Chapter 11 – Alone No More.
A/N: Once more as always, I live to thank my reviewers:
HHH – Hope the ear infection's clearing up; I've had them before and I know they sting like living death. Glad you enjoyed the last chapter; I was hoping I'd get Echidnopolis right.
Following the note Remington had left them and asking for directions a few times eventually led both Mobians to a posh-looking apartment block, the whitewashed stone so prevalent in the city reflecting the sunset in a multitude of rose-tinted hues that played and danced along the front of the building in an intricate dance of fire. Knuckles, unused to such outwards finery, was looking at this hotel in awe, checking the paper in his hand as though confirming that, yes, this was the place Remington had selected for him, while Rouge was rather more inured to such sights; her previous employment had involved a lot of travel and, though she could slum it with the best of them, she generally preferred higher classes of accommodation. Still, appearances can be deceiving; it's the inside that counts; Rouge looked over as Knuckles shook his head,
"Not a chance", he smiled wistfully as Rouge raised an eyebrow, "there's no way I can afford something like this". Rouge steepled her fingers before looking around; almost instantly she saw what she was looking for,
"Well Remington said you had funds", she pointed at a short queue of echidnas waiting at a spot opposite the hotel, "you better check now much you've got; he wouldn't have told you to go somewhere you couldn't afford right?" Makes sense;
"Sure, can't hurt to find out; this is the first time I've ever had much of my own money"; Knuckles smiled as he palmed his card from inside his glove, crossing the road and joining the end of the queue as Rouge waited where she was, giving him some privacy.
Though he wouldn't have admitted it, Knuckles was actually looking forwards to this; for the first time he was financially independent. In the few times he'd had to go to Station Square it had been Rouge who had footed the bill for most of their purchases; one of the reasons he never really brought much when he was in town – he hated feeling indebted when he knew there was next to no chance of him paying off his debt. Still, with this I might be able to spend a bit to even the score; the last echidna in front of him, an elderly powder-blue male wearing a thick white jumper as insulation against the cold, turned away from machine that dispensed the cash, looked at Knuckles, looked again at Knuckles' crest, nodded approvingly and wandered out the way politely; returning the nod, the guardian approached the hole in the wall. Reading the instructions carefully but quickly, he gently pushed his card into the required slot, waited a couple of seconds and, as his options were displayed on the screen, touched the screen at the banner where it said 'Display Balance'. After a couple of seconds, a day already totally out of the ordinary suddenly became even more bizarre; apparently, his fund was a mite more than he had expected. Looks like it's my turn to pay for Rouge…
The bat watched on as Knuckles checked both ways, though it was largely irrelevant as compared to Station Square the traffic here was as light as a butterfly, and crossed the road back to her. She smiled as she saw from his face that he had been convinced he could afford it,
"Go okay?" He smiled back and offered his arm.
"Sure, shall we?" She put a hand on the burly rope of his left tricep and nodded demurely,
"Sure your wallet can take it?" Trust me you have no idea; the echidna kept his face blank as he affirmed this fact with a thumbs-up, "okay then, lead on". Facing away from her and beaming secretly, Knuckles preceded the bat into the lobby of the hotel, quickly realising the front desk was at the moment deserted and moving to take advantage. He tapped gently on the desk as the receptionist; he caught the name Ulse-Ni on her tag, swept her eyes up to meet him and smiled,
"Good afternoon, welcome to The Promenade; how may I help you", she stopped short just long enough to let Knuckles think the greeting was finished before adding, "Guardian?" That's something I could begin to hate;
"Call me Knuckles"; he waited for her to nod before continuing, "I need a room for two please". She flicked through her register quickly; she was sure there had been a vacancy earlier but couldn't remember if it had been filled in that time or not – for the guardian's sake she hoped not.
"Ah, you're in luck", she kept her finger on the page as she smiled back up at the handsome face of the male echidna, "we've got a vacancy, but it's in the top class rooms, is that okay?"
"That's perfect thanks".
"Good", she opened the register again and clicked her pen open, "names please?"
"Rouge the Bat and Knuckles Echidna"; Ulse looked up to see immediately who Rouge was but dropped her eyes quickly, concentrating on her work,
"How long will you want the room for?" Best to be on the safe side here; Knuckles reasoned quickly that it was better to over than under-estimate the length of their stay,
"Say three days".
"Okay, that's four-hundred and seventeen please". Knuckles counted some money out of the roll of bills he had hidden in his glove, noticing as he did that, unlike the currency of the world below, there was actually no name on the crisp paper money. As he handed over his money, the echidna briefly wondered why; that was something else he'd have to find out while he was here. Ulse handed him the change and a key,
"Room Forty-nine V, third floor, second on the right. Hope you have a pleasant stay".
"I'm certain I will" he assured her as he held the small key and the other person with him, Rouge the receptionist reminded herself, joined him,
"Ready Knucks?"
"Yep, all sorted", he smiled back at Ulse just before he headed for the stairs with his friend, "thanks for the help".
"My pleasure"; in more ways than one I can assure you; she leant back in her chair to catch a glimpse of his behind as he left up the stairs; meow!
The stairs were nothing to two Mobians as fit as the pair of guardians; not a minute after he'd finished talking to Ulse-Ni Knuckles was unlocking the door to his new apartment. Pushing the door open, the echidna stepped back respectfully and bowed, a playful smile on his face,
"Well, ladies first".
"Since when was I a lady in your eyes?" Knuckles couldn't hold back a chuckle at the snappy comeback, chiding himself gently as he realised he'd let Rouge sneak that one from under his nose,
"Just get in there". The bat smiled herself as she stepped inside the polished door and let out a low whistle as the opulence of the place sank in; even by her sharpened standards this was genuine class. The door opened into a wide living area complete with two-seater settee and, she noticed with some amusement, a sort of television set. She could see another hickory wood door off to the left that led into the kitchen area; the room was apparently self-catering but seemed to be stocked with all the mod-cons.
"Nice place Knucks; since when did you turn into a big spender?"
"Well, she said this was the only room left, and anyway, that fund of mine certainly matured over the years"; before she needed to ask Knuckles slid in close and whispered into the bat's ear. As the amount sank in, Knuckles laughed at her face,
"Aww, what I wouldn't give for a camera right now".
"Knucks"; can't let him get away with that one; Rouge rapidly fought down her sudden surprise and moved to counter him, a suave, calculating expression on her face, "you know you said I'd be a guardian…"
"Keep your sticky fingers to yourself you", the guardian couldn't help but laugh at her sudden look of hurt, petulant innocence,
"Knuckles, I'm wounded". Don't smile, not yet.
"Make you a deal" the guardian managed to smile, "you save up for Station Square and I'll cover us when we're in Echidnopolis".
"Done". His partner finally let loose her own grin and stretched languidly; they had a few hours grace before night set in properly and in that time they could make headway on what was happening with the Master Emerald.
Just as they entered their temporary home, far away in Station Square, so did Amy Rose; the pink hedgehog hopped off Shadow's slim shoulders, still holding her video tightly to prevent it slipping from her grasp during the hyper speed run. After checking she was steady on her feet, Shadow slipped his key off its chain and inserted it into the lock.
"Sonic set off just before I did; he'll be back with Tails in a few minutes", much like Knuckles had, he opened the door to his more modest flat, "come on in; fancy a drink?"
"Oh, sure; got any of that strawberry coffee left?"
"Nah, sorry, but that was my favourite; it didn't last past the day after Boxing Day". Amy smiled as her ebon friend flicked the kettle on and reached for a second pot of the coffee he'd been gifted for Christmas; this brown tin was labelled Marching Coffee.
"What's that like?"
"Not sure, haven't opened it yet", he shook the tin to give a kind of samba rhythm just as the kettle began to steam, "gonna join me in a cup?"
"Are you sure we'll both fit?" Shadow pinched his face into a look of both pain and wounded pride as he wagged a single finger
"Leave the bad quips to me Ames; that's all I live for now". The rose hedgehog smiled as Shadow managed to put on and hold a completely serious expression,
"You live to deliver bad one-liners?"
"No, I live to see Sonic's reaction to them; trust me it's a scream" he laughed as the kettle boiled and he spooned coffee into two separate cups, "you take one sugar don't you?"
"Yeah, just the one; sweet enough not to need more". Just as the water was added to the first cup and strong aromatic steam rose into the kitchen air, the front door was opened and Sonic's voice rang out,
"Did I beat you back Shads?" The black hedgehog shook his head, handed Amy her coffee and then answered,
"Yes you beat me".
"Ah good", the dull slam of the door closing reached their ears and Tails suddenly appeared in the kitchen door, "just have to check I won; I know you wouldn't lie to me".
"Wouldn't dream of it" Shadow said sardonically before Tails took a deep sniff of the air in the kitchen and promptly covered his nose,
"Wahaooo, what are you two drinking?" he pinched his nostrils to spare his keen sense of smell, "smells like crude oil".
"It's called Marching Coffee", Shadow informed him as he took his first sip; a second after it had scoured the taste-buds from his tongue the black hedgehog promptly lowered the cup and gasped for air, "that's a mite strong". Amy took her first sip just as Sonic walked into the kitchen to join the gathering; he took one look at the way her eyes started watering and her mouth shrunk to the size of a pinprick and guessed what had happened.
"Marching Coffee huh?" He waited for her to nod mutely before turning to Shadow, "next time, read the label; you don't mess about with a drink that's 70 coco powder". Both drinkers silently agreed and as one tipped the rest of their coffee down the sink as Tails had to turn his back to avoid them seeing his shoulders shaking with giggles; the ultimate life-form, beaten by refined home-brand – you couldn't make it up.
I remember the taste; it was sweeter and not as strong, but that was something I used to drink, and enjoy drinking; in its quiescent state, Amy's silent passenger was capable of interpreting the neural stimuli that arose when the pink hedgehog interacted with her environment – basically, whatever she saw, it saw, if she tasted something, so did it. There is much to do when the host becomes accessible once more; many theories to confirm and experiments to do…I know what an experiment is; I have done them before, but when?
The working day was at an end; denied his crossword Remington was desperate to do two things; first he wanted to buy a second paper to get his daily puzzle fix and then he wanted to try and find out what Suduko was. Just as he had one foot out of his office, the intercom crackled again,
"Constable Remington, come in please sir". He slapped a paw onto his face and grudgingly stepped back into the smart room, overcoming his reluctance to simply pretend he'd already left and thus not heard the call.
"I am halfway out the door Yesa; this better be important".
"It is sir", at the front desk, the desk sergeant looked at the echidna stood in front of him apprehensively, "there's someone here who wants to see you about the guardian".
"Right", could be important, or could be some kind of obsessive fan, "I'm on my way; I'll deal with it".
"Very good sir". The line cut off as Remington quickly left his workplace before anything else could go wrong. In his sharp, mercurial mind, the EST commander was trying to weigh up all the potential outcomes of this call; he narrowed his razor eyes as he realised not many of them had potentially pleasant outcomes. He rounded the last corner to the office, prepared to see anything from a young street punk wanting to challenge Knuckles to some kind of duel to an elderly echidna wanting to see the guardian in the flesh. Therefore, the sight of a smaller echidna, from the looks of her uniform a nurse, standing patiently by the front desk and apparently chatting gamely to his friend Yesa-Do was a little unexpected but not completely disregarded from the realms of possibilities. He caught Yesa's eye and waited as the desk sergeant pointed him out to the nurse with the ever-present red pen he always carried. Remington folded his arms as the nurse approached him, taking in a youthful face and slim build concealed by the stark white of the traditional hospital gown.
"I hear you're looking for the guardian?"
"Yes", her voice was full and rich; it reminded the constable of honey as it rolled around into his ears and he lapped it up, "he was here earlier?"
"Yes, why do you need to see him?"
"Could you tell me where he went?" This could get interesting; there was a hungry look in the nurse's face that became more pronounced as he watched on; the enforcement office reasoned this was most probably a stalker case and his face hardened.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I need to see him"; the need, the gnawing want became more pronounced in her eyes and Remington steeled himself; he really didn't want to have to say no and bought time by asking another question.
"Why?" She didn't answer immediately and Remington took the breath that would allow him to point out the information was private, when suddenly her hand moved and an old, creased piece of paper was brought up to his chest. Keeping his eyes on her face, Remington gingerly took the pro-offered piece and unfolded it.
A few seconds later, the nurse left the main headquarters of the EST; following, almost to the exact footsteps, the path Knuckles had taken.
"I see what you mean about those power-showers Rouge", the guardian stepped out of the bathroom into his separate bedroom, calling through into the lounge where Rouge was waiting for him. He managed to wrap his still wet dreadlocks in a towel and, after putting his shoes back on, entered the co-joined living room. Rouge was sat on one side of the settee, clad in the pyjamas she had found folded neatly under the pillow in her own room as she had sent her jumpsuit to the hotel dry-cleaners; it was stating to show the signs of wear after two days of travel and the bell boy who had answered her room service call had promised it would be ready for collection by the morning. The bat smiled as Knuckles sat down beside her and she caught sight of his new headgear.
"They are good aren't they, but anyway", she clapped her hands, suddenly business-like as the gravity of the situation reasserted itself for her, "we've got to figure out why this has happened; why has this city suddenly sprung up just outside our doorstep?"
"And where did it come from, and how's the Master involved?" Knuckles added a few questions of his own before his eyes fell on the telephone and he remembered that this place had room service, "but I say we order something to eat first".
"Nice plan, oh, and while you're over there, get the pad next to the phone; we'll sketch down anything we come up with as we go". Knuckles nodded as he began dialling, spoke for a few minutes and then replaced the phone; Rouge guessed from his smug look that thinks had panned out well.
"Get everything you wanted?"
"Yep, a decent meal of fried mussels and a salad for two, some sparkling mineral water and even", he grinned broadly at Rouge, "a sweetberry and grape soufflé for dessert". Right, I definitely owe him one for that; the bat licked her lips as the mere memory of that particular dish caused her mouth to start watering and she asked,
"How long?"
"They said no more than about thirty minutes". Rouge chuckled as the echidna sauntered back over to her and raised an eyebrow,
"You know, I could get to like this city". Not for the first time, Knuckles found himself laughing with her as he flourished the pad he'd brought back with him,
"I'll admit it's a nice change of scenery, but come on; there's some time to make a start on this puzzle now".
"Okay, let's do this".
What a dish; Ulse-Ni re-ran the conversation she'd had with the guardian over once more in her head; with each rendition, she noticed another feature that just added to Knuckles' general sex appeal. The memory of his pecs, the dusky red fur, his burning purple eyes and, she sniggered a little, all topped off with a butt she could have watched all day long. Then she sighed – she'd had enough experience in relationships to realise that, while Rouge seemed to be around, she had roughly a snowball's chance in hell of landing the guardian; he must have been in deep to rent that kind of room both for and with her. But I can dream can't I; just as she was beginning to begin another performance, it had to be temporarily suspended as the main door was pushed open by another potential client.
"Good evening, welcome to the Promenade, how may I help you?" The other echidna, a nurse she realised as she came closer to the desk in short, quick strides, spoke breathlessly; Ulse realised she must have run here from somewhere.
"Is the guardian here?" Man, from what Katr-Cu said he's been here less than a day and he's already got women all over him – me included;
"Yes, he checked in not so long ago". She wasn't sure, but she thought an expression of pure, simple relief flooded across the other's face of just a second before the emerald eyes became clear once more,
"Please, can you tell me the room he's in?" Ulse frowned for two reasons; one it was against company policy and two she didn't want to give that knowledge to a potential rival.
"Sorry, but I can't…"
"Please", the other echidna composed herself; forgive me child but this is urgent; "I'm from the hospital; the guardian had some tests done and, well, they sent me to give the results". Ulse straightened in her chair; she sounds serious and I can always say it was guardian business – Mr Quia 'I've-got-a-rod-so-far-up-my-butt-I-can't-bend-over' Ge should swallow that;
"Okay, he's in room 49-V, hey wait", she called quickly as the nurse looked ready to dash off; "it's not serious is it?" Ulse always remembered afterwards that the nurse chuckled just before she headed for the stairs,
"It might be; he'll probably go into shock but, with luck, he'll pull through".
Knuckles scratched the side of his face as, in his eyes at least, it seemed he and Rouge were making precious little headway. He stated the facts again as he could recall them, the bat ready to interject if she remembered anything differently or he had missed out,
"Right, there are pulses from the Master, and the land starts appearing…"
"There was writing glowing on the shrine walls too", Rouge broke in abruptly, trying to picture the scene of the shrine interior in her mind again as the Master Emerald had revolved in the air in front of her; she didn't want to miss any detail in case it turned out to be in some way connected to this whole picture. Knuckles nodded, scribbled something on the already cramped piece of paper and continued,
"So, we start going across this land, and we can roughly follow our path as I can feel what's being created by the feel of the energy sweeping over me", another note was made, "we eat and sleep; then we do a high-fly next morning and you nearly give me a coronary", Rouge winked and shrugged as he glared over playfully, "we travel here and I talk to Teri-Le for the first time; now this is where it gets interesting". He flipped the page over and readied his pen,
"Teri recognised me by the mark on my chest; so we can say that echidnas with this crest are guardians. He also said there was supposed to be one every generation of echidnas, so that means there may be other guardians present – we'll need to look into that". Rouge nodded as he glanced over for confirmation; if there were any other guardians out there they would probably have at least some idea of what was going on. From there, she took over for a minute,
"Teri also said something about spikes but that's not really an issue now you're registered and fully legal. He also said the dam was what powered Echidnopolis and that there's not much in the way of traffic up here".
"Good spotting that, by the way", Knuckles complimented the bat for her agile thinking earlier in the day, "never crossed my mind about that". Rouge nodded and a wry smile crossed her lips next as something didn't quite add up,
"Now this is the bit I'm having trouble with; we know the echidnas have the technology to move around a bit, but they don't seem to have mastered flight yet. So they can move, then Teri said that he's never been much further than the reservoir; now why is that?" Rouge furrowed her brow as she tried to get the data to compute, "we've got a mobile people just staying in one place; that doesn't feel right to me".
"I agree; something else to look at. Also", Knuckles was reminded of the way most other echidnas had reacted to Rouge and, more subtly, the manner in which their currency seemed to have no visible name, "they don't seem to have got out much; Teri said he'd never seen anyone but an echidna before now, and look", he drew forth one of his bills and offered it to Rouge, "nothing like a dollar sign; I don't think they've ever needed an exchange rate". The bat examined the crisp five and then suddenly snapped her fingers; Knuckles made ready with pen and paper,
"It's the island, or it might be something to do with it", she looked at the guardian intently, "think about it, they're up here by themselves, there's no way off as they don't have aircraft so they've never seen anyone; the echidnas are all like you in a way – didn't meet anyone new until they", she chuckled as she remembered the circumstances Knuckles had told her this particular story, "almost literally, fell in right on top of them; remind you of anything?" Knuckles guessed what she was driving at and rolled his eyes lazily,
"If you're referring to the Death Egg bit I…" He was cut off suddenly by a knock at the door and hid the paper they'd been working on; both treasure hunters had seen first hand that news spread across Echidnopolis like wildfire and a bell boy seeing something like that could probably lead to nasty consequences. Rouge stood and headed backwards as Knuckles looked a little confused,
"Where are you…?" Ah; he cut off his own question as he realised which door the bat was moving towards and, realising he was paying anyway, decided he could get the food on the table before she came back. Moving quickly, the guardian opened the front door of his temporary apartment.
"Hello?"
A nurse; Knuckles furrowed his brows as, rather than a chef, or even a porter, there was a different kind of uniformed echidna on his doorstep. His confusion became concern when, after studying his face for a few seconds, she suddenly dropped her head before he could get a clear look at her,
"Can, er, can I help you?"
"You have", the voice was thick and Knuckles was more concerned to see tears glistening in the female's eyes as she raised her gaze to his again, "just by being here, you've helped me more than you know". That doesn't make sense, but, wait; something was niggling Knuckles as he took in the echidna woman before him; before he could act on it though, she had presented him with something held in her hand. Taking it curiously, keeping his eyes on her expression until the last minute, Knuckles flicked his eyes down to realise it was an old photograph of some kind. It showed the woman in front of him, albeit a lot younger and…the guardian's jaw dropped like someone had punched him in the gut. She had a baby in her arms; a young echidna, no more than a year old – a baby with spurs, and the guardian's crest just visible on its tiny chest.
The photo fluttered to the floor as Knuckles Echidna looked back up, his dimmest, most early memories triggered by the reminder; a time when he had been held, when he hadn't been alone, he'd been safe, protected by his…his,
"M,mum?" Tears streaming from her eyes, the nurse identified by her name tag as Lara-Le spread her arms wide and, even through the turmoil, managed to smile,
"Hello son".
Rouge finished drying her hands on the clean white towel and casually opened the bathroom door, fully expecting to see Knuckles waiting for her with dinner on the table; however, it was quickly obvious that either Knuckles was giving the oddest tip she'd ever seen or something else was going on. He had his back to her and, she cocked her head in confusion as she saw a pair of arms were encircling her boyfriend around the chest area, through the face of their owner must have been buried in Knuckles' shoulder. What the hell…; instinctive possessiveness sprang up in her mind before she could control it and she felt her anger rise sharply – how could Knuckles do this with some stranger in front of her? However, luckily this was only a split-second reaction – Rouge had been trained to quickly analyse facts from wild fiction and rapidly realised that this couldn't be some kind of ex-girlfriend; Knuckles hadn't even seen another echidna before today.
This is something else, and should I be here? Rouge suddenly began to feel very awkward for some reason, as though she was intruding on something that aught to remain private, especially when, now that the initial stab of panic and possessiveness had died down, her ears saw fit to inform her that at least one of the pair in the embrace was crying; she could hear the sniffles and choked breathing that accompanied such an outpouring even from where she was. The bat was caught in a quandary; half of her wanted to remain completely motionless in the hope of not being seen or heard while the other half said she should retreat quietly into the room she had just emerged from and gently pull the door to, giving Knuckles some privacy in whatever he was doing. She was motionless still, mind still torn almost perpendicularly between confusion and shame, both for her earlier reaction and for eavesdropping on this event, when she heard Knuckles speak, his normally deep voice a strangled, yet somehow happy croak.
"Come in, for goodness sake come in". He turned towards her and she lowered her eyes, not wanting him to think she'd been intentionally nosey when she heard a second voice, equally choked but happy and most definitely female. She couldn't help herself; she glanced up at the speaker and that was when she was completely mesmerised; her eyes flitted from Knuckles to the female by his side as he led her in and her hand reflexively covered her mouth as it hit her. It's all there; they've got the same jaw-line, the same sort of fur colour, he's just bigger built and his eyes are a different colour to hers – oh Christ, what do I do now? Just for once, her mind, trained to react to changing circumstances in a single instant, froze up completely; she literally couldn't get a response from her limbs as she failed utterly to think of a single thing to do, or to say. She saw the new woman, the echidna who just had to be Knuckles' relation, look at her suddenly and panic coursed through her; now she just might get the explanation she dreaded and had looked forward to in equal measure.
Lara-Le squeezed as tightly as she could the son she had once lost and, as she felt him return the hold without remorse or restraint, she swore by the Master Emerald itself that nothing, nothing on this entire planet would ever force them apart again. She cried unashamedly, not caring if anyone saw or what anyone thought as she and Knuckles were reunited. She felt the hold relinquish slightly and heard a delirious whisper in her ear,
"Come in, for goodness sake come in". She didn't resist as she was led into the apartment by the one echidna she had never thought she would ever see again; as she walked, Lara offered thanks to whatever spirit had led her here; that the rumours had been true and Knuckles had returned to his own people again. She swept her eyes up to see her son, her son; she just couldn't say that enough any more, but her eyes were side-tracked by the sight of another person, not an echidna either, standing still as stone over at the far side of the room, watching on with wide eyes and a paw over her mouth as though in shock.
"Rouge", she heard Knuckles speak and followed his arm as he beckoned to the other, eyes glowing with joy and crackling with sheer delight as he repeated the name, "Rouge, come over here".
Come on think, what's the most likely explanation for this; for the first time she could remember, Rouge was actually afraid and embarrassed; embarrassed for having such irrational first thoughts of betrayal, and then afraid, properly afraid, of what Knuckles would think of her hearing something like this, even if it had in all honesty been an accident. Slowly, shyly placing each foot in front of the other as though her life depended on her footing, the bat approached the pair and smiled weakly.
"Rouge, I'd like you to meet my mother", he confirmed what she had suspected from the second she'd seen them side by side, "this is Lara-Le". Rouge managed a weak smile as it felt like a fist gripped her heart; was it happiness for Knuckles' sake or the selfish, immature feeling that she hated and despised now she was aware of it, yet had still felt within herself; that for the first time she wasn't the only woman in his life? As her head span, Knuckles continued,
"Mum, this is Rouge the Bat; she's my friend, my partner and my soul-mate". Lara's heart swelled as though it would burst with pride as she realised that her Knuckles hadn't been alone all the way through his guardianship; he'd managed to find someone without the need for outside interference. She looked at Rouge warmly and smiled in pity; the younger girl's face was a mixture of violently conflicting emotions that she wasn't sure how to deal with. Lara tried to help her as best she could,
"Rouge", it was the woman who was speaking to her; with a rush of relief she could barely contain the ex-spy realised she wasn't angry or upset, she instead saw that the female echidna seemed to be smiling at her just like Knuckles was, "that's a pretty name". She's terrified, but Knuckles, this is your choice; Lara had seen enough in her son's expressions and pronunciations of the bat's name to know she couldn't interfere with what may happen next.
I gotta get out of here – they need to be together; Rouge latched onto that idea with the ferocity of a bear trap; Knuckles needed time and solitude with his mother and she had no right to be here, not now. She smiled at both Lara and Knuckles individually and made to sidled towards the door,
"Well, you two, I'll just, see what's…" A heavy arm gently fell in front of her path and Knuckles' voice, slightly returned to its natural depth and volume, purred at her gently, soothing her fears and easing her worries like nothing else could.
"Don't go", the guardian smiled at her with all the warmth his heart could possibly hold, "I want you to, to be here, with us".
Rouge felt tears well up in her eyes as Knuckles, already crying freely once more, drew his arm around her and pulled her slowly in close, the furnace of his emotion burning down the barrier of awkwardness like it was matchwood. Slowly, the desire to flee left her and Rouge relaxed in his grip, not saying a word as she silently and unreservedly thanked the echidna for allowing her to share one of the most important moments of his life. Lara flitted her eyes to Rouge's form and back to her son; Knuckles, eyes still wet, smiled back and gave a tiny nod. The female echidna let the news sink in with an explosion of joy; good for you son. Overcome with emotion once more, she wrapped her arms around the guardian again; Knuckles used his other arm to hold her close and mouthed a silent prayer of thanks to whatever had caused the Master Emerald to reveal the lost city of Echidnopolis and the roots of his ancestry.
"Look at us"; gradually, Lara managed to disentangle herself from the hold, smiling ruefully as she wiped her eyes, "we're all in tears; I meant this to be a happy occasion".
"Trust me, this is one of the best days of my life". Knuckles spoke from the heart as Rouge nodded in agreement, slowly removing herself from his grip as she spied something on the carpet near the door. She silently retrieved it as Knuckles made Lara-Le more comfortable in the living room of their apartment, the guardian's mind ablaze with questions he wanted to ask but wasn't quite sure how to phrase properly. Hehe; Rouge recovered the photograph from where it had fallen and took a decent eyeful; aww, he was a cute baby. Mood a little lightened by the sight of Knuckles in a nappy, Rouge turned back to where Lara-Le had sat down comfortably, smoothing out her uniform as she kept her eyes still on her son's grown, rugged face – he'd matured into what she'd always hoped he'd be; stronger than his father but; she glanced at Rouge and her soul was lifted once more, not cold, not as heartless. She broke off as the bat approached, holding the picture she'd brought with her and offering it back to her,
"This is yours Mrs Le".
"Please Rouge, call me Lara". Rouge nodded acquiescingly and sat back into her seat; there was a very pregnant pause as all three Mobians desperately wanted to say something but was never quite sure how to voice their thoughts properly. The atmosphere was tense until Knuckles, still not quite taking the situation in completely, gave a wry chuckle and gently clapped his hands together. Looking up as both women looked over at him, he shook his head,
"I wanted to ask a thousand questions, but now, I can't remember a single one of them".
"I know how you feel son", Lara suddenly brightened up, stuck by a sudden idea, "but, there's something I would like to know".
"Yes?" The older Mobian smiled at both her son and the one who, she could see, had managed to steal his heart completely,
"I'd like to know how you two managed to find each other, and then how you both made it here". The pair shared a glance before Rouge gave the guardian a small nod of encouragement and he began to tell his mother all that had happened, from the first time he had met Rouge to the events that had culminated with their arrival in Echidnopolis. The tension in the room sloughed away like dead bark as he spoke on, Lara-Le listening in to her son's tale, intervening with a few choice questions to clarify certain matters, but mostly just glorifying that her son had found her, and he was as perfect as she had ever prayed he'd be.
As the mood in Echidnapolis lightened, the one in Station Square was darkening almost perceptibly; movies watched and popcorn finished, it was down to this to finish the evening. As the bulb above the table shone down dingily, there was a series of quick, shuffling movements as Sonic dealt from the deck evenly, keeping his eyes on the reactions of the other players as they drew in their cards; this was serious now – they were playing for sweets. After a few seconds of examining, the hedgehog turned to his left and called,
"Tails, how many?" The kit flicked the side of his left-most card and then slid all his hand bar one over,
"Four"; man that was a lousy hand, but; there was a glimmer in his eye that he quickly quashed; lucky number seven. Sonic made a note of the almost imperceptible shift of the fox's face and moved along,
"Amy?" Hmm; she had a decent hand, a three, two eights and two nines, but what should she do next? I could drop the three, but it's not very likely to get me an eight or a nine – should I drop a pair and hope or play it safe?
Play it safe; from behind her eyes, the being had rapidly deduced the mechanisms of this simple game of chance and amused itself by putting itself in the host's place; it was actually quite surprised to find that, more often than not, the host tended to make the same decision it would; and once more, you do as I say; control, that is something that is familiar – me giving commands, others obeying, but some would not…
"I'll take one"; she slid her card over to Sonic and he in turn flicked one over to her face down; she's getting better – can't read her as well as I used to. Realising her reaction had slipped him this time, Sonic shrugged casually and asked the last player. Shadow asked for three and then Sonic took two for himself. When the dealing was done, the stakes were put on the line; Tails, smiling wickedly, started off, pushing a single jellied treat into the centre of the table,
"I'll bet one".
"I'll see it", Amy produced three sweets, "and I'll raise two". Shadow looked at the pile in front and kept his poker face; by nature he was a cautious player, so he merely paid enough in to keep himself in. Sonic, however, was a different matter,
"I'm in and", he removed his paw from the table, "I'll raise by three". Amy whistled, looked down at her cards and placed her hand face down on the table,
"I fold".
Good choice; he's hiding something.
"I don't", he's bluffing, I can tell; Tails slid in his 'chips' and grinned as Shadow silently shook his head and set his cards down similar to Amy's, "well bro, let's see what you got". Sonic licked his lips as he placed his cards face up on the table, one at a time,
"Well, I have this pair of aces", the single card of spades and diamonds obligingly appeared on the table, "and three twos – full house, beat that". Well, he wasn't bluffing; Tails grinned openly as his hand hit the table; but when you've a hand like that it doesn't really matter.
"Four of a kind – lucky number seven". Sonic winced as Tails scooped the pot; he hadn't expected the fox to pull a hand like that. The gleeful fox gently placed a skittle on I tongue and slowly sucked it, just to rub it in a little as Shadow reprimanded,
"Stop eating the currency".
"Hey, I'm a rich man", Tails indicated his now-enlarged pile of sweets, "I can afford to". Shadow took in the rest of the cards and began to shuffle the pack of cards as Sonic glanced at his rapidly dwindling reserves and then looked over at his brother pleadingly,
"Tails, umm, any chance of a loan?"
A/N: In case you didn't know, Lara-Le actually is Knuck's mum if you read the Archie comics – just saying I don't own her. The poker game will become important next chapter, and some other things will be explained…