TeirusuOtaku: Hey, so dija like my second chapter? Well, even if you didn't, I'm contiuing the story! Thanks to all of the people who reviewed! Here's a shoutout to you all! ...Hi! lol. Well, I'll just go ahead and start with the story now, since that's the reason you're here. You couldn't possibly care about my ramblings. sniffle lol jk.

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Tails Takes Flight

Disclaimer: I don't own the Sonic franchise unfortunately.

Chapter Three: Enter Rouge

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"The Master Emerald is GONE!"

Tails flew up to look at the shoreline. It seemed to be rising. "Knuckles, the island is sinking into the water! If we don't find the Master Emerald soon, this'll become the next Atlantis!" He called.

Knuckles' jaw dropped, as he sank to the ground, falling onto his knees. "No...I knew I shouldn't have trusted her..."

"Who?" The fox asked as he landed.

"Rouge..."

"What! What on earth made you think you could trust Rouge to guard one of the most sacred jewels ever!" He walked toward Knuckles and noticed him shivering. What the...is he...?

Knuckles heard Tails approaching, and thrust an arm back. "Don't come any closer..." He said, his voice breaking.

He is...he's crying...I've never seen him cry before...I thought he couldn't even do so. He just seemed so tough...I guess letting something like this, where thousands of people could perish because of you, could cause someone to cry...Tails still advanced toward the sobbing echidna, ignoring the arm he had thrown out in an attempt to stop him. Reaching Knuckles, he kneeled down next to him, his eyes shifting awkwardly. He shakily reached out an arm and patted Knuckles' back. "Uh...there, there. Everything will...uh...be okay," he managed to say. Then a twitch of movement caught his eye, and he looked up.

There, on top on the shrine, bruised and beaten, was Rouge the Bat, in horrible condition. Her ivory fur was blotted with dried blood, her outfit was torn in several places, and her designer (at least she claims it to be) make-up was horribly streaked. She looked like she had been crying.

"Rouge!" Tails yelled, running to the swaying bat and catching her as she fell, though being small, he struggled to hold her up. "What happened to you!" Well, I guess we can rule out the possibility of Rouge stealing the emerald...

"I--" She began, but was cut off but Knuckles charging at her, grabbing her and shaking her silly.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE EMERALD!" he cried, his face still soaked with tears and his eyes violently glinting. His bangs were bared, and shone in the sunlight, and his grip dug into Rouge, causing her to yelp in pain.

"I didn't do anything, I swear!" she cried between sobs. "Someone came and...and stole it!"

"A likely story! I know you tried to steal it before, and that you'd do it again! You did, didn't you!"

"I didn't! I didn't steal it! I swear on my life!"

"Think about it, Knuckles. The only way she could have gotten in this condition was if she had been fighting. She was obviously trying to protect the emerald," the fox tried to reason.

"Or maybe she was fighting someone for it and lost!" He growled viciously, his eyes lit with a raging fire.

"No, no, that's not it at ALL! Some guy in black came and--and took the thing! When I tried to beat him away from it, he--he--" she broke into tears all over again.

Knuckles calmed down, setting the bat down so that she stood shakily, her face in her hands. He sighed and closed his eyes, walking away from us, and up the stairs of the shrine. He stood at the altar and didn't say a word.

"What did he do to you, Rouge?" Tails asked.

She just muttered something that was barely audible.

"What?"

Again, she muttered.

"Could you speak a bit lou--"

"I SAID HE RAPED ME!" She suddenly shrieked, causing Tails to jump and Knuckles' eyes to snap open, and a few birds to scatter. She continued to cry.

"We've got to find out who this guy is...and why he'd do such a thing," Tails said, determined.

Just then, there was a rustle in the leaves of a nearby tree and something black with a hint of red dropped out from it. Knuckles turned around non-chalantly, descending from the stairs as the newcomer spoke. "Hello there, all," he greeted them, nodding and smirking. "I trust you remember me?"

Rouge's and Tails' eyes widened. "Shadow!"

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TeirusuOtaku: Hey! I'm just bombarding you with chapters, aren't I? I know his one seems kinda rushed, and probably extremely short compared to the last one, but I felt I needed to compensate for the wait you all had to...um...wait. And so, Chapter 3 was born. I promise, Chapter 4 will be longer. But mostly because everyone seems to love Shadow. lol. Well, that's all, this is Tei-kun, signing out.

Oh, wait! I almost forgot! It's the dawn of Audience Participation! Just like in the (no longer being continued on account of lost story, lol) 8th Emerald story, you'll get to participate in the stroy by answer what you think will happen next! And don't think this is just a clever disguise to get an idea on what to write next; I've got it all planned out already. This is just to add a bit of fun to the reading. Here's what you do:

1)Read the chapter.

2)Read the question.

3)Submit a review showing your opinion on the chapter and the answer to what you think will happen next, according to it's letter (for example, if you think it's D., then put "I think it's D.!" or something somewhere in your review).

And that's it! So here we go.

Who do you think stole the Master Emerald?

A. Rouge

B. Shadow

C. Someone who hasn't shown up yet

Remember to put your answer somewhere in your review! This is Tei-kun, signing out.