his shoulders and Shadow folded his arms.
"How pathetic." He stated and Sonic hearing this managed to stop for long enough to shout back,
"Well you would be running around too if your arse was on fire!"
"It was." Shadow said simply and Sonic considered this before running around again.
Now anyone who has done Chemistry in school knows that oxygen fuels fire and so instead of getting smaller, the fire had got bigger and now he was a big ball of flame. The others who hadn't been concerned were worried now and Tails quickly pushed Sonic into the pond. Sonic went under for a few minutes and Tails remembered that he couldn't swim. Luckily the pond was only chest deep so Sonic soon reappeared very wet and cold.
He got out and shook himself, soaking everyone. He stood there in the sunlight for a minute trying to warm up. His teeth chattered and he hugged himself tightly.
"I almost preferred being on fire." He shivered as he said this.
"That can be easily arranged." Sonic heard Shadow say and looking at him noticed that Shadow had his hands by the barbeque. Realising what he was suggesting, Sonic shook his head quickly.
"No, that won't be necessary." He said hurriedly and sat back down at the table. He was drying out by now and the sun warmed him up.
"Would you like a towel Sonic?" Pikachu asked and Sonic simply nodded his head. He followed Pikachu into the centre to find one for him. Shadow, Tails and Eggman settled back down on the table.
"What are them two up to? They've been sitting over there talking to each other since we got here." Eggman said, pointing to Rouge and Knuckles.
"Let's just say they are developing their friendship." Shadow hinted. Tails gave him a warning look but Shadow just shrugged his shoulders. Eggman considered this for a few minutes while looking at them.
"Do you mean that." He stumbled, trying to find suitable words. "They're going out?" Tails simply nodded his head and Eggman lifted his eyebrows.
"Ah.I understand now. Am I the only one who didn't know?" Eggman asked.
"No, Sonic still doesn't know. I don't know how, it's rather obvious." Shadow commented.
They all looked at Knuckles and Rouge laughing together. When Knuckles glanced over though, they turned their heads and pretended that they hadn't been staring at them.
"Under the watchful gaze of our friends I see." Knuckles said. "You mean the intruding stares. Come on, I'm fed up of them finding entertainment in watching us. Let's go somewhere more private." Rouge said and they walked past the others to find a place where they could be together alone.
"I wonder what they're doing?" Eggman asked. Tails remembering last night shuddered.
"I don't even want to think about it." The others smiled at this outburst. Sonic then appeared by the table again but this time dry.
"That feels better. Hey, where did Knuckles and Rouge go?" He asked, looking at where they had been. Shadow smiled slightly.
"They wanted some privacy." Eggman looked at him but as usual, Sonic didn't pick up on the meaning.
"Oh well, nothing wrong with that I suppose. Why are you looking at me like that?" He felt three pairs of eyes on him.
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking." Tails said and he shook himself. "Are you going to have any food then?" He asked instead, remembering that before the incident, Sonic was going to get something to eat.
"Oh yeah, that's a point." Sonic said and he finally got something to eat.
Being reminded of this made him recall why he had been so deep in thought in the first place. Thinking of Shadow though, he suddenly felt a fluttering sensation in his stomach. This worried Sonic who had never felt this before. He tried to put his mind to other things, like the strange behaviour of Knuckles and Rouge but his focus kept wandering back to that fluttering. The others noticed he was being quiet again but left him to his thinking.
~Would there be any way of finding out though?~ Sonic thought as he chewed on his food.
Deciding that he had better look like he wasn't worried by anything he brought his concentration back onto the others.
"So then, what does the apartment look like?" He asked. Eggman fell to explaining it to him. Although it wasn't in great detail he managed to get an idea of the place.
The whole place was in a small block of ten apartments and each was spread out over a floor. The block was in the edge of London and there were enough things there, including a cinema, shopping centre and park. They were to have a bedroom each plus there were two bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and study. Some of the furniture had arrived but not much else had been sorted out although Eggman had arranged for plumbers and engineers to get the electricity, heating and water running.
"What about the schools?" Tails asked.
The schools were about twenty minutes walk away and were situated in one area, which also had a college. The primary school, which Tails was going to, was called Inverio and the secondary school, which Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic were going to was called Maples. They were quite large and everyone seemed friendly. Tails felt sceptical about this but didn't say anything. To take his mind off school, Tails thought about the bedrooms.
"Whichever room Rouge has it's going to have to be big because when we were in Italy she did a lot of shopping. We didn't see the bags but she spent enough time to buy a whole shop." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, can you remember when she came back and we wondered where the bags were?" Sonic asked, reminiscing about Italy. Tails nodded his head and wondered why Sonic didn't comment about the 'lack of events' in Italy. Eggman seemed to have already worked out that something was wrong with Sonic.
"Sonic, are you all right? Is it anything you want to talk about?" He asked, gently. Sonic, shocked by this change in Eggman, almost told him his concerns about what Shadow had told him. ~But what would I say? Oh yes, I just think I could be the ultimate life form and Shadow is causing my stomach to flutter.I can't tell him or anyone.~
"No nothing's wrong. I just felt like being quiet for a while. Plus I couldn't think of much to say." Sonic smiled and Eggman seemed to accept this.
************************
Knuckles and Rouge had managed to find a secluded path near the centre. Now they walked under the trees, which gave the place its speckled shade. They were surrounded by tranquillity, occasionally broken by the whisper of wind slipping through the trees. They walked arm in arm in silence, enjoying each other's company.
Knuckles was thinking about Shadow's disappearance and he remembered what Rouge told him afterwards. ~I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now.~ He hadn't understood it then and he didn't understand it now. He realised that now would be the perfect time to ask so he cleared his throat, breaking the stillness around them.
"Rouge?" His voice sounded clear and harsh amongst the softness of the trees. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Can you remember what you told me on the ARK? You know, about how you have something better than jewels. What was it?" She smiled at his question and leant towards him.
"What else but you?" She whispered into his ear and he wriggled away from the tickling sensation he felt.
"Don't do that, it tickles!" In response to this, Rouge quickly grabbed him around the waist. Knuckles immediately moved away and protected his waist.
"Like that?" She asked playfully, smiling at his reaction. She ran forward and feigned another attack before hugging him. "I didn't realise you were so ticklish! I like ticklish people." Knuckles cringed away from her hands when they first went round him but when he understood that she wasn't going to tickle him again, he relaxed. He enjoyed the moment of closeness they had and stood still, with his eyes closed. Rouge then let go of him and walked back towards the centre.
"We had better get back to the centre before the others wonder where we've gone." She commented and Knuckles walked quicker so he could catch up with her.
By the time he had reached her, they were nearing the centre. Before they got to there though, Rouge took him around the back of some garages. Knuckles had a questioning look on his face as Rouge slowed down. He rested against the concrete pillar separating two garages.
"I can't wait until we get to the apartment. We'll have some privacy then. But until then." She walked up to him and leant against his body. Her arms curled around his neck as her face moved towards his. Their lips connected in a deep and passionate kiss and Knuckles hugged Rouge closer to him.
************************
~I've looked everywhere and I haven't been able to find them.~ Shadow thought as he wandered around the centre. He walked through the reception and stood by the kerb of the path at the front of the building. He glanced around and as he did so, he saw Rouge walking with Knuckles running behind her. ~There they are!~ He walked in the direction they were in but they disappeared before he could reach them. By now he was bored of looking for them and decided to do some exploring. He saw the garages and stood facing them. ~I wonder what they keep here? There are no houses nearby.~ Interested in what could be there, he set off for them.
As he stood in the road that stood between the two rows of garages, he noticed how quiet it was. His head twisted with every little noise he heard but he remembered that nothing was going to hurt him.
~This is just stupid; I've got nothing to fear.~ He wandered along the garages, feeling secure until he heard the whispers of someone talking. ~Now that was real.I had better go and see what it is.~ He set off resolutely towards the sound but as he reached the corner, he slowed down and had to force his legs to move.
He peered around the corner, ready to run if necessary but he was met with a sight he did not expect. He saw Rouge and Knuckles kissing but surprisingly, this did not make him want to vomit. He was meant to find them anyway and as it looked like they weren't going to finish any time soon, he would have to interrupt them. He strolled towards them and when he was near enough to them, he cleared his throat loudly.
"Hello Knuckles, hello Rouge." His greeting was cheerful.
Knuckles immediately pulled back from Rouge and stood with his mouth open, looking at Shadow. Rouge took this calmly though and seemed uninterested in the fact that Shadow may have been spying on them.
"Hello Shadow. Did you want something?" She asked lazily.
"I was just looking for you so I could tell you that dinner will be ready soon. You should come because you haven't had much to eat all day." He sounded concerned and smiled very slightly at Knuckles' continued look of amazement. "Well, thank you for letting us know." Rouge said and Shadow ambled off back to the centre.
When he had gone, Knuckles turned to Rouge totally astounded at her.
"Hello Shadow, did you want something?" He imitated. "Is that all you had to say?"
"It was better than your gawking face." She retaliated. "It doesn't matter because he knows." Knuckles took a few moments to process this.
"He knows?" He half shouted. "How?"
"I don't know, he must have just worked it out. Come on, we had better get back before anyone starts asking questions." She brushed herself off and walked to the centre. Knuckles followed her still wondering how Shadow could know. He shrugged his shoulders after being stumped by this mystery for a few minutes.
Five minutes later Knuckles and Rouge turned up at the dining room, to find that everyone had already sat down to dinner.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Said Eggman, exchanging a look with Tails and Shadow, before turning back to them again. "We've been waiting for ages."
"Sorry," said Rouge, "We were.we lost track of time." She blushed a little before sitting down next to Shadow, and Knuckles took his place next to Sonic.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to you for ages!" Sonic said, smiling at him. "What have you been doing then?" He waited for an answer.
"Err, we've been." Knuckles glanced at Rouge.
".Exploring." Rouge finished off.
"Oh! Ok then, where did you go?" Pikachu asked before taking a huge bite out of a piece of chicken.
"We just.wandered around." Knuckles stammered.
"Yeah, we found a path. It was-" Rouge started.
"Romantic?" Tails finished. Knuckles' body jerked forward as he spat out the drink, which he had been in the process of swallowing. He coughed loudly, while Sonic patted him on the back. A look of concern flashed across Rouge's face. Once Knuckles had finally finished, he leant back and started gasping, giving the occasional groan.
"Knuckles, are you alright?" Shadow asked.
"I think so." He replied, his hand now on his chest.
"Anyway, it was not romantic." Said Rouge, glaring at Tails. He shrank back into his chair, and continued to eat his dinner quietly.
The rest of the meal continued without any conversation. When they had finished, Rouge jumped up and looked at Knuckles.
"Are you ok now?" Seeing the look on her face he rubbed his chest and winced slightly.
"I don't know. My chest still hurts." He simpered.
"We had better get you sorted out then." She went to get him but Sonic stopped her.
"I'll do it if you want." He suggested but Rouge shook her head.
"Don't worry, it's no problem."
"Maybe Sonic should go with Knuckles. I want to talk to you anyway." Eggman said and with that, Sonic took Knuckles out of the room.
The others were just about to walk out too when Chansey entered the dining room. She spoke for a few moments before leaving again.
"Chansey says that Shadow should go to bed now because he's going to need some rest." Pikachu told them.
"Thanks Pikachu." Tails said and they left the room.
They made their way back to Shadow's room although Rouge wanted to find Knuckles. They entered Shadow's room and he collapsed on the bed. Rouge stood near the door and crossed her arms.
"So then, what do you want? I want to find Knuckles." She looked annoyed.
"What will you do then eh?" This comment from Shadow caused Tails to wince and shiver slightly. "After all, your last evening of activities permanently scarred Tails for life." He added and Rouge looked at Tails incredulously.
"Have you been spying on us too?" She turned to him but suddenly remembering Eggman, she stopped quickly.
"Don't worry, he knows too. The way you act with Knuckles, I'm surprised you look like that every time you find out that someone knows." Shadow remarked much to Rouge's disbelief.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, nothing. Anyway it wasn't me who wanted to talk to you." Shadow looked at Eggman. He cleared his throat before starting.
"I was just going to ask if you want to start making out with each other, can you do it in your bedrooms?" If he looked embarrassed, it was nothing to how Rouge felt.
"If you want. We were going to anyway because we don't want people staring at us. Which reminds me, you never answered my question Tails." She shot a venomous look at Tails.
"No, of course I didn't look! Let's just say that you made enough noise to wake me up from a very nice dream." This only increased Rouge's embarrassment but luckily the entrance of Knuckles and Sonic saved her.
Knuckles frowned when he saw Rouge's embarrassment but she smiled encouragingly and he looked at the others.
"Are you all right now?" Eggman asked, a slight smile on his lips.
"Quite fine. I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. See you all tomorrow." He opened the door and Rouge walked to it too.
"I'm coming too. We're going to need a lot of sleep if we're going soon." They exited the room but Eggman suddenly remembered something.
"Wait a minute you two. We need to decide if we're going tomorrow or not."
"If we do go, will we actually have some furniture to sleep on?" Shadow asked.
"Yes, I did get some of it before I left. The water and heating should be ready too."
"That reminds me. I need to make sure my shopping arrived. I had better sort that out." Rouge reminded herself.
"I don't see why we can't go tomorrow. As long as Chansey thinks that Shadow's ok." Tails stated.
"So we shall go tomorrow then? I agree with Rouge in that case, we had better get to sleep." Eggman remarked and stood up too. The door opened and Pikachu walked in.
"You have a knack of coming in at the right time don't you? We were just wondering where you were." Tails observed.
"I do my best. When will you be going?" He asked.
"Tomorrow hopefully. Would you be able to find Chansey so Shadow can have a last check up?" Sonic asked.
"I'll see what I can do." Pikachu strolled out of the room and Chansey appeared a few moments later. She gave Shadow the usual check up and made her evaluation.
"She says you can go home tomorrow if you want but if you do, you should try not to go out too much for the next few days." Pikachu interpreted. "I know, why don't I give you the phone number of the centre and you can call me if you have any questions?" He suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for all of your help." Sonic said.
"Hey no problem. Just tell us when you're ready to leave." Pikachu left the room along with Chansey and gradually the others filtered out back to their beds.
Rouge entered the room last and wanted to talk to Knuckles but she saw him asleep in his bed. He had no worry or care on his face, only the innocence, which Rouge loved so much. Not wanting to disturb him, she got into her bed and drifted off into sleep content with everything in her life.
************************
Sonic woke up in the morning and leapt out of bed, ready to face the new day. The doubts of yesterday had gone from his mind and now he just wanted to leave the centre. He wandered the corridors aimlessly and as he finally decided to get some breakfast, he collided into Shadow. Sonic apologised but Shadow didn't even seem to notice, in fact he was deep in thought.
"Morning Shadow! If you want to think, you should do it when you're sitting down or this will happen again!" Sonic joked but Shadow just lifted his head and gave him a penetrating stare. ~I wonder what he's thinking about? And why is he looking at me like that? Is he pondering his words to me too? Nah, he's probably reflecting on his memories.~ These considerations flashed through his mind as Shadow kept up his intent look. He seemed to realise what he was doing though and blinked.
"Pardon? I was just going for breakfast, are you coming too?" He asked.
"Yes, I was just seeing if anyone was awake." They strolled to the dining room in silence and as usual, Pikachu was seated at a table. They sat themselves at the same table but Sonic remembered about breakfast and rose to fill himself up.
"Morning you two. Ready to leave?" Pikachu asked cheerfully.
"Yep, just have to wait for the others to wake up now." Sonic replied.
"Which could be some time in the case of Rouge and Knuckles." Shadow muttered. He didn't eat anything and sat in silence as Sonic proceeded to eat his cereal.
The door swung open and the others entered as one big mass. They looked round and seeing Sonic and Shadow at the table, they headed for it too.
"I thought you would already be here." Tails smiled as he sat down next to Sonic. "But why aren't you eating Shadow?"
"I'm not hungry." He stated and fell into silence again. Tails didn't expect such a short answer but he shrugged his shoulders and turned to Sonic, hoping he had more to say.
"I had an idea and I talked to the others. They liked it too but I thought I'd tell you first." Sonic turned to him and he continued, "We decided, as we're not in any rush we would to and visit Gelest and Zelgan."
"That sounds great! You would like it there Shadow, very beautiful and peaceful." Sonic recommended. This seemed to draw Shadow from his contemplation and he considered this.
"Where is this place?" He asked.
"On a planet called Kikuyu. It's not far from here and we could probably stay the night. I had better talk to them before we leave though." Tails mused.
By now everyone had their breakfast in front of them and were chewing in silence. Surprisingly, Rouge and Knuckles weren't talking to each other or even looking in each other's direction. Tails took his communicator out and called Gelest and Zelgan.
"Hi you two, it's Tails. We were wondering if we could come and stay the night with you. It would be a good chance to catch up on news."
"Hi Tails. Of course you and your friends can stay. To be honest we were rather bored here. Just come when you want to." Gelest said.
"Ok, see you later then." He turned it off and finished his breakfast. The others had finished theirs while the above conversation went on and Eggman plus Shadow were looking at Rouge and Knuckles with interest.
"Well now you've finished I suppose you had better get going." Pikachu commented. The group stood up and left the dining room.
Reaching the reception, they found Meowth filing his claws as he talked to Ash, Misty and Brock.
"Hi you guys, we heard you were leaving so we thought we'd say goodbye." Ash said.
"Goodbye to you too. We had a great time here." Sonic replied.
"Enjoy your trip." Meowth added as he left the desk. He stood outside the centre as Tails and Eggman quickly got their machines.
The others soon found out that Eggman could transform his Hornet (Luff: That's the name of his machine!) into a plane too. The two planes crawled to the entrance and Sonic instantly jumped in beside Tails. Shadow got in behind Eggman and after Knuckles and Rouge gave each other a quick glance, he got in with Tails and she got in with Eggman.
As they flew into the sky, they waved goodbye and they set off for Kikuyu. Sonic and Tails were chatty as they wondered if there had been any changes but Knuckles listened in silence. Things weren't much better on the other plane as they remained buried within their own thoughts.
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S. Chensu: Wahoo, they're finally found Shadow! Now everyone can settle down to a normal life.
Luff: Unfortunately that's not where the story ends.
Sonic: *Gulps* It isn't?
S. Chensu: Nope, we've got another thirty episodes left and something's got to happen in them.
Fox: As long as it doesn't involve that gun.
S. Chensu: What you mean this one? *Takes out marine shotgun*
Fox: Meep!
S. Chensu: Don't worry Fox; I wouldn't use it on you. The only people who will be affected by this are the readers! *Swings gun so reader is looking down barrel* You see that blackness there? That is what you're going to be seeing for the rest of your very short life if you don't press that little purple button to review.
General Pepper: On behalf of the Lylat system, fanfiction.net system and any others that you care to think about, I am arresting you for possessing a dangerous weapon.
S. Chensu: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Falco: At last, someone's got rid of the crazy bitch!
S. Chensu: Luff, you're gonna get me out aren't you?
Luff: Umm.no.
S. Chensu: How could you? *Is dragged off the side of screen* I'll be back!
Falco: Humph, that's what they all say.
Fox: Anyway, now there's some peace and quiet you can review. In fact I suggest you do.
Luff: Until next time!
Fox: Hehehehe, bet you didn't spot us coming!
Luff: Actually we did because we said you would be last episode.
Fox: D'oh!
Falco: Well done idiot.
Fox: Who you calling an idiot?
Falco: Well there's only you and me here and I'm obviously not going to be talking about myself.
Peppy: *Comes in* Now stop it you two, we're not even meant to be here.
Falco: And you think that's a good enough reason?
Luff: Excuse me; you're not even in this story at all!
S. Chensu: Yeah, get the hell out! *Brandishes marine shotgun* Otherwise I'll use this on you turkey!
Falco: Who you calling a turkey?
Slippy: Falco, I really think we should just leave while we still can.
Fox: I agree.
*Group run off screen screaming their heads off*
Luff: Wow, where did you get that from?
S. Chensu: Borrowed it off Edwin Lindsey.
Luff: Oh here she goes. *Puts face in hands*
S. Chensu: He's from Eternal Darkness in case you were wondering. Great game, I suggest you go and buy it.
Luff: *Gags S. Chensu* Right, I'll do the disclaimer. We don't own the Sonic characters, pokémon characters or Star Fox characters (we may as well say it). We do own Gelest and Zelgan though. And the story of course.
Fox: *Head pops through side of screen* Now read people!
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Episode seven: The return of Eggman and char grilled Sonic
Tails woke up in the morning and remembered what he saw last night. Knuckles and Rouge looking very flushed.
"Yuck! That's disgusting!" He could only imagine what they had done and although he was certain they hadn't had sex, he didn't really want to think about it. He got out of bed and noticed that everyone else was asleep. "Oh well, that just means I get to use the shower first." He did so and when he had finished drying himself off, went to find some breakfast.
He went to the dining room and found Pikachu sitting on the table eating an apple.
"Hello Tails, you're up early." He greeted and indicated to a table in the far corner. "Just take what you want from there." The table was laid out with a large breakfast and so Tails had a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk.
"Have you heard anything from Team Rocket since yesterday?" Tails asked as he chewed his breakfast.
"No, none of the pokémon have been able to find a trace of them. It can only be a good thing though." Pikachu replied.
"What actually happened? I was knocked out before the end and so I didn't see anything." Pikachu said that he wasn't there until the end so he didn't know about Shadow. He did describe the end though and Tails looked amazed when Pikachu described the combination of attacks. "Wow, you must be really powerful."
"I just keep myself fit and healthy. Where are your friends anyway?"
"Still asleep. Knuckles and Rouge probably won't be up for ages but Sonic is usually out by now..." Tails looked puzzled until the door swung open and Sonic entered.
"Morning you two. Oh breakfast! I'm really hungry." Sonic piled food onto his plate and sat down, his eyes focused on the small mountain in front of him. He started eating as fast as he could and Tails laughed.
"Sonic slow down! You'll get indigestion doing that!" Tails said and Sonic stopped eating.
"You're probably right." He ate more slowly now and he finished it. Knuckles and Rouge still weren't up and Tails sighed.
"They must have been doing a lot to still be in bed." Tails said to himself.
"I wonder where Knuckles and Rouge have got to?" Sonic asked.
"Probably still in bed. They looked really tired last night. Why don't we go and see Shadow and ask him about yesterday?" Tails suggested.
"That's a good idea." Sonic stood up and walked to the door. "If you do see them Pikachu, can you tell them we've gone to Shadow?" He said, looking at him. Pikachu nodded his head and they left the room.
They entered Shadow's room to see him sitting up awake. He was obviously miles away as he looked startled when he saw them standing by his bed.
"Oh hello you two. Where are Knuckles and Rouge?" He asked and noticed that Tails face crinkled slightly.
"They're probably in bed still." He replied. They sat down nearer to Shadow and he sat up a bit higher.
"Can you tell us what happened yesterday?" Sonic asked.
"If you want, if you tell me what happened before." He listened to Sonic and then Tails as they told him what had happened while he wasn't there. He then told them about his plan and how Knuckles and Rouge managed to hit Team Rocket when he had got them outside. He didn't tell them about his dream though.
"You managed to attack them in your condition. Wow, that's really brave of you." Tails said. This embarrassed Shadow slightly so he didn't reply.
"I wonder when Eggman will get here?" Sonic said.
"He told me that he would be here in." Tails looked at his watch. "About ten minutes time. I suppose we had better find Knuckles and Rouge before he arrives." They stood up and walked by the door. "We'll be back in a minute." Sonic said and Shadow nodded his head.
They left the room and walked back to the dining room.
"Those two have been acting really strangely recently. I don't suppose you know anything about it do you?" Sonic asked Tails. Not trusting himself if he opened his mouth, he simply shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. They entered the dining room and found them eating breakfast. "We've found you at last! God, how long were you in bed?" Sonic said.
"I don't know. We were just tired after yesterday. In case you hadn't noticed, you and Tails got to sleep while me and Knuckles had to fight Team Rocket on our own until Shadow came along." Rouge explained.
"I may have been able to sleep but that didn't stop the pain of my nose coming through when I woke up. It still feels bruised." Sonic rubbed his nose for a few seconds.
"Anyway, Eggman is going to be here in about five minutes. We just wanted to find you so you would know." Tails said. Knuckles and Rouge stood up, their plates empty.
"Shall we go then?" Knuckles asked before leaving the room with the others following him.
They entered the reception to see Eggman walk through the door. He had obviously bought more clothes, as he now looked different. It even looked like he had lost some weight. He saw them and headed in their direction. Tails who suddenly remembered Meowth walked over to the reception.
"I assume that's Mr. Eggman?" Meowth asked. Tails nodded his head and Meowth tapped a few keys. "I've got him in the security system now so he's now able to walk around."
"Thanks Meowth." He walked back to the others and said hello to Eggman.
"Ah Tails, I was just telling the others that we can now move in to the apartment. It's not fully furnished yet so we have to do that when we get back." Eggman explained. "I should be really telling you this with Shadow as well. Where is he?" He asked.
"He's in bed in the hospital ward." Sonic said and he led them to Shadow's room.
They entered and sat down in the chairs. Shadow saw Eggman and smiled slightly.
"It's good to see you again Professor. Where have you been then?" Shadow asked.
"It is also good to see you looking all right. Haven't the others told you about the apartment?"
"Oh yes, I forgot about that. Where is this apartment then?"
"In London, England. Now then are you all definitely sure you want to live in the apartment?" He asked.
"I see no reason why we shouldn't. Why, what's wrong with us living there?" Sonic asked suspiciously.
"There's nothing wrong, it's just that if you want to, it means you have to go to school." These immediately brought back old memories of times before Sonic in Tails' mind.
"Are you sure we have to?" Knuckles asked.
"When I bought the apartment, I needed to fill in details of who will be living there. And as you four are all under sixteen, you are legally required to go to school. You can still change your minds if you want to though." Eggman explained.
"What, after all of the effort you put in to getting it in the first place? School doesn't really bother me." Rouge shrugged her shoulders. Of course Knuckles agreed and Sonic looked at Tails, knowing what he was thinking.
"Would you be all right with that Tails?" Sonic asked quietly. Tails looked up and Sonic could see the fear of old memories in his eyes but he nodded his head.
"Yeah, no problem." He smiled and Sonic hugged him.
"We'll go, no problem." Sonic said and Eggman smiled.
"What about you Shadow?" Eggman turned to him.
"I don't really have anywhere else to go. Then I shall stay with you." Shadow decided. Eggman clapped his hands.
"Well, now that that is sorted out how about telling me what actually happened on your journeys?"
The group all told the story and particular things that had happened to them. Of course one major thing was left out, this being the whole Knuckles and Rouge situation. Shadow was extremely vague about what had happened to him but he blamed it on his memory. They finished the story with the appearance of Team Rocket and how thanks to Shadow, they had managed to get rid of them.
"Well you certainly have been doing a lot of things over the last week. When will you be allowed out of bed Shadow?"
"They said yesterday at least another day but since the Team Rocket event, I don't know." Just as he was saying this, Pikachu and Chansey walked in. "Maybe now we can find out." Shadow said. Chansey did the usual check up and Pikachu waited for the results so he could tell the others. Chansey looked happy when he talked to Pikachu so it could only be good news.
"Chansey says she doesn't see why you can't get out of bed for a little while today as long as you don't overdo yourself like yesterday." Pikachu suddenly remembered something. "Ah yes, I've just recalled that once you were out of bed, we would celebrate by having a traditional ozzie barbeque. If you follow me to the garden, I'll start setting it up."
"Oh, a barbeque!" Tails squealed and was met with frightened looks from everyone. "What? Someone had to sound excited." They shrugged their shoulders and mutterings of 'I suppose so' were heard.
They followed Pikachu into the garden. It was large, with a gazebo in the middle. Because of the hot climate, there were many eucalyptus trees lining the sides. A pond stood in one corner, surrounded by rocks and in the opposite corner there was a large grill.
Pokémon were already lying in the shade or perched in trees, chatting to each other. Ash, Misty and Brock were sitting on a bench chatting too. Rouge and Knuckles immediately went to sit on the grass in the far right corner but as it wasn't too hot yet, the others contented themselves with a table near the barbeque. Brock stood up when he saw them and they realised that yet again, he had the pink, frilly apron on.
He walked over to the barbeque and poured some paraffin (Note from S. Chensu: I think that's what you use anyway) in it before setting it alight. Unfortunately, he had gone over the top with the paraffin so not only were the coals on fire, he got burnt too. He blinked for a few moments before quickly dunking his head in the pond, which was quite close. He then continued like nothing had ever happened and soon there was the smell of roasting meat. Pikachu had put his cork hat on and was sitting on the table with Sonic, Shadow, Tails and Eggman.
Sonic, who was sitting across from Shadow remained quiet while the conversation took place. He was remembering what Shadow had said to him once.
~I think I now know who the ultimate life form is. I think it might be you Sonic.~ He had thought about it then but he must have forgotten it, what with all the events that followed it. These words continued to dominate his thoughts and he wondered if they were true. He stared at Shadow trying to find himself in that face, anything that resembled him. He therefore did not hear the others telling him that the food was ready.
"Earth to Sonic, Earth to Sonic! God, he's acting almost as weird as Rouge and Knuckles." Tails waved his hand in front of Sonic's eyes and they crossed as Sonic woke up from his thinking.
"Hmm?" Sonic looked at them and only half concentrated on the reply that Tails gave.
"Don't you want anything to eat?" He asked exasperated.
"Oh yeah, I suppose I should." Sonic walked over aimlessly as he continued to think. ~We're both hedgehogs but apart from that. What's that smell?~ Sonic sniffed the air and the odour of burning curled towards his nose. He just then felt a sharp pain in his arse and looking down, saw his behind on fire.
It turned out that Sonic had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten about the barbeque and had backed up into it. Now his backside was on fire and as he realised this, he panicked and started running around with his arms in the air.
"ARRRGH!" He screamed as he ran around and the others looked on with mild interest.
"Well, at least it woke him up." Tails shrugged his shoulders and Shadow folded his arms.
"How pathetic." He stated and Sonic hearing this managed to stop for long enough to shout back,
"Well you would be running around too if your arse was on fire!"
"It was." Shadow said simply and Sonic considered this before running around again.
Now anyone who has done Chemistry in school knows that oxygen fuels fire and so instead of getting smaller, the fire had got bigger and now he was a big ball of flame. The others who hadn't been concerned were worried now and Tails quickly pushed Sonic into the pond. Sonic went under for a few minutes and Tails remembered that he couldn't swim. Luckily the pond was only chest deep so Sonic soon reappeared very wet and cold.
He got out and shook himself, soaking everyone. He stood there in the sunlight for a minute trying to warm up. His teeth chattered and he hugged himself tightly.
"I almost preferred being on fire." He shivered as he said this.
"That can be easily arranged." Sonic heard Shadow say and looking at him noticed that Shadow had his hands by the barbeque. Realising what he was suggesting, Sonic shook his head quickly.
"No, that won't be necessary." He said hurriedly and sat back down at the table. He was drying out by now and the sun warmed him up.
"Would you like a towel Sonic?" Pikachu asked and Sonic simply nodded his head. He followed Pikachu into the centre to find one for him. Shadow, Tails and Eggman settled back down on the table.
"What are them two up to? They've been sitting over there talking to each other since we got here." Eggman said, pointing to Rouge and Knuckles.
"Let's just say they are developing their friendship." Shadow hinted. Tails gave him a warning look but Shadow just shrugged his shoulders. Eggman considered this for a few minutes while looking at them.
"Do you mean that." He stumbled, trying to find suitable words. "They're going out?" Tails simply nodded his head and Eggman lifted his eyebrows.
"Ah.I understand now. Am I the only one who didn't know?" Eggman asked.
"No, Sonic still doesn't know. I don't know how, it's rather obvious." Shadow commented.
They all looked at Knuckles and Rouge laughing together. When Knuckles glanced over though, they turned their heads and pretended that they hadn't been staring at them.
"Under the watchful gaze of our friends I see." Knuckles said. "You mean the intruding stares. Come on, I'm fed up of them finding entertainment in watching us. Let's go somewhere more private." Rouge said and they walked past the others to find a place where they could be together alone.
"I wonder what they're doing?" Eggman asked. Tails remembering last night shuddered.
"I don't even want to think about it." The others smiled at this outburst. Sonic then appeared by the table again but this time dry.
"That feels better. Hey, where did Knuckles and Rouge go?" He asked, looking at where they had been. Shadow smiled slightly.
"They wanted some privacy." Eggman looked at him but as usual, Sonic didn't pick up on the meaning.
"Oh well, nothing wrong with that I suppose. Why are you looking at me like that?" He felt three pairs of eyes on him.
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking." Tails said and he shook himself. "Are you going to have any food then?" He asked instead, remembering that before the incident, Sonic was going to get something to eat.
"Oh yeah, that's a point." Sonic said and he finally got something to eat.
Being reminded of this made him recall why he had been so deep in thought in the first place. Thinking of Shadow though, he suddenly felt a fluttering sensation in his stomach. This worried Sonic who had never felt this before. He tried to put his mind to other things, like the strange behaviour of Knuckles and Rouge but his focus kept wandering back to that fluttering. The others noticed he was being quiet again but left him to his thinking.
~Would there be any way of finding out though?~ Sonic thought as he chewed on his food.
Deciding that he had better look like he wasn't worried by anything he brought his concentration back onto the others.
"So then, what does the apartment look like?" He asked. Eggman fell to explaining it to him. Although it wasn't in great detail he managed to get an idea of the place.
The whole place was in a small block of ten apartments and each was spread out over a floor. The block was in the edge of London and there were enough things there, including a cinema, shopping centre and park. They were to have a bedroom each plus there were two bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen and study. Some of the furniture had arrived but not much else had been sorted out although Eggman had arranged for plumbers and engineers to get the electricity, heating and water running.
"What about the schools?" Tails asked.
The schools were about twenty minutes walk away and were situated in one area, which also had a college. The primary school, which Tails was going to, was called Inverio and the secondary school, which Rouge, Knuckles and Sonic were going to was called Maples. They were quite large and everyone seemed friendly. Tails felt sceptical about this but didn't say anything. To take his mind off school, Tails thought about the bedrooms.
"Whichever room Rouge has it's going to have to be big because when we were in Italy she did a lot of shopping. We didn't see the bags but she spent enough time to buy a whole shop." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, can you remember when she came back and we wondered where the bags were?" Sonic asked, reminiscing about Italy. Tails nodded his head and wondered why Sonic didn't comment about the 'lack of events' in Italy. Eggman seemed to have already worked out that something was wrong with Sonic.
"Sonic, are you all right? Is it anything you want to talk about?" He asked, gently. Sonic, shocked by this change in Eggman, almost told him his concerns about what Shadow had told him. ~But what would I say? Oh yes, I just think I could be the ultimate life form and Shadow is causing my stomach to flutter.I can't tell him or anyone.~
"No nothing's wrong. I just felt like being quiet for a while. Plus I couldn't think of much to say." Sonic smiled and Eggman seemed to accept this.
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Knuckles and Rouge had managed to find a secluded path near the centre. Now they walked under the trees, which gave the place its speckled shade. They were surrounded by tranquillity, occasionally broken by the whisper of wind slipping through the trees. They walked arm in arm in silence, enjoying each other's company.
Knuckles was thinking about Shadow's disappearance and he remembered what Rouge told him afterwards. ~I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now.~ He hadn't understood it then and he didn't understand it now. He realised that now would be the perfect time to ask so he cleared his throat, breaking the stillness around them.
"Rouge?" His voice sounded clear and harsh amongst the softness of the trees. She turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Can you remember what you told me on the ARK? You know, about how you have something better than jewels. What was it?" She smiled at his question and leant towards him.
"What else but you?" She whispered into his ear and he wriggled away from the tickling sensation he felt.
"Don't do that, it tickles!" In response to this, Rouge quickly grabbed him around the waist. Knuckles immediately moved away and protected his waist.
"Like that?" She asked playfully, smiling at his reaction. She ran forward and feigned another attack before hugging him. "I didn't realise you were so ticklish! I like ticklish people." Knuckles cringed away from her hands when they first went round him but when he understood that she wasn't going to tickle him again, he relaxed. He enjoyed the moment of closeness they had and stood still, with his eyes closed. Rouge then let go of him and walked back towards the centre.
"We had better get back to the centre before the others wonder where we've gone." She commented and Knuckles walked quicker so he could catch up with her.
By the time he had reached her, they were nearing the centre. Before they got to there though, Rouge took him around the back of some garages. Knuckles had a questioning look on his face as Rouge slowed down. He rested against the concrete pillar separating two garages.
"I can't wait until we get to the apartment. We'll have some privacy then. But until then." She walked up to him and leant against his body. Her arms curled around his neck as her face moved towards his. Their lips connected in a deep and passionate kiss and Knuckles hugged Rouge closer to him.
************************
~I've looked everywhere and I haven't been able to find them.~ Shadow thought as he wandered around the centre. He walked through the reception and stood by the kerb of the path at the front of the building. He glanced around and as he did so, he saw Rouge walking with Knuckles running behind her. ~There they are!~ He walked in the direction they were in but they disappeared before he could reach them. By now he was bored of looking for them and decided to do some exploring. He saw the garages and stood facing them. ~I wonder what they keep here? There are no houses nearby.~ Interested in what could be there, he set off for them.
As he stood in the road that stood between the two rows of garages, he noticed how quiet it was. His head twisted with every little noise he heard but he remembered that nothing was going to hurt him.
~This is just stupid; I've got nothing to fear.~ He wandered along the garages, feeling secure until he heard the whispers of someone talking. ~Now that was real.I had better go and see what it is.~ He set off resolutely towards the sound but as he reached the corner, he slowed down and had to force his legs to move.
He peered around the corner, ready to run if necessary but he was met with a sight he did not expect. He saw Rouge and Knuckles kissing but surprisingly, this did not make him want to vomit. He was meant to find them anyway and as it looked like they weren't going to finish any time soon, he would have to interrupt them. He strolled towards them and when he was near enough to them, he cleared his throat loudly.
"Hello Knuckles, hello Rouge." His greeting was cheerful.
Knuckles immediately pulled back from Rouge and stood with his mouth open, looking at Shadow. Rouge took this calmly though and seemed uninterested in the fact that Shadow may have been spying on them.
"Hello Shadow. Did you want something?" She asked lazily.
"I was just looking for you so I could tell you that dinner will be ready soon. You should come because you haven't had much to eat all day." He sounded concerned and smiled very slightly at Knuckles' continued look of amazement. "Well, thank you for letting us know." Rouge said and Shadow ambled off back to the centre.
When he had gone, Knuckles turned to Rouge totally astounded at her.
"Hello Shadow, did you want something?" He imitated. "Is that all you had to say?"
"It was better than your gawking face." She retaliated. "It doesn't matter because he knows." Knuckles took a few moments to process this.
"He knows?" He half shouted. "How?"
"I don't know, he must have just worked it out. Come on, we had better get back before anyone starts asking questions." She brushed herself off and walked to the centre. Knuckles followed her still wondering how Shadow could know. He shrugged his shoulders after being stumped by this mystery for a few minutes.
Five minutes later Knuckles and Rouge turned up at the dining room, to find that everyone had already sat down to dinner.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Said Eggman, exchanging a look with Tails and Shadow, before turning back to them again. "We've been waiting for ages."
"Sorry," said Rouge, "We were.we lost track of time." She blushed a little before sitting down next to Shadow, and Knuckles took his place next to Sonic.
"I haven't had a chance to talk to you for ages!" Sonic said, smiling at him. "What have you been doing then?" He waited for an answer.
"Err, we've been." Knuckles glanced at Rouge.
".Exploring." Rouge finished off.
"Oh! Ok then, where did you go?" Pikachu asked before taking a huge bite out of a piece of chicken.
"We just.wandered around." Knuckles stammered.
"Yeah, we found a path. It was-" Rouge started.
"Romantic?" Tails finished. Knuckles' body jerked forward as he spat out the drink, which he had been in the process of swallowing. He coughed loudly, while Sonic patted him on the back. A look of concern flashed across Rouge's face. Once Knuckles had finally finished, he leant back and started gasping, giving the occasional groan.
"Knuckles, are you alright?" Shadow asked.
"I think so." He replied, his hand now on his chest.
"Anyway, it was not romantic." Said Rouge, glaring at Tails. He shrank back into his chair, and continued to eat his dinner quietly.
The rest of the meal continued without any conversation. When they had finished, Rouge jumped up and looked at Knuckles.
"Are you ok now?" Seeing the look on her face he rubbed his chest and winced slightly.
"I don't know. My chest still hurts." He simpered.
"We had better get you sorted out then." She went to get him but Sonic stopped her.
"I'll do it if you want." He suggested but Rouge shook her head.
"Don't worry, it's no problem."
"Maybe Sonic should go with Knuckles. I want to talk to you anyway." Eggman said and with that, Sonic took Knuckles out of the room.
The others were just about to walk out too when Chansey entered the dining room. She spoke for a few moments before leaving again.
"Chansey says that Shadow should go to bed now because he's going to need some rest." Pikachu told them.
"Thanks Pikachu." Tails said and they left the room.
They made their way back to Shadow's room although Rouge wanted to find Knuckles. They entered Shadow's room and he collapsed on the bed. Rouge stood near the door and crossed her arms.
"So then, what do you want? I want to find Knuckles." She looked annoyed.
"What will you do then eh?" This comment from Shadow caused Tails to wince and shiver slightly. "After all, your last evening of activities permanently scarred Tails for life." He added and Rouge looked at Tails incredulously.
"Have you been spying on us too?" She turned to him but suddenly remembering Eggman, she stopped quickly.
"Don't worry, he knows too. The way you act with Knuckles, I'm surprised you look like that every time you find out that someone knows." Shadow remarked much to Rouge's disbelief.
"What are you trying to say?"
"Nothing, nothing. Anyway it wasn't me who wanted to talk to you." Shadow looked at Eggman. He cleared his throat before starting.
"I was just going to ask if you want to start making out with each other, can you do it in your bedrooms?" If he looked embarrassed, it was nothing to how Rouge felt.
"If you want. We were going to anyway because we don't want people staring at us. Which reminds me, you never answered my question Tails." She shot a venomous look at Tails.
"No, of course I didn't look! Let's just say that you made enough noise to wake me up from a very nice dream." This only increased Rouge's embarrassment but luckily the entrance of Knuckles and Sonic saved her.
Knuckles frowned when he saw Rouge's embarrassment but she smiled encouragingly and he looked at the others.
"Are you all right now?" Eggman asked, a slight smile on his lips.
"Quite fine. I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. See you all tomorrow." He opened the door and Rouge walked to it too.
"I'm coming too. We're going to need a lot of sleep if we're going soon." They exited the room but Eggman suddenly remembered something.
"Wait a minute you two. We need to decide if we're going tomorrow or not."
"If we do go, will we actually have some furniture to sleep on?" Shadow asked.
"Yes, I did get some of it before I left. The water and heating should be ready too."
"That reminds me. I need to make sure my shopping arrived. I had better sort that out." Rouge reminded herself.
"I don't see why we can't go tomorrow. As long as Chansey thinks that Shadow's ok." Tails stated.
"So we shall go tomorrow then? I agree with Rouge in that case, we had better get to sleep." Eggman remarked and stood up too. The door opened and Pikachu walked in.
"You have a knack of coming in at the right time don't you? We were just wondering where you were." Tails observed.
"I do my best. When will you be going?" He asked.
"Tomorrow hopefully. Would you be able to find Chansey so Shadow can have a last check up?" Sonic asked.
"I'll see what I can do." Pikachu strolled out of the room and Chansey appeared a few moments later. She gave Shadow the usual check up and made her evaluation.
"She says you can go home tomorrow if you want but if you do, you should try not to go out too much for the next few days." Pikachu interpreted. "I know, why don't I give you the phone number of the centre and you can call me if you have any questions?" He suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you for all of your help." Sonic said.
"Hey no problem. Just tell us when you're ready to leave." Pikachu left the room along with Chansey and gradually the others filtered out back to their beds.
Rouge entered the room last and wanted to talk to Knuckles but she saw him asleep in his bed. He had no worry or care on his face, only the innocence, which Rouge loved so much. Not wanting to disturb him, she got into her bed and drifted off into sleep content with everything in her life.
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Sonic woke up in the morning and leapt out of bed, ready to face the new day. The doubts of yesterday had gone from his mind and now he just wanted to leave the centre. He wandered the corridors aimlessly and as he finally decided to get some breakfast, he collided into Shadow. Sonic apologised but Shadow didn't even seem to notice, in fact he was deep in thought.
"Morning Shadow! If you want to think, you should do it when you're sitting down or this will happen again!" Sonic joked but Shadow just lifted his head and gave him a penetrating stare. ~I wonder what he's thinking about? And why is he looking at me like that? Is he pondering his words to me too? Nah, he's probably reflecting on his memories.~ These considerations flashed through his mind as Shadow kept up his intent look. He seemed to realise what he was doing though and blinked.
"Pardon? I was just going for breakfast, are you coming too?" He asked.
"Yes, I was just seeing if anyone was awake." They strolled to the dining room in silence and as usual, Pikachu was seated at a table. They sat themselves at the same table but Sonic remembered about breakfast and rose to fill himself up.
"Morning you two. Ready to leave?" Pikachu asked cheerfully.
"Yep, just have to wait for the others to wake up now." Sonic replied.
"Which could be some time in the case of Rouge and Knuckles." Shadow muttered. He didn't eat anything and sat in silence as Sonic proceeded to eat his cereal.
The door swung open and the others entered as one big mass. They looked round and seeing Sonic and Shadow at the table, they headed for it too.
"I thought you would already be here." Tails smiled as he sat down next to Sonic. "But why aren't you eating Shadow?"
"I'm not hungry." He stated and fell into silence again. Tails didn't expect such a short answer but he shrugged his shoulders and turned to Sonic, hoping he had more to say.
"I had an idea and I talked to the others. They liked it too but I thought I'd tell you first." Sonic turned to him and he continued, "We decided, as we're not in any rush we would to and visit Gelest and Zelgan."
"That sounds great! You would like it there Shadow, very beautiful and peaceful." Sonic recommended. This seemed to draw Shadow from his contemplation and he considered this.
"Where is this place?" He asked.
"On a planet called Kikuyu. It's not far from here and we could probably stay the night. I had better talk to them before we leave though." Tails mused.
By now everyone had their breakfast in front of them and were chewing in silence. Surprisingly, Rouge and Knuckles weren't talking to each other or even looking in each other's direction. Tails took his communicator out and called Gelest and Zelgan.
"Hi you two, it's Tails. We were wondering if we could come and stay the night with you. It would be a good chance to catch up on news."
"Hi Tails. Of course you and your friends can stay. To be honest we were rather bored here. Just come when you want to." Gelest said.
"Ok, see you later then." He turned it off and finished his breakfast. The others had finished theirs while the above conversation went on and Eggman plus Shadow were looking at Rouge and Knuckles with interest.
"Well now you've finished I suppose you had better get going." Pikachu commented. The group stood up and left the dining room.
Reaching the reception, they found Meowth filing his claws as he talked to Ash, Misty and Brock.
"Hi you guys, we heard you were leaving so we thought we'd say goodbye." Ash said.
"Goodbye to you too. We had a great time here." Sonic replied.
"Enjoy your trip." Meowth added as he left the desk. He stood outside the centre as Tails and Eggman quickly got their machines.
The others soon found out that Eggman could transform his Hornet (Luff: That's the name of his machine!) into a plane too. The two planes crawled to the entrance and Sonic instantly jumped in beside Tails. Shadow got in behind Eggman and after Knuckles and Rouge gave each other a quick glance, he got in with Tails and she got in with Eggman.
As they flew into the sky, they waved goodbye and they set off for Kikuyu. Sonic and Tails were chatty as they wondered if there had been any changes but Knuckles listened in silence. Things weren't much better on the other plane as they remained buried within their own thoughts.
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S. Chensu: Wahoo, they're finally found Shadow! Now everyone can settle down to a normal life.
Luff: Unfortunately that's not where the story ends.
Sonic: *Gulps* It isn't?
S. Chensu: Nope, we've got another thirty episodes left and something's got to happen in them.
Fox: As long as it doesn't involve that gun.
S. Chensu: What you mean this one? *Takes out marine shotgun*
Fox: Meep!
S. Chensu: Don't worry Fox; I wouldn't use it on you. The only people who will be affected by this are the readers! *Swings gun so reader is looking down barrel* You see that blackness there? That is what you're going to be seeing for the rest of your very short life if you don't press that little purple button to review.
General Pepper: On behalf of the Lylat system, fanfiction.net system and any others that you care to think about, I am arresting you for possessing a dangerous weapon.
S. Chensu: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Falco: At last, someone's got rid of the crazy bitch!
S. Chensu: Luff, you're gonna get me out aren't you?
Luff: Umm.no.
S. Chensu: How could you? *Is dragged off the side of screen* I'll be back!
Falco: Humph, that's what they all say.
Fox: Anyway, now there's some peace and quiet you can review. In fact I suggest you do.
Luff: Until next time!