REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not a Sonic/Shadow story. We're really
sorry to everyone who read this who thought so. It was going to be
originally but we changed our minds, as we didn't want it to be higher than
a PG-13. There's a reason why we kept that bit in but you won't find out
why for at least another twenty episodes. If this had been a Sonic/Shadow
story, we would have warned you, as we know people have varying views on
slash/yaoi/shonen-ai/gay love/lemon and lime/hentei or whatever you like to
call it. Anyway, just to make sure you understand: This is not a
Sonic/Shadow story or any others for that matter. Apart from
Knuckles/Rouge and other characters but it would spoil the plot if we told
you who they were. They are all straight couples though.
Now it's time to find out what happened to everyone after the last author's note drama: S. Chensu getting arrested for possessing a gun (and a mighty big one at that).
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Luff: Now that Chensu is gone, we can celebrate!
*Lord of the Rings characters enter*
Legolas: It's party time everyone!
Luff: *Drool* Legolas always was my favourite.
Legolas: *Leans towards Gimli* Why is she looking at me like that?
Gimli: Isn't it obvious wee bonnie lad? She fancies you!
Legolas: Damn, I just can't get away from the girls!
Pippin: Oh come on Leg, you know you love them really.
Legolas: What have I said about calling me Leg?
Pippin: Um.you said not to?
Legolas: Correct.
Pippin: Right, I'll remember that.Leg.
Legolas: That's it! Come here you smelly stumpy swamp man! *Chases Pippin off the screen*
Frodo: *Sigh* He'll never learn, will he?
Sam: I'm afraid not mister Frodo.
Frodo: Sam, you don't have to call me that!
Sam: *Mutters* If I had my way, I wouldn't even call you that.
Frodo: What did you say?
Sam: Nothing!
Boromir: Hey, this party is a bit boring.
Aragorn: How did you come back to life? You had three arrows stuck in your chest!
Boromir: The powers of the authoress! Hey, I'm not complaining about it!
Aragorn: I am though.
Luff: Whoa, this is getting out of control! We need to get onto the episode!
Merry: She has a point you know.
Luff: This episode they go to Kikuyu and.well that's it really. We do meet Mewtwo properly though and there's another development with Knuckles and Rouge.
Merry: Shall I read the disclaimer?
Luff: Yes please.
Merry: They do not own the Sonic characters, Mewtwo or us, the Lord of the Rings characters. In fact all they own is the story and Gelest and Zelgan.
Luff: Thanks Merry! *Gives him big hug*
Merry: ^-^
Gandalf: On with the episode!
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Episode eight: Sun, sand and.snogging?!
As they neared the mansion on Kikuyu, they saw Gelest and Zelgan waving to them in the garden. They both wore casual t-shirts and shorts. They backed away so Eggman and Tails could land properly and when everyone was out, Gelest and Zelgan ran over.
"Long time no see, it seems. But it's only been a few days in truth." Zelgan greeted but Gelest had noticed Shadow.
~Is he the project from the ARK? He must be.~ She thought as she tried to discern his feelings. She found nothing extraordinary though. "And you must be Shadow. Feeling better from your little trip?" She asked and seeing his puzzled look, quickly laughed. "I forgot that you don't know who we are. I'm Gelest and this is Zelgan."
"Yes I am feeling better thank you. Do you live here on your own?" He asked.
"Yes, no one but us." But Zelgan stopped when she sensed something. "But maybe not." She whispered.
"What's wrong Zelgan?" Sonic asked.
"Something else is here. Wait, its Mewtwo! Oh what a time for him to show up!" She sighed.
"Who's Mewtwo?" Shadow asked.
"Someone who likes to destroy things for unknown reasons. But he's been particularly interested in this place since we beat him up." Zelgan explained. They saw something fly through the air and it landed about 50 feet away from them.
They now could see Mewtwo properly for the first time. He stood on two legs and was mainly purple. His face was cat like and his eyes glowed an intense purple. It walked on the front of his feet and he stood with his shoulders back. Zelgan walked forwards a few steps before stopping.
"What are you doing here?" She called out.
"Same reason as always, Zelgan." His voice was cold and monotonous.
"Come on you lot. It's better if we leave Zelgan to deal with him." Gelest whispered.
"We have to help her!" Sonic announced.
"We can't do anything and you can't either. What happened when you met him last time? He took over your mind and tried to kill one of your friends." She reminded him.
"But I'm prepared this time." He retaliated.
"If he can do it once, he can do it again. He has no scruples and wouldn't think twice about hurting someone. Let's go now!" She dragged him towards the door.
"Then can we be nearby at least?" He said.
"Of course we're going to stay near! You never know what he'll do." They stood in the open garage and watched the fight between Zelgan and Mewtwo.
They circled each other warily when Mewtwo suddenly struck. He threw a black ball of energy at her, which she easily dodged. She stopped and struggled against Mewtwo as he tried to control her mind. Her face screwed up in concentration and soon Mewtwo was forced to give in. He sent out waves of psychic power at her, which hit her with full strength. She staggered back and Mewtwo took this opportunity to lift her up into the air.
"Give up?" He hissed.
"Never!" Zelgan gasped out as she was thrown to the floor. Sonic ran forward before Gelest could stop him and Mewtwo turned his head to him. In a blink of an eye, Sonic had frozen in his place.
"Great! Trust him to not listen to what I say!" Gelest sighed. "No one else go out there ok?" The others nodded their heads apart from Tails.
"We can't just sit here and let Zelgan be killed!" He shouted.
"We're not. I have to wait for the right time, that's all." She stared in concentration at the fight. Mewtwo had now let Zelgan go and she had sunk down to her knees. She thrust her hand forward and sent out a beam of power. It hit Mewtwo and he flinched. This gave her the chance to get up but before she could do anything, something landed in between them.
It was another Mewtwo and as Gelest prepared herself to help Zelgan, it put its arms out on either side of it and stopped them in their tracks. Sonic put his feet down on the ground and slowly, the others walked out.
"Two Mewtwos! I've suppose you've come to help him?" Gelest asked.
"No I have come to apologise. This Mewtwo is a clone of me and has become evil. I will take him away and deal with him." He put his arms down and Zelgan and the other Mewtwo could move. The Mewtwo, realising who it was stopped the fight and bowed its head. "This clone has gone out of control. I am the original Mewtwo and I learned a long time ago what happens because of fighting. We will leave you now." And with that they both floated into the air and sped away.
Gelest ran over to Zelgan and bent down to her, checking to see if she was ok.
"Don't worry, nothing's wrong with me. But I wonder if all the fights we had were with this clone?" She pondered.
"Probably. Well now that's over, shall we get going?" Gelest stood up and the others strolled over.
"Where are you going?" Tails asked.
"We are all going on a small trip. Today seems to be a warm day so we thought we'd take you to Holus beach. We even packed a bag with some food in it and it'd be a waste if we didn't use it." Gelest explained. She entered the mansion and came out with a small shoulder bag. She grabbed Tails' arm as they set off for the beach.
"I think you have some information to give me." She walked quickly ahead and Tails trotted next to her.
Understanding what she meant, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened since they last left.
"So they've got together at last have they? That's funny because I didn't notice it."
"That reminds me. I wanted to ask you whether they had fallen out with each other because they haven't talked to each other once today." Tails said, glancing back at them, a concerned look on his face.
"No they haven't, that's obvious. But I can't tell how they feel towards each other. Anyway, they don't have to be talking to each other all the time you know." They were now nearing the beach so Gelest walked faster again. She stood by it and breathed in the slightly salty air. It was the same as last time but now the water was clear and birds flew through the air.
Tails took off his shoes and felt the sand in between his toes. He gazed around for a few moments, taking in the beauty of the place.
"Wow, is it always like this?" He asked.
"Unless there's been a storm. But yes, it is almost always like this." She walked over to the shade of a palm tree as the others arrived. Gelest walked out onto the jetty as Zelgan put out a blanket for everyone to sit on. While Eggman grumbled about sand being in his shoes, everyone else had had the sense to take theirs off. Everyone heard a splash and looking up, they saw that Gelest had dived into the water. She surfaced a moment later and seeing everyone sitting down, she called out,
"Come on you lot! The water's lovely and warm!" No one moved though so she shrugged her shoulders as she climbed out. She stuck her wings out so they could dry. She sauntered over to where the group were and seeing everyone looking slightly bored she smiled as a plan formed in her mind.
She bent down to Tails, Knuckles and Rouge and lunged out at them. She grabbed their arms and before they could do anything, she had run along the jetty and jumped in with them. When she landed, she let go of their arms and grinned at them as they surfaced.
"What do you mean it's warm? I'm freezing!" Tails shivered as he swam to the shore.
"Maybe it is cold to you. Well at least you've done something now." She smiled sweetly and he contented himself with sitting on the shore. The trip seemed to have woken up Rouge and Knuckles who treaded water next to each other. Just as Gelest was about to turn away, she heard a high- pitched squeak as Knuckles quickly rose out of the water. Rouge grinned cheekily at him and he dragged her under the water with him. Thrashing was seen for a few moments before they both emerged breathless. Gelest smiled as she saw the flicker of excitement in their auras.
She swam to Tails who was looking at the action with interest and sat next to him.
"No need to worry about any relationship problems. I believe they are getting on like a house on fire." She smiled slightly at him as she said this. She then grinned when she saw his face contort into disgust.
"Did you have to tell me that?"
"What? I just said they hadn't fallen out. I thought you wanted to know anyway." She raised an eyebrow in question.
"Hmm. What's over there?"
"Oh that's just a small island. It's all covered in forest and I don't go there often." They sat in silence for a while. "So then, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, we've got somewhere to live now so we're going there tomorrow. But after that, I'm not sure. I have to go to school, something I've haven't done for a long time."
"I've never been to school. What's it like?"
"It might be nice for some but not for me. I've always been teased and they're all stupid anyway."
"If you think they're stupid, then you should just ignore them. They're not worth the effort. Maybe things will be different this time. After all you have all of your friends to support you now. I'm sure Sonic would beat anyone up if you asked him to."
"Maybe. Hey, were have Knuckles and Rouge gone?" They looked around and noticed that they had disappeared.
"Don't know. They can't have gone far. Why don't we see if we can get Sonic to work out about Knuckles and Rouge? I'm sure Shadow and Eggman would help."
"How do you know that?"
"Who doesn't? We may even be able to get Zelgan to chip in." She stood up and strolled slowly up the beach with Tails to where the others were sitting. Shadow had dozed off and Sonic plus Zelgan were burying him in sand while Eggman looked on.
When they stood by them, Zelgan looked up and put her finger to her lips.
"Shush, we want to get all of him done before he wakes up. Luckily he took his shoes off or it would be even harder." She whispered as Sonic continued to scoop sand onto his body. His legs and waist had gone and his chest was rapidly disappearing too.
"I don't think he will like it when he wakes up." But Tails smiled as he said this.
"Are you going to help us or what?" Sonic demanded. Tails went in search of sand further away as most it around Shadow's body had been scooped up. As Tails kept Sonic busy, Gelest took this opportunity to tell Eggman and Zelgan her idea.
"I thought it would be interesting to see if we can make a sport out of it." Gelest added.
"I must admit, we'll have to tell him soon. If he doesn't get it within the next two days, he finds out." Eggman said. Tails and Sonic had now finished covering Shadow up and admired their handiwork. His head was the only thing which showed now and it was slightly eerie, as it looked like the rest of him wasn't there.
As they saw his eyes flicker open, they panicked and quickly sat away from him, pretending he wasn't there.
"So then, you never told me about your little encounter with Team Rocket." Gelest said loudly.
"Oh yeah, where had I got to? Well they had locked up all of the pokemon so Knuckles started to break the door." But Tails was interrupted by Shadow.
"Whose idea was it to cover me in sand? You've packed me in so tightly I can't get up!" Instead of being annoyed though as they expected, he smiled at them as he attempted to get up. He managed to free himself after wriggling around and sat up, brushing sand off himself. Suddenly remembering what Gelest had said, Tails started the game known as hedgehog baiting.
"So then, have you noticed Knuckles and Rouge's strange behaviour recently? What do you think it could mean?" The question was obviously aimed at Sonic.
"I don't know but whatever it is, it can't be good. What do you lot think about it all?"
"Yes Gelest, you're good with behaviour in people." Zelgan suggested.
"Hmm. I think that their relationship has improved considerably since I last saw them." Gelest replied.
"Yes, they had had an argument. Maybe they just want to know each other better." Tails added.
"Talking of them two, where have they gone?" Shadow asked.
"I don't know. They were there one minute in the water and they next, they had disappeared." Gelest said.
"Maybe they wanted some privacy so they could spend some quality time together." Eggman advised.
"Why do I get the feeling that you know something that I don't?" Sonic asked, suspicious at the knowing looks they were giving each other as they spoke.
"I don't know why you get that feeling but I certainly don't. Maybe they want a change in scenery." Shadow said.
"I can remember when we first met Knuckles. He attacked Tails and me because he thought we were stealing the Master Emerald. All he ever thought about was keeping the Master Emerald safe whatever it cost." Sonic paused as the memory whizzed through his brain. "He never had time for friends then, even we never saw him that often."
"Yes but that was a long time ago. He's had time to sort out his priorities since then. He still protects the Mater Emerald closely and would probably kill someone before letting them have even the smallest part of it." Tails reminded him.
"You're probably right. I hope they come back soon, it's getting dark and I'm tired." Sonic stretched and yawned.
"Why don't you go to sleep now? We'll wake you up when it's time to go." Shadow suggested.
"Oh no, I don't trust you now. You might try and cover me in sand." Eggman pointed towards one end of the beach.
"There they are. Now we can get going." They reached the group and both of them were glowing. Rouge held something tightly in her hand but she didn't say anything about it.
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as the others stood up.
Everyone brushed sand off them and Gelest packed away the stuff before setting off towards the mansion.
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To get Knuckles' attention, Rouge quickly grabbed him by his waist. She grinned when he jumped out of the water, squeaking loudly. Before he could do anything though she kept him still.
"Shall we go and explore that end of the beach?" Rouge whispered indicating a point further down the shore. Knuckles nodded his head and dragged her under the water. They swam under the sea, and watched as Gelest and Tails' legs moved to the shore. When Rouge started to turn blue from lack of oxygen, they surfaced and saw the group were now around the corner. They got out of the water and sat against a coconut tree near the shore.
Rouge sat back and leant on her elbows while Knuckles sat beside her, his hands around his knees. He looked very thoughtful and Rouge soon noticed this. She sat up and leant against Knuckles.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"I'm trying to decide on something. But I don't know how you would react." He replied.
"Why don't you just say it and I'll tell you what I think." She suggested.
"Yes but it depends on whether you've changed since we first met. If not then I've already made my choice."
"But I have changed. At least I think so. I remember feeling very differently towards you then." This memory brought a smile to her face.
"Me too. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I told you. I want you to have this." He held something in his fist and as he opened his hand, she gasped and sat up.
"Knuckles are you sure? I thought you were the protector of it." A small piece of the Master Emerald lay in his palm.
"Recently I've been thinking about the events of the last few days. Can you remember what you said when we were in Brazil? You told me that someone seemed to have it in for us. What if there is? If I get injured and the Master Emerald is stolen, then who knows what could happen. But if one part of it is missing then no one could misuse it."
"And you trust me enough to give me this?" She said it jokingly but he looked very serious.
"Yes I do. You don't have to take it but if you do, then you may keep it. The choice is yours." Rouge looked at the Emerald and then at Knuckles but his face was blank.
~I won't take it, I can't. I don't care about jewels anymore. I can't believe he's offering this to me.~ She thought, full of awe. ~All this time I've wondered if it could be true, that he really loved me and this has proven it to me. If he really wants me to have it then maybe I should.~
She reached out her hand slowly and placed it on top of Knuckles'. She scooped the gem up and held it tightly in her hand.
"Then I accept if you're sure of this. If you ever change your mind then I will give it back." She gazed into his eyes as she said this so he would know she was telling the truth.
"I am sure. Keep it safe for me please and make sure the others don't see it." And for the first time ever, Knuckles held her in a loving embrace. She responded and they leant against each other for several minutes. She loosened her grip and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you Knuckles. Do you know how sweet you are?" In return, he kissed her on the lips, which she greeted happily. Their lips brushed against each other and Knuckles applied more pressure. She stroked the back of his neck and he trembled slightly. She stopped moving her hand and they broke apart.
Knuckles propped himself against the tree and moved Rouge slightly so she was leaning on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like this in silence for a while and watched the sun set. The sea was coloured pink and once it was just above the horizon, Rouge felt a chill set in and shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. Knuckles drew his arms around her tighter and twisted his head so he was looking at her.
"Are you cold? Maybe we should go back." He commented. She snuggled herself against him and sighed.
"I'm ok. Isn't it beautiful?" She said, looking at the sun, which had now nearly completely gone. "Gelest and Zelgan are very lucky to be able to see this whenever they want."
"Then maybe we should do some travelling when we get back to Earth." He suggested.
"I would like that. Shall we get going?" She wriggled herself out of Knuckles' grasp and stood up. He followed suit and they set off back towards the others. As they saw the group, they turned round and seeing them, started to get up and put the stuff away.
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as they reached the group. Making sure that everything had been packed away, they turned back towards the mansion.
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"So then, what did you do today?" Rouge asked Zelgan as they sat at the table eating dinner.
"Oh not much. We buried Shadow in the sand when he dozed off."
"Yes, I've still got it in between my toes." He interrupted, smiling.
"Then we had to help him out." Zelgan added. She didn't really want to mention the conversation they had had with Sonic but this didn't put him off.
"Yeah and then we had a rather interesting conversation about you two-" He started but was cut off by Gelest.
"Oh you don't want to know about that! We just wondered where you had gone."
"And what you were doing." Tails whispered and Gelest, who was sitting next to him, heard this and sniggered. Seeing Knuckles' face though, she quickly turned this into a cough.
"What's wrong?" Rouge asked.
"Oh nothing! Just a bit of food lodged down the wrong pipe, that's all." She busied herself with her dinner to avoid laughing even more.
The rest of dinner was consumed in silence but when Gelest had finished, she had a sip of drink and asked,
"Well, now we've told you what we did today, maybe you should tell us what you did." She watched carefully and smiled, expecting them to look uncomfortable but instead, she saw a look of secrecy. ~Hmm.what could that mean?~ She stared at them and found out that something very important had happened. ~But who did what? Hang on, Rouge was holding something earlier. Maybe that's what's happened. He has obviously given her something important.~
"Gelest, why are you staring at me like that?" Rouge asked uneasily.
"Hmm? I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?"
"I was going to say that we just wandered around that's all. Nothing happened." She looked directly at Gelest as she said this. "That you might expect." Gelest raised an eyebrow.
"You think so? Maybe it wasn't what I expected from you two but it definitely happened." Her eyes flickered to Rouge's hands and she understood what she meant.
"Oh, I." But Gelest smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, I won't tell the others." The rest of the group were totally puzzled by what had just gone on.
"Tell us what?" Sonic asked.
"I suppose I should tell you really." Gelest teased, ignoring Rouge's pleading looks. "It seems that Knuckles and Rouge had a small accident with a crab who was in a bad mood." Hearing this, Knuckles went brick red.
"What do you mean?" Tails asked but Zelgan had a big grin on her face.
"I mean that the crab was in a bad mood and well it pinched them.in certain areas." Rouge gasped silently when she understood what Gelest was saying.
"Gelest!" She squeaked but the group were now laughing. While this was happening, Gelest winked at Rouge and she smiled too. Knuckles now looked outraged at the fact that Gelest had made up something like that but calmed down when he saw Rouge laughing as well.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm going to bed. After all that crab seriously shook me. You would never believe the power they have in those claws." Knuckles stood up as he said this.
"If you're going to bed then you can sleep in the same room as before." Zelgan said and everyone said goodnight before he left the room.
"I'm going too, see you lot tomorrow." Rouge exited the room and Gelest followed her without saying a word. She caught up with Rouge and walked beside her.
"How do you know about the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked quietly.
"Oh so that's what it is. You made it very obvious to anyone who wanted to look closely enough. Luckily, no one would do apart from me so no one will know. But why do you have to be so secretive about it?" Gelest said.
"It's very powerful and if it fell into the wrong hands then terrible things could happen." Rouge opened her hand and it twinkled in the moonlight.
"I can see the power from here. Maybe you should put it away." She decided to play a little stupid. "But why does Knuckles trust you with it?" Rouge didn't know that Gelest knew about her relationship with Knuckles so she just shrugged her shoulders.
"He just trusts me that's all." She said offhand.
"Just trusts you? I think it's a little bit more than that." She hinted.
"Oh, so you know too. I suppose Tails told you, he seems to tell everyone."
"Oh no. Shadow worked it out for himself and Eggman half worked it out too. Zelgan knows from me and I saw it as soon as I met you two." During the conversation they had walked along the corridor and up the stairs.
"Did you like my story about the crabs?"
"Did you have to use crabs? I think it embarrassed Knuckles a lot. I liked it though." Gelest stopped in front of the door of the room that Rouge had slept in before.
"Will you be going to bed now or saying goodnight to Knuckles?" Gelest grinned.
"Wouldn't you like to know? I think I'll go and see him for a while." Gelest continued along the corridor as Rouge turned back to Knuckles' room.
She opened the door slightly and looked around it. She saw a lump in the bed, which she could only assume was Knuckles.
"Knuckles, are you awake?" She hissed but there was no reply so she shut the door behind her and stood by his bed. His eyes were closed and so he must have been asleep.
"Always asleep at inappropriate moments. Nevermind, I'll just say goodnight." She leant towards him to give him a quick kiss but tried to back away as he suddenly sat up. He grabbed her and pulled her into the bed. They rolled around for several moments before Rouge finally gave up the struggle.
"Knuckles, I thought you were asleep! Never, ever do this again! What's got into you?" She half shouted and his grin fell slightly.
"I'm just happy that's all. I've never had anyone important in my life before." He let go of her and sighed. Suddenly realising that his words were true she embraced him.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just a bit surprised that's all. You're not the only one who's happy." He returned the hug and they sat like that for what seemed like an eternity.
Yawning, Rouge tried to move but his grip kept her in place.
"Knuckles, I'm really tired. Can you let go of me now?" She looked at his face and saw that his eyes were closed. "Knuckles, don't tell me you're asleep. I'm not going to fall for that trick a second time you know." She managed to remove herself from his grip but he still hadn't moved. She shook his shoulder slightly but he remained immobile, his breathing heavy and regular. ~He must be asleep.~
She went to get out of the bed but found she didn't want to leave him. She looked at him, lying on his back with a small smile on his face. ~He looks so innocent and content with everything. Whenever I've seen him before, he's always been frowning and he looks so different now. I really am lucky to have someone like him.~ She got in beside him and nestled herself against his body. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his body beside her.
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"How did you know about their accident with the crabs?" Shadow asked.
"Wasn't it obvious? I just have a knack of knowing about this sort of thing. Are you going tomorrow?" Gelest replied.
"Yes, we had batter get to the apartment by the end of tomorrow. It was nice to see you again though." Tails said.
"You too. Well, if you're going tomorrow I suppose we'd better go to bed now." Zelgan stood up and stretched. "I'll show you your rooms Shadow and Eggman." They followed her out of the room and she led them up the stairs.
She showed them their rooms and watched as the doors opened and closed. When they had all gone, she strolled off down the corridor to her room.
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Knuckles woke up the next morning and saw Rouge beside him. His eyes widened when he first noticed her but he didn't move. After making sure she was still asleep, he shifted himself and put an arm around her. He concentrated on the warmth of her body when he felt her stirring.
"Is it morning already? I feel so tired." She moaned when she had opened her eyes.
"We can stay in bed a bit longer if you want." He suggested. They hugged each other and she rested her head against his chest.
"Have any nightmares about crabs?" She asked.
"Why did you have to remind me? That was so embarrassing!" He blushed at the memory of what Gelest had said.
"I knew you would have said that. I saw you last night and you looked like a brick!" She giggled as she said this and even Knuckles chuckled slightly.
Just then they heard a knock on the door and they froze. Rouge then dived under the covers and Knuckles quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
"Knuckles, are you awake yet? It's after eleven now and we thought that as we were going soon, we should get you up. Knuckles?" It was Sonic and when he didn't hear anything, he opened the door. Just then, Gelest also appeared and stood by the door.
~Hang on a minute, that bed's rather lumpy. ~She suddenly realised what was going on. ~Ew, that's disgusting! Well I suppose it's my duty to rescue them.~ She cleared her throat.
"Why don't you go back down Sonic? I'll wake Knuckles up." She suggested.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Of course I am. I'll have him up in a shot." Sonic turned away and headed for the stairs back to the kitchen. Gelest entered the room and shut the door behind her. "You two can come out now." Knuckles sat up warily but Rouge didn't seem as troubled.
"Thanks for saving us there Gelest." She said and Knuckles looked from Gelest to Rouge to Gelest again.
"Am I missing something here?"
"Don't worry, she knows. We should get up now before Sonic comes back again." She stood up and when Knuckles didn't move, she grabbed him and yanked him up into her arms.
"And I don't think you'll want Sonic finding you. Or anyone else for that matter. Anyway, don't you think you should be a bit more careful? First the Master Emerald and now this." Gelest's tone grew worried.
"How do you know about that?" Knuckles asked sharply.
"I have my ways. The point is that if you don't want people to find out things, you have to be more careful. Now it may be that I'm just over observant but still." She explained and Knuckles and Rouge exchanged a look.
"I must admit, we haven't been very careful about what we do. What are we going to do?" Rouge asked.
"Just keep calm. It's doubtful anything will happen. After all, this island is deserted and Zelgan would have said if she had sensed anything. Now we really had better get going." Gelest opened the door and Knuckles and Rouge left, with Gelest following them.
They entered the kitchen and everyone stopped talking. Rouge and Knuckles sat down at the table but Gelest remained standing.
"I managed to wake them two after poking them a bit." Gelest said. She looked at Tails as she said this and he understood what she meant. He had to duck under the table to stop him from making retching actions and appeared a few moments later, giving Knuckles and Rouge very dodgy looks.
"Are you ok Tails?" Gelest asked amiably.
"Fine, fine." He replied offhand, too busy trying not to think about the two of them.
Once the two of them had started eating breakfast, Eggman and Zelgan returned to the conversation they were having before.
"So you're going to live in London now? I haven't been there in a long, long time. And school too. Not so bad for you three because you're all in your last year. What is the uniform like?" Zelgan asked.
"The usual shirt and grey trousers. The blazers are navy blue and they wear dark blue and white striped ties with the logo at the bottom. Tails wears shorts and a orange and white striped tie." Eggman explained.
"Did you just say s.s.shorts?" Tails said.
"Yep, is there something wrong with that?"
"I'm going to look like a nerd! I don't want to know anything else." Tails' eyes widened at the thought of him wearing shorts. The only plus side to this was that he didn't think about Knuckles and Rouge anymore.
"Oh dear, are you sure? It might be important." Eggman looked nervous.
"What might be important?" Sonic asked brusquely.
"Um.when I was buying the house I had to fill in some forms with details of everyone." Seeing everyone's looks he added hurriedly, "No, no. I didn't have to tell them anything important, just ages and names. The problem is that if you're under sixteen, you need a guardian."
"So you're now their guardian?" Shadow asked.
"I managed to get away with Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge because you're all nearly sixteen but Tails is ten, and no way were they going to let a ten year old have no guardian. Now I would have got Sonic to be your guardian but they won't let anyone under eighteen be a guardian. Therefore I am now Tails' guardian." Eggman trailed off and the others (apart from Shadow, Gelest and Zelgan) sat in stunned silence.
"I don't see a problem with it. It's not like you have to act like father and son or anything. But what about me and the Master Emerald?" At the mention of it, Rouge went slightly pink.
"You are still Shadow but you're sixteen, so you don't have to go to school. They don't really worry about people until you're eighteen so we've got a few years. As for the Master Emerald.of course I wasn't going to mention it! What do you think the government would say if I told them that the only thing that could control the seven Chaos Emeralds was owned by one of the members of the household? Luckily they don't ask too many questions. Everything will be fine."
"That's all right then. Tails, what do you think?" Rouge asked.
"Anything for a normal life. As long as we don't get hassled I'm not bothered." He shrugged his shoulders.
"A normal life? You're going to live with a bat, an echidna, two hedgehogs and a human and you think that's normal?" Gelest said ironically. ~And not just that.the Master Emerald, a research project, a mad scientist. Oh well.~ She thought to herself.
"No worse than others I suppose. Now that you two have finished we can go." Tails said quickly.
They stood up and walked down the corridor to the back entrance by the garage.
"I assume you know why Knuckles and Rouge were late this morning?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.
"Don't remind me! I had just managed to get it out of my head." He groaned.
"It isn't that bad. At least their relationship is going strong. Call me sometime and tell me any news you have." They had now reached the garage and Tails and Eggman were getting their machines out.
~Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Although it may not matter now, I can foresee that something will happen. This event will cause the group to be split apart and you will face your greatest fear, even worse than the Finalhazard.~ Shadow heard in his mind. He looked around slowly and saw Zelgan staring directly at him. ~Yes it is me who is telling you this. One day you will find out things you never knew and you will not be the only one.~
"Goodbye everyone! Hope you enjoy living on Earth and maybe we'll meet again!" Gelest called out as everyone got into the two planes.
They rose into the sky and gradually grew smaller and smaller as the six of them headed to London.
"Zelgan, do you think we should have told them?" Gelest asked.
"No, I know they will make it through. And we will be there to help them. Although not in a way that they will expect." Zelgan said.
"As long as you're sure." Gelest said as they walked back into the mansion.
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Luff: Ooh, our first mystery.
S. Chensu: But not our last.
Luff: Hey, how did you manage to get out of prison?
S. Chensu: I used my marine shotgun. Anyway my darling sister, I think we need to have a talk about the fact you didn't try to help me out.
Luff: Uh, well about that. I was going to but I had to grammar check the story and I just had so much to do that I forgot about...you.
S. Chensu: Oh so you had so much to do but you had time to have a party?
Luff: I didn't have a party!
S. Chensu: Then what are they doing here? *Points to now very drunk Lord of the Rings characters*
Luff: They just appeared! It was nothing to do with me, honestly!
S. Chensu: Quite. Right you lot, time to go.
*Group eye marine shotgun as one then sidestep out of the screen rapidly*
S. Chensu: Right now that that lot are gone we can get on with the next episode.
Luff: Next time you'll get a chance to meet Eternal Darkness characters. Yay! For all you people who have never heard of it, it's a VERY GOOD GAME. My sister thinks I shouldn't like it because I've never played on it, but hey, that's why you watch instead! ^-^
S. Chensu: Eternal Darkness. *Drools*
Luff: Umm, right. Anyways, read & review, lovely people!
Now it's time to find out what happened to everyone after the last author's note drama: S. Chensu getting arrested for possessing a gun (and a mighty big one at that).
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Luff: Now that Chensu is gone, we can celebrate!
*Lord of the Rings characters enter*
Legolas: It's party time everyone!
Luff: *Drool* Legolas always was my favourite.
Legolas: *Leans towards Gimli* Why is she looking at me like that?
Gimli: Isn't it obvious wee bonnie lad? She fancies you!
Legolas: Damn, I just can't get away from the girls!
Pippin: Oh come on Leg, you know you love them really.
Legolas: What have I said about calling me Leg?
Pippin: Um.you said not to?
Legolas: Correct.
Pippin: Right, I'll remember that.Leg.
Legolas: That's it! Come here you smelly stumpy swamp man! *Chases Pippin off the screen*
Frodo: *Sigh* He'll never learn, will he?
Sam: I'm afraid not mister Frodo.
Frodo: Sam, you don't have to call me that!
Sam: *Mutters* If I had my way, I wouldn't even call you that.
Frodo: What did you say?
Sam: Nothing!
Boromir: Hey, this party is a bit boring.
Aragorn: How did you come back to life? You had three arrows stuck in your chest!
Boromir: The powers of the authoress! Hey, I'm not complaining about it!
Aragorn: I am though.
Luff: Whoa, this is getting out of control! We need to get onto the episode!
Merry: She has a point you know.
Luff: This episode they go to Kikuyu and.well that's it really. We do meet Mewtwo properly though and there's another development with Knuckles and Rouge.
Merry: Shall I read the disclaimer?
Luff: Yes please.
Merry: They do not own the Sonic characters, Mewtwo or us, the Lord of the Rings characters. In fact all they own is the story and Gelest and Zelgan.
Luff: Thanks Merry! *Gives him big hug*
Merry: ^-^
Gandalf: On with the episode!
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Episode eight: Sun, sand and.snogging?!
As they neared the mansion on Kikuyu, they saw Gelest and Zelgan waving to them in the garden. They both wore casual t-shirts and shorts. They backed away so Eggman and Tails could land properly and when everyone was out, Gelest and Zelgan ran over.
"Long time no see, it seems. But it's only been a few days in truth." Zelgan greeted but Gelest had noticed Shadow.
~Is he the project from the ARK? He must be.~ She thought as she tried to discern his feelings. She found nothing extraordinary though. "And you must be Shadow. Feeling better from your little trip?" She asked and seeing his puzzled look, quickly laughed. "I forgot that you don't know who we are. I'm Gelest and this is Zelgan."
"Yes I am feeling better thank you. Do you live here on your own?" He asked.
"Yes, no one but us." But Zelgan stopped when she sensed something. "But maybe not." She whispered.
"What's wrong Zelgan?" Sonic asked.
"Something else is here. Wait, its Mewtwo! Oh what a time for him to show up!" She sighed.
"Who's Mewtwo?" Shadow asked.
"Someone who likes to destroy things for unknown reasons. But he's been particularly interested in this place since we beat him up." Zelgan explained. They saw something fly through the air and it landed about 50 feet away from them.
They now could see Mewtwo properly for the first time. He stood on two legs and was mainly purple. His face was cat like and his eyes glowed an intense purple. It walked on the front of his feet and he stood with his shoulders back. Zelgan walked forwards a few steps before stopping.
"What are you doing here?" She called out.
"Same reason as always, Zelgan." His voice was cold and monotonous.
"Come on you lot. It's better if we leave Zelgan to deal with him." Gelest whispered.
"We have to help her!" Sonic announced.
"We can't do anything and you can't either. What happened when you met him last time? He took over your mind and tried to kill one of your friends." She reminded him.
"But I'm prepared this time." He retaliated.
"If he can do it once, he can do it again. He has no scruples and wouldn't think twice about hurting someone. Let's go now!" She dragged him towards the door.
"Then can we be nearby at least?" He said.
"Of course we're going to stay near! You never know what he'll do." They stood in the open garage and watched the fight between Zelgan and Mewtwo.
They circled each other warily when Mewtwo suddenly struck. He threw a black ball of energy at her, which she easily dodged. She stopped and struggled against Mewtwo as he tried to control her mind. Her face screwed up in concentration and soon Mewtwo was forced to give in. He sent out waves of psychic power at her, which hit her with full strength. She staggered back and Mewtwo took this opportunity to lift her up into the air.
"Give up?" He hissed.
"Never!" Zelgan gasped out as she was thrown to the floor. Sonic ran forward before Gelest could stop him and Mewtwo turned his head to him. In a blink of an eye, Sonic had frozen in his place.
"Great! Trust him to not listen to what I say!" Gelest sighed. "No one else go out there ok?" The others nodded their heads apart from Tails.
"We can't just sit here and let Zelgan be killed!" He shouted.
"We're not. I have to wait for the right time, that's all." She stared in concentration at the fight. Mewtwo had now let Zelgan go and she had sunk down to her knees. She thrust her hand forward and sent out a beam of power. It hit Mewtwo and he flinched. This gave her the chance to get up but before she could do anything, something landed in between them.
It was another Mewtwo and as Gelest prepared herself to help Zelgan, it put its arms out on either side of it and stopped them in their tracks. Sonic put his feet down on the ground and slowly, the others walked out.
"Two Mewtwos! I've suppose you've come to help him?" Gelest asked.
"No I have come to apologise. This Mewtwo is a clone of me and has become evil. I will take him away and deal with him." He put his arms down and Zelgan and the other Mewtwo could move. The Mewtwo, realising who it was stopped the fight and bowed its head. "This clone has gone out of control. I am the original Mewtwo and I learned a long time ago what happens because of fighting. We will leave you now." And with that they both floated into the air and sped away.
Gelest ran over to Zelgan and bent down to her, checking to see if she was ok.
"Don't worry, nothing's wrong with me. But I wonder if all the fights we had were with this clone?" She pondered.
"Probably. Well now that's over, shall we get going?" Gelest stood up and the others strolled over.
"Where are you going?" Tails asked.
"We are all going on a small trip. Today seems to be a warm day so we thought we'd take you to Holus beach. We even packed a bag with some food in it and it'd be a waste if we didn't use it." Gelest explained. She entered the mansion and came out with a small shoulder bag. She grabbed Tails' arm as they set off for the beach.
"I think you have some information to give me." She walked quickly ahead and Tails trotted next to her.
Understanding what she meant, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened since they last left.
"So they've got together at last have they? That's funny because I didn't notice it."
"That reminds me. I wanted to ask you whether they had fallen out with each other because they haven't talked to each other once today." Tails said, glancing back at them, a concerned look on his face.
"No they haven't, that's obvious. But I can't tell how they feel towards each other. Anyway, they don't have to be talking to each other all the time you know." They were now nearing the beach so Gelest walked faster again. She stood by it and breathed in the slightly salty air. It was the same as last time but now the water was clear and birds flew through the air.
Tails took off his shoes and felt the sand in between his toes. He gazed around for a few moments, taking in the beauty of the place.
"Wow, is it always like this?" He asked.
"Unless there's been a storm. But yes, it is almost always like this." She walked over to the shade of a palm tree as the others arrived. Gelest walked out onto the jetty as Zelgan put out a blanket for everyone to sit on. While Eggman grumbled about sand being in his shoes, everyone else had had the sense to take theirs off. Everyone heard a splash and looking up, they saw that Gelest had dived into the water. She surfaced a moment later and seeing everyone sitting down, she called out,
"Come on you lot! The water's lovely and warm!" No one moved though so she shrugged her shoulders as she climbed out. She stuck her wings out so they could dry. She sauntered over to where the group were and seeing everyone looking slightly bored she smiled as a plan formed in her mind.
She bent down to Tails, Knuckles and Rouge and lunged out at them. She grabbed their arms and before they could do anything, she had run along the jetty and jumped in with them. When she landed, she let go of their arms and grinned at them as they surfaced.
"What do you mean it's warm? I'm freezing!" Tails shivered as he swam to the shore.
"Maybe it is cold to you. Well at least you've done something now." She smiled sweetly and he contented himself with sitting on the shore. The trip seemed to have woken up Rouge and Knuckles who treaded water next to each other. Just as Gelest was about to turn away, she heard a high- pitched squeak as Knuckles quickly rose out of the water. Rouge grinned cheekily at him and he dragged her under the water with him. Thrashing was seen for a few moments before they both emerged breathless. Gelest smiled as she saw the flicker of excitement in their auras.
She swam to Tails who was looking at the action with interest and sat next to him.
"No need to worry about any relationship problems. I believe they are getting on like a house on fire." She smiled slightly at him as she said this. She then grinned when she saw his face contort into disgust.
"Did you have to tell me that?"
"What? I just said they hadn't fallen out. I thought you wanted to know anyway." She raised an eyebrow in question.
"Hmm. What's over there?"
"Oh that's just a small island. It's all covered in forest and I don't go there often." They sat in silence for a while. "So then, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, we've got somewhere to live now so we're going there tomorrow. But after that, I'm not sure. I have to go to school, something I've haven't done for a long time."
"I've never been to school. What's it like?"
"It might be nice for some but not for me. I've always been teased and they're all stupid anyway."
"If you think they're stupid, then you should just ignore them. They're not worth the effort. Maybe things will be different this time. After all you have all of your friends to support you now. I'm sure Sonic would beat anyone up if you asked him to."
"Maybe. Hey, were have Knuckles and Rouge gone?" They looked around and noticed that they had disappeared.
"Don't know. They can't have gone far. Why don't we see if we can get Sonic to work out about Knuckles and Rouge? I'm sure Shadow and Eggman would help."
"How do you know that?"
"Who doesn't? We may even be able to get Zelgan to chip in." She stood up and strolled slowly up the beach with Tails to where the others were sitting. Shadow had dozed off and Sonic plus Zelgan were burying him in sand while Eggman looked on.
When they stood by them, Zelgan looked up and put her finger to her lips.
"Shush, we want to get all of him done before he wakes up. Luckily he took his shoes off or it would be even harder." She whispered as Sonic continued to scoop sand onto his body. His legs and waist had gone and his chest was rapidly disappearing too.
"I don't think he will like it when he wakes up." But Tails smiled as he said this.
"Are you going to help us or what?" Sonic demanded. Tails went in search of sand further away as most it around Shadow's body had been scooped up. As Tails kept Sonic busy, Gelest took this opportunity to tell Eggman and Zelgan her idea.
"I thought it would be interesting to see if we can make a sport out of it." Gelest added.
"I must admit, we'll have to tell him soon. If he doesn't get it within the next two days, he finds out." Eggman said. Tails and Sonic had now finished covering Shadow up and admired their handiwork. His head was the only thing which showed now and it was slightly eerie, as it looked like the rest of him wasn't there.
As they saw his eyes flicker open, they panicked and quickly sat away from him, pretending he wasn't there.
"So then, you never told me about your little encounter with Team Rocket." Gelest said loudly.
"Oh yeah, where had I got to? Well they had locked up all of the pokemon so Knuckles started to break the door." But Tails was interrupted by Shadow.
"Whose idea was it to cover me in sand? You've packed me in so tightly I can't get up!" Instead of being annoyed though as they expected, he smiled at them as he attempted to get up. He managed to free himself after wriggling around and sat up, brushing sand off himself. Suddenly remembering what Gelest had said, Tails started the game known as hedgehog baiting.
"So then, have you noticed Knuckles and Rouge's strange behaviour recently? What do you think it could mean?" The question was obviously aimed at Sonic.
"I don't know but whatever it is, it can't be good. What do you lot think about it all?"
"Yes Gelest, you're good with behaviour in people." Zelgan suggested.
"Hmm. I think that their relationship has improved considerably since I last saw them." Gelest replied.
"Yes, they had had an argument. Maybe they just want to know each other better." Tails added.
"Talking of them two, where have they gone?" Shadow asked.
"I don't know. They were there one minute in the water and they next, they had disappeared." Gelest said.
"Maybe they wanted some privacy so they could spend some quality time together." Eggman advised.
"Why do I get the feeling that you know something that I don't?" Sonic asked, suspicious at the knowing looks they were giving each other as they spoke.
"I don't know why you get that feeling but I certainly don't. Maybe they want a change in scenery." Shadow said.
"I can remember when we first met Knuckles. He attacked Tails and me because he thought we were stealing the Master Emerald. All he ever thought about was keeping the Master Emerald safe whatever it cost." Sonic paused as the memory whizzed through his brain. "He never had time for friends then, even we never saw him that often."
"Yes but that was a long time ago. He's had time to sort out his priorities since then. He still protects the Mater Emerald closely and would probably kill someone before letting them have even the smallest part of it." Tails reminded him.
"You're probably right. I hope they come back soon, it's getting dark and I'm tired." Sonic stretched and yawned.
"Why don't you go to sleep now? We'll wake you up when it's time to go." Shadow suggested.
"Oh no, I don't trust you now. You might try and cover me in sand." Eggman pointed towards one end of the beach.
"There they are. Now we can get going." They reached the group and both of them were glowing. Rouge held something tightly in her hand but she didn't say anything about it.
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as the others stood up.
Everyone brushed sand off them and Gelest packed away the stuff before setting off towards the mansion.
************************
To get Knuckles' attention, Rouge quickly grabbed him by his waist. She grinned when he jumped out of the water, squeaking loudly. Before he could do anything though she kept him still.
"Shall we go and explore that end of the beach?" Rouge whispered indicating a point further down the shore. Knuckles nodded his head and dragged her under the water. They swam under the sea, and watched as Gelest and Tails' legs moved to the shore. When Rouge started to turn blue from lack of oxygen, they surfaced and saw the group were now around the corner. They got out of the water and sat against a coconut tree near the shore.
Rouge sat back and leant on her elbows while Knuckles sat beside her, his hands around his knees. He looked very thoughtful and Rouge soon noticed this. She sat up and leant against Knuckles.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"I'm trying to decide on something. But I don't know how you would react." He replied.
"Why don't you just say it and I'll tell you what I think." She suggested.
"Yes but it depends on whether you've changed since we first met. If not then I've already made my choice."
"But I have changed. At least I think so. I remember feeling very differently towards you then." This memory brought a smile to her face.
"Me too. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I told you. I want you to have this." He held something in his fist and as he opened his hand, she gasped and sat up.
"Knuckles are you sure? I thought you were the protector of it." A small piece of the Master Emerald lay in his palm.
"Recently I've been thinking about the events of the last few days. Can you remember what you said when we were in Brazil? You told me that someone seemed to have it in for us. What if there is? If I get injured and the Master Emerald is stolen, then who knows what could happen. But if one part of it is missing then no one could misuse it."
"And you trust me enough to give me this?" She said it jokingly but he looked very serious.
"Yes I do. You don't have to take it but if you do, then you may keep it. The choice is yours." Rouge looked at the Emerald and then at Knuckles but his face was blank.
~I won't take it, I can't. I don't care about jewels anymore. I can't believe he's offering this to me.~ She thought, full of awe. ~All this time I've wondered if it could be true, that he really loved me and this has proven it to me. If he really wants me to have it then maybe I should.~
She reached out her hand slowly and placed it on top of Knuckles'. She scooped the gem up and held it tightly in her hand.
"Then I accept if you're sure of this. If you ever change your mind then I will give it back." She gazed into his eyes as she said this so he would know she was telling the truth.
"I am sure. Keep it safe for me please and make sure the others don't see it." And for the first time ever, Knuckles held her in a loving embrace. She responded and they leant against each other for several minutes. She loosened her grip and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you Knuckles. Do you know how sweet you are?" In return, he kissed her on the lips, which she greeted happily. Their lips brushed against each other and Knuckles applied more pressure. She stroked the back of his neck and he trembled slightly. She stopped moving her hand and they broke apart.
Knuckles propped himself against the tree and moved Rouge slightly so she was leaning on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like this in silence for a while and watched the sun set. The sea was coloured pink and once it was just above the horizon, Rouge felt a chill set in and shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. Knuckles drew his arms around her tighter and twisted his head so he was looking at her.
"Are you cold? Maybe we should go back." He commented. She snuggled herself against him and sighed.
"I'm ok. Isn't it beautiful?" She said, looking at the sun, which had now nearly completely gone. "Gelest and Zelgan are very lucky to be able to see this whenever they want."
"Then maybe we should do some travelling when we get back to Earth." He suggested.
"I would like that. Shall we get going?" She wriggled herself out of Knuckles' grasp and stood up. He followed suit and they set off back towards the others. As they saw the group, they turned round and seeing them, started to get up and put the stuff away.
"I suppose you've been waiting ages for us. Why don't we go back now?" Knuckles suggested as they reached the group. Making sure that everything had been packed away, they turned back towards the mansion.
************************
"So then, what did you do today?" Rouge asked Zelgan as they sat at the table eating dinner.
"Oh not much. We buried Shadow in the sand when he dozed off."
"Yes, I've still got it in between my toes." He interrupted, smiling.
"Then we had to help him out." Zelgan added. She didn't really want to mention the conversation they had had with Sonic but this didn't put him off.
"Yeah and then we had a rather interesting conversation about you two-" He started but was cut off by Gelest.
"Oh you don't want to know about that! We just wondered where you had gone."
"And what you were doing." Tails whispered and Gelest, who was sitting next to him, heard this and sniggered. Seeing Knuckles' face though, she quickly turned this into a cough.
"What's wrong?" Rouge asked.
"Oh nothing! Just a bit of food lodged down the wrong pipe, that's all." She busied herself with her dinner to avoid laughing even more.
The rest of dinner was consumed in silence but when Gelest had finished, she had a sip of drink and asked,
"Well, now we've told you what we did today, maybe you should tell us what you did." She watched carefully and smiled, expecting them to look uncomfortable but instead, she saw a look of secrecy. ~Hmm.what could that mean?~ She stared at them and found out that something very important had happened. ~But who did what? Hang on, Rouge was holding something earlier. Maybe that's what's happened. He has obviously given her something important.~
"Gelest, why are you staring at me like that?" Rouge asked uneasily.
"Hmm? I was just thinking about something. What were you saying?"
"I was going to say that we just wandered around that's all. Nothing happened." She looked directly at Gelest as she said this. "That you might expect." Gelest raised an eyebrow.
"You think so? Maybe it wasn't what I expected from you two but it definitely happened." Her eyes flickered to Rouge's hands and she understood what she meant.
"Oh, I." But Gelest smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, I won't tell the others." The rest of the group were totally puzzled by what had just gone on.
"Tell us what?" Sonic asked.
"I suppose I should tell you really." Gelest teased, ignoring Rouge's pleading looks. "It seems that Knuckles and Rouge had a small accident with a crab who was in a bad mood." Hearing this, Knuckles went brick red.
"What do you mean?" Tails asked but Zelgan had a big grin on her face.
"I mean that the crab was in a bad mood and well it pinched them.in certain areas." Rouge gasped silently when she understood what Gelest was saying.
"Gelest!" She squeaked but the group were now laughing. While this was happening, Gelest winked at Rouge and she smiled too. Knuckles now looked outraged at the fact that Gelest had made up something like that but calmed down when he saw Rouge laughing as well.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm going to bed. After all that crab seriously shook me. You would never believe the power they have in those claws." Knuckles stood up as he said this.
"If you're going to bed then you can sleep in the same room as before." Zelgan said and everyone said goodnight before he left the room.
"I'm going too, see you lot tomorrow." Rouge exited the room and Gelest followed her without saying a word. She caught up with Rouge and walked beside her.
"How do you know about the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked quietly.
"Oh so that's what it is. You made it very obvious to anyone who wanted to look closely enough. Luckily, no one would do apart from me so no one will know. But why do you have to be so secretive about it?" Gelest said.
"It's very powerful and if it fell into the wrong hands then terrible things could happen." Rouge opened her hand and it twinkled in the moonlight.
"I can see the power from here. Maybe you should put it away." She decided to play a little stupid. "But why does Knuckles trust you with it?" Rouge didn't know that Gelest knew about her relationship with Knuckles so she just shrugged her shoulders.
"He just trusts me that's all." She said offhand.
"Just trusts you? I think it's a little bit more than that." She hinted.
"Oh, so you know too. I suppose Tails told you, he seems to tell everyone."
"Oh no. Shadow worked it out for himself and Eggman half worked it out too. Zelgan knows from me and I saw it as soon as I met you two." During the conversation they had walked along the corridor and up the stairs.
"Did you like my story about the crabs?"
"Did you have to use crabs? I think it embarrassed Knuckles a lot. I liked it though." Gelest stopped in front of the door of the room that Rouge had slept in before.
"Will you be going to bed now or saying goodnight to Knuckles?" Gelest grinned.
"Wouldn't you like to know? I think I'll go and see him for a while." Gelest continued along the corridor as Rouge turned back to Knuckles' room.
She opened the door slightly and looked around it. She saw a lump in the bed, which she could only assume was Knuckles.
"Knuckles, are you awake?" She hissed but there was no reply so she shut the door behind her and stood by his bed. His eyes were closed and so he must have been asleep.
"Always asleep at inappropriate moments. Nevermind, I'll just say goodnight." She leant towards him to give him a quick kiss but tried to back away as he suddenly sat up. He grabbed her and pulled her into the bed. They rolled around for several moments before Rouge finally gave up the struggle.
"Knuckles, I thought you were asleep! Never, ever do this again! What's got into you?" She half shouted and his grin fell slightly.
"I'm just happy that's all. I've never had anyone important in my life before." He let go of her and sighed. Suddenly realising that his words were true she embraced him.
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. Just a bit surprised that's all. You're not the only one who's happy." He returned the hug and they sat like that for what seemed like an eternity.
Yawning, Rouge tried to move but his grip kept her in place.
"Knuckles, I'm really tired. Can you let go of me now?" She looked at his face and saw that his eyes were closed. "Knuckles, don't tell me you're asleep. I'm not going to fall for that trick a second time you know." She managed to remove herself from his grip but he still hadn't moved. She shook his shoulder slightly but he remained immobile, his breathing heavy and regular. ~He must be asleep.~
She went to get out of the bed but found she didn't want to leave him. She looked at him, lying on his back with a small smile on his face. ~He looks so innocent and content with everything. Whenever I've seen him before, he's always been frowning and he looks so different now. I really am lucky to have someone like him.~ She got in beside him and nestled herself against his body. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his body beside her.
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"How did you know about their accident with the crabs?" Shadow asked.
"Wasn't it obvious? I just have a knack of knowing about this sort of thing. Are you going tomorrow?" Gelest replied.
"Yes, we had batter get to the apartment by the end of tomorrow. It was nice to see you again though." Tails said.
"You too. Well, if you're going tomorrow I suppose we'd better go to bed now." Zelgan stood up and stretched. "I'll show you your rooms Shadow and Eggman." They followed her out of the room and she led them up the stairs.
She showed them their rooms and watched as the doors opened and closed. When they had all gone, she strolled off down the corridor to her room.
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Knuckles woke up the next morning and saw Rouge beside him. His eyes widened when he first noticed her but he didn't move. After making sure she was still asleep, he shifted himself and put an arm around her. He concentrated on the warmth of her body when he felt her stirring.
"Is it morning already? I feel so tired." She moaned when she had opened her eyes.
"We can stay in bed a bit longer if you want." He suggested. They hugged each other and she rested her head against his chest.
"Have any nightmares about crabs?" She asked.
"Why did you have to remind me? That was so embarrassing!" He blushed at the memory of what Gelest had said.
"I knew you would have said that. I saw you last night and you looked like a brick!" She giggled as she said this and even Knuckles chuckled slightly.
Just then they heard a knock on the door and they froze. Rouge then dived under the covers and Knuckles quickly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
"Knuckles, are you awake yet? It's after eleven now and we thought that as we were going soon, we should get you up. Knuckles?" It was Sonic and when he didn't hear anything, he opened the door. Just then, Gelest also appeared and stood by the door.
~Hang on a minute, that bed's rather lumpy. ~She suddenly realised what was going on. ~Ew, that's disgusting! Well I suppose it's my duty to rescue them.~ She cleared her throat.
"Why don't you go back down Sonic? I'll wake Knuckles up." She suggested.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
"Of course I am. I'll have him up in a shot." Sonic turned away and headed for the stairs back to the kitchen. Gelest entered the room and shut the door behind her. "You two can come out now." Knuckles sat up warily but Rouge didn't seem as troubled.
"Thanks for saving us there Gelest." She said and Knuckles looked from Gelest to Rouge to Gelest again.
"Am I missing something here?"
"Don't worry, she knows. We should get up now before Sonic comes back again." She stood up and when Knuckles didn't move, she grabbed him and yanked him up into her arms.
"And I don't think you'll want Sonic finding you. Or anyone else for that matter. Anyway, don't you think you should be a bit more careful? First the Master Emerald and now this." Gelest's tone grew worried.
"How do you know about that?" Knuckles asked sharply.
"I have my ways. The point is that if you don't want people to find out things, you have to be more careful. Now it may be that I'm just over observant but still." She explained and Knuckles and Rouge exchanged a look.
"I must admit, we haven't been very careful about what we do. What are we going to do?" Rouge asked.
"Just keep calm. It's doubtful anything will happen. After all, this island is deserted and Zelgan would have said if she had sensed anything. Now we really had better get going." Gelest opened the door and Knuckles and Rouge left, with Gelest following them.
They entered the kitchen and everyone stopped talking. Rouge and Knuckles sat down at the table but Gelest remained standing.
"I managed to wake them two after poking them a bit." Gelest said. She looked at Tails as she said this and he understood what she meant. He had to duck under the table to stop him from making retching actions and appeared a few moments later, giving Knuckles and Rouge very dodgy looks.
"Are you ok Tails?" Gelest asked amiably.
"Fine, fine." He replied offhand, too busy trying not to think about the two of them.
Once the two of them had started eating breakfast, Eggman and Zelgan returned to the conversation they were having before.
"So you're going to live in London now? I haven't been there in a long, long time. And school too. Not so bad for you three because you're all in your last year. What is the uniform like?" Zelgan asked.
"The usual shirt and grey trousers. The blazers are navy blue and they wear dark blue and white striped ties with the logo at the bottom. Tails wears shorts and a orange and white striped tie." Eggman explained.
"Did you just say s.s.shorts?" Tails said.
"Yep, is there something wrong with that?"
"I'm going to look like a nerd! I don't want to know anything else." Tails' eyes widened at the thought of him wearing shorts. The only plus side to this was that he didn't think about Knuckles and Rouge anymore.
"Oh dear, are you sure? It might be important." Eggman looked nervous.
"What might be important?" Sonic asked brusquely.
"Um.when I was buying the house I had to fill in some forms with details of everyone." Seeing everyone's looks he added hurriedly, "No, no. I didn't have to tell them anything important, just ages and names. The problem is that if you're under sixteen, you need a guardian."
"So you're now their guardian?" Shadow asked.
"I managed to get away with Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge because you're all nearly sixteen but Tails is ten, and no way were they going to let a ten year old have no guardian. Now I would have got Sonic to be your guardian but they won't let anyone under eighteen be a guardian. Therefore I am now Tails' guardian." Eggman trailed off and the others (apart from Shadow, Gelest and Zelgan) sat in stunned silence.
"I don't see a problem with it. It's not like you have to act like father and son or anything. But what about me and the Master Emerald?" At the mention of it, Rouge went slightly pink.
"You are still Shadow but you're sixteen, so you don't have to go to school. They don't really worry about people until you're eighteen so we've got a few years. As for the Master Emerald.of course I wasn't going to mention it! What do you think the government would say if I told them that the only thing that could control the seven Chaos Emeralds was owned by one of the members of the household? Luckily they don't ask too many questions. Everything will be fine."
"That's all right then. Tails, what do you think?" Rouge asked.
"Anything for a normal life. As long as we don't get hassled I'm not bothered." He shrugged his shoulders.
"A normal life? You're going to live with a bat, an echidna, two hedgehogs and a human and you think that's normal?" Gelest said ironically. ~And not just that.the Master Emerald, a research project, a mad scientist. Oh well.~ She thought to herself.
"No worse than others I suppose. Now that you two have finished we can go." Tails said quickly.
They stood up and walked down the corridor to the back entrance by the garage.
"I assume you know why Knuckles and Rouge were late this morning?" Gelest asked Tails quietly.
"Don't remind me! I had just managed to get it out of my head." He groaned.
"It isn't that bad. At least their relationship is going strong. Call me sometime and tell me any news you have." They had now reached the garage and Tails and Eggman were getting their machines out.
~Do not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. Although it may not matter now, I can foresee that something will happen. This event will cause the group to be split apart and you will face your greatest fear, even worse than the Finalhazard.~ Shadow heard in his mind. He looked around slowly and saw Zelgan staring directly at him. ~Yes it is me who is telling you this. One day you will find out things you never knew and you will not be the only one.~
"Goodbye everyone! Hope you enjoy living on Earth and maybe we'll meet again!" Gelest called out as everyone got into the two planes.
They rose into the sky and gradually grew smaller and smaller as the six of them headed to London.
"Zelgan, do you think we should have told them?" Gelest asked.
"No, I know they will make it through. And we will be there to help them. Although not in a way that they will expect." Zelgan said.
"As long as you're sure." Gelest said as they walked back into the mansion.
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Luff: Ooh, our first mystery.
S. Chensu: But not our last.
Luff: Hey, how did you manage to get out of prison?
S. Chensu: I used my marine shotgun. Anyway my darling sister, I think we need to have a talk about the fact you didn't try to help me out.
Luff: Uh, well about that. I was going to but I had to grammar check the story and I just had so much to do that I forgot about...you.
S. Chensu: Oh so you had so much to do but you had time to have a party?
Luff: I didn't have a party!
S. Chensu: Then what are they doing here? *Points to now very drunk Lord of the Rings characters*
Luff: They just appeared! It was nothing to do with me, honestly!
S. Chensu: Quite. Right you lot, time to go.
*Group eye marine shotgun as one then sidestep out of the screen rapidly*
S. Chensu: Right now that that lot are gone we can get on with the next episode.
Luff: Next time you'll get a chance to meet Eternal Darkness characters. Yay! For all you people who have never heard of it, it's a VERY GOOD GAME. My sister thinks I shouldn't like it because I've never played on it, but hey, that's why you watch instead! ^-^
S. Chensu: Eternal Darkness. *Drools*
Luff: Umm, right. Anyways, read & review, lovely people!