((I took my sweet ass time in updating because- let's face it- the only person that was reading and/or reviewing left on vacation for a month and I can't bribe anyone anymore because I ran out of money. But I know someone ELSE who's NICER than all of you and should follow his example like good boys and girls and transvestites. (too much sugar again, noh dah) anyway, just letting you know (Travis) it means a lot to me that you're wasting your precious time to read my work. Anyway, me wubbles you with hugs and kisses and all sorts of other nice things ...
Now here's something interesting I found. It's a WONDERFUL tool for creating characters and their personalities. Basically, you put in a name, state the gender, and it tells you what the person is like. (it was scarily accurate on my own. I shall put it in my bio.) anyway, I've decided I'm going to post a name and description in every chappy for fun. Here goes!))
The name of Knuckles creates a mature, self-possessed, and responsible nature. You are an organizer and leader who exercises sound and fair judgment in all your dealings, both business and personal. The name is a very practical influence, causing you to take your responsibilities seriously. At times it is difficult for you to see the lighter or more humourous side of a situation because of your serious attitude. Your highly capable and efficient nature makes it difficult for some people to approach you. Although you desire to serve your fellow man, you may at times lack tolerance for those who are less self-assured and whose approach to life is not as positive and optimistic as your own.
Pretty damn accurate, neh? At least I think so. I'll do one of my chars next time. Onto the fic!
Sonic: HOLD UP! I didn't get my say yet!
A: being that you have to comment on EVERYTHING, I've decided to put you on talking restriction. -ductapes his mouth shut-
S: mum miff! GNEEEE!
A: what's that, Sonic? I can't hear you.
S: T.T rrrrrrrrrr.
!# who here reading this thinks I own Sonic? Really?#
Chapter 11- Pursuit
Knuckles had dozed off some time ago, head resting on his chest and arms folded as he sat in the uncomfortable chair next to the hospital bed. Sonic and the crew had the recording and were doing all they could. Knuckles' place right now was with Tarsa. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew she had somehow gotten caught up in the middle of this cataclysm. His thoughts slipped in and out of reason as he rested there in half-sleep, half-dreaming. The monotonous beeping of the pulse monitor seeped its way into his quasi-unconsciousness, and his mind perked up to the sound somewhat as it suddenly began to accelerate.
Without warning, the bedridden girl gasped, sitting up with a jolt, looking around with wild, sunken eyes. This sudden episode in turn caused Knuckles to fall out of his chair in shock.
"IT'S HERE!" she shrieked, clutching at her chest once more as her eyes rolled back in their sockets. She gasped again more forcefully, clawing at the IV in her arm.
"Tarsa! Tarsa, no, don't! Lay back down. Breathe." He pushed her back to the bed gently, trying to soothe her, but her eyes still bore that frighteningly deathlike pallor. He smoothed her hair lightly, regardless of how uneasy her appearance was making him.
"It was a dream. Calm down. You're safe..."
Her lids relaxed a little, her breath slowing. "Where am I? What...what happened to me?"
"The doc says you had an anxiety attack. Something about post traumatic stress syndrome, but I don't listen to doctors. They're all quacks."
His attempt to lighten the mood failed. She turned away, drawing a hand to her chest.
"It can't be. I felt something. Right here..."
"I'll see if I can't convince him to give you an x-ray, or MRI...whatever they use. Ok?"
"Yeah, I'd feel better if they did... I'm sorry if I've caused you any trouble-"
Her apology was cut off by a soft kiss.
"Don't worry about it. You're worth it."
Her cracked lips curled slightly in an attempt of a smile.
"You don't have to stay with me. I'm fine."
"Like hell I don't. I'm staying here until you're on your feet again."
"Listen, I don't want you to waste any more of your time on my account-"
"It's not a waste-"
"LISTEN TO ME!" she rasped sternly, sitting up with difficulty. "Go. Like you said, you have your priorities and I'm not important right now."
He frowned, opening his mouth to object, but couldn't. Hadn't he thought that to himself some time ago?
"I never told you that! And that was before... how could you know...?"
She fixated him with a serious stare. "Bad things are going to happen. I don't know what all this means, but I just know. It will need you soon. As mine now needs me..." She shook her head, tendrils tossing. She drew her hands to her ears, grimacing. "It's close... The joining of the two... light and darkness... with the shadow,hidden in gold. She needs me to finish the design... I-"
He watched her with widened eyes, waiting for her to continue. She sat with her hands clasped over her ears, rocking back and forth, her face wrenched and mouth open as if she were screaming in terror, but made no sound.
"Tarsa! What is it? What do you see!"
"THE END!" she wailed, her gasps turning into sobs of anguish. "She's coming! She wants us dead- everything dead! Ohhhh, God, the blood! NOO! YOU CAN'T LET THEM TOUCH ME! THEY WILL OPEN PANDORA'S BOX!"
His eyes widened more under his furrowed brow,shocked. "Are you talking about Dr. Robotnik? What is he going to do?"
"It …..Itshell …. save me….."
She fainted from fright at the visions playing on the insides of her eyelids. Surely one so innocent and frail shouldn't have to bear the message of Armageddon, shouldn't have to witness her own demise...
Knuckles shot to his feet, a hand to his forehead as he took deep, rapid breaths; looking around for a simple explanation. She was hallucinating. Post traumatic stress, right? But she had read his own thoughts. And her cryptic ranting- it will need you soon. She couldn't mean anything but the Master Emerald!
He stepped back to the bedside, quivering in hesitation, leaning in and planting a kiss on her fevered brow. He hated to leave her, but he was much needed elsewhere. He turned and sprinted out the door.
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"Ask nicely and I'll think about it." She huffed, turning away.
He sighed. "Amy, we need you. Please help us. Please? With whipped cream and cherries on top?"
She smirked, looking back. "On your knees."
"Oh, you're really pressing it..." he reluctantly dropped to his knees on the pink carpet.
"Amy, please. We don't have time for this-"
"Beg. Or I'll tell Cream AND Big not to listen to you either."
"Why you little conniving-"
"That's not begging, Sonic."
He growled under his breath, then clasped his hands in the usual begging posture.
"Please, Amy, grace us with your remarkable skills and undying beauty." He turned his head and gagged discreetly.
"Now that's more like it! Sure, I'll see what I can do!" she pulled out her palm organizer.
"What are you doing?" he asked as he rose to his feet,
"Checking my schedule. I've been majoring in law at Mobius University, and I have classes I simply CAN'T miss..."
"Law? You? ... College is a stretch of the imagination but LAW?"
She grinned happily, pulling out her mallet. "yep! Gotta start using this for justice and the right of the people! Teehee!"
"Oh, God. What has democracy stooped to?"
"Order in the court!" she shouted, pounding his head to make a point... though we know not which.
"Now, I believe I can be free this week, but I have to be back by Monday because that's when we discuss all those neat Latin terms that sound funny when you say them out loud."
Sonic stared at her with pity. "Let's just go."
She bounced over and took his arm. "Yes! Let's!"
"Don't touch me..."
(AN- if any of that reminded you of "Legally Blonde," you're right. What a sad lacking of brain cells…. Anyway, Amy's pinkness drove me to it. I hate blatant blondes…. She's blonde. You don't have to have hair to be blonde. Now I regret being blonde….THE STORY!)
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The stone ceiling dripped with trapped moisture, the dank smell of decay permeating the darkened chamber. You have to admit, Eggman went all out for the authentic dungeon appearance. It looked and FELT like a real, God-honest dungeon with all the aura of despair and entrapment, without actually having to wait for a real dungeon to become dank and drippy and depressing.
(AN- wow, he should take up interior decorating!)
The two in the cell had run out of things to amuse themselves with- pacing, arguing, more pacing, -and Karpa had run out of cigarettes, so she was getting a little testy. Tails, on the other hand, was STILL entertained, and was popping his gum noisily as he played Final Fantasy on his Gameboy Advance.
(AN- final fantasy IS on gameboy advance, right?)
Shadow now sat cross-legged, tossing a pebble at the hanging cage from time to time, cursing at it in a low voice. With little else to do, Karpa began to pace again.
"Perhaps he's gone to get your sister." Shadow said, breaking the half-silence.
"No, he wouldn't know to look for her. Family secret, remember? Besides, even if he had the whole gem, he wouldn't know how to activate it and I'm sure as 'ell not telling. Besides, I think he's letting on that he knows more than he really does. I think all he's heard was the rumor."
"Oh. So... now what?"
"We wait. He's not too bright by the look of 'im and how he talks. I think he hired someone to create all those heaps of shrapnel that follow him around. As soon as he comes to retrieve the information from me, we'll just overpower the machines and escape. Simple."
"Yeah, right. Real simple. Hey, we could grab the wonder child while we're at it." he spat in Tails' direction. "We need a plan, Karpa. He might do something drastic."
"Well, he CAN'T kill either of us because we have what he wants. So... we'll see what opportunity grants us. I haven't the foggiest what he has in mind. Do you?"
He sighed, flopping onto his back and gazing disinterestedly at the ceiling. "Not really. But I have an idea."
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Sonic looked up as Knuckles let himself in.
"Hey. You wouldn't happen to have any rabies vaccine on you, would you?" he asked the echidna.
"Uh...no."
"Damn. Amy just bit me and I think I'm infected... Someone needs keep her on a leash."
The sound of Mighty's rising giggles could be heard from the kitchen. Knuckles sighed.
"First off, that joke is eight years old. Second, WHY ARE YOU JUST SITTING THERE?"
"um... because?"
Knuckles fought the urge to clobber him.
"GET YOUR SPINY ASS OFF THAT COUCH AND GET GOING! WE GOTTA PLANET TO SAVE, GAWDAMNIT!"
He was suddenly assaulted by a mallet and saw all sorts of pretty pink hearts.
"Don't take the Lord's name in vain." Amy advised him. He snarled at her, holding his head.
"WHAT THE HELL? DON'T YOU GUYS CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO TAILS? THE EMERALD?"
"Oh, that. He usually waits about a week before he makes something drastic that wouldn't have worked anyway, but we have to destroy it easily. Tails is fine. He had his palm pilot with him and he's been e-mailing me."
"... that reminds me. I had something to tell you." Knuckles stated calmly.
"What's that?"
"This time the world's coming to an end."
"Really?" Sonic asked with sarcasm. "And how do you know this?"
"eh... Hell, so much weird shit has been happening today it makes what I'm about to tell you believable. Tarsa can see the future." He shrugged, not knowing what else to say.
"Ah. THAT reminds ME, your mom called and she wants you tolay off the bottle,..." he snickered. "...Herman."
and the last thing Sonic remembered was a flash of red and a cracking sound.
"Ow... Knux, I don't think that was necessary..." Mighty said as he had stepped out the kitchen doorway.
"He was pissing me off..." he glowered at the unconscious hedgehog. "Where's Sonic's computer?"
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blustreek18: has sent you a message.
"yay! It's Sonic! I have someone to talk to!" Tails cheered, pulling out his foldable mini-keybord from a shoe. (he had removed them, you see, so he could access his gadgets more easily.)
furfly12: hey. dungeons suck. how're things w/ u?
blustreek18: this is knux. where are you?
furfly12: hiya knux. ...
in a dungeon.
blustreek18: can you see anything? where's eggman?
furfly12: i haven't seen him all day. and there's a black hedgehog and a yellow echidna here too. theyre about all I can see except wall. the hedgehogs mean.u.u
--.o.--
Sonic stumbled in, pinching his bleeding nose.
"Get off my computer, damnit!"
"I'm finding out where Tails is, dumbass."
blustreek18: do you know where the dungeon is?
furfly12: im guessing its in robotropolis. i dunno. chatting is fun.
--.o.--
Back in the dungeon, Karpa had risen from her seat on the cold floor to the sound of Tails typing.
"You've been able to contact someone this whole time!"
"Yep. I'm talking to Knuckles right now. He's not very happy. Do you know where we are?"
"T.T would you like the exact coordinates?" she replied, pulling out her own personal handheld.
furfly12: hey, knux! good news! The echidna lady person knows where we are! Ill go get her.
Tails stood as best he could in his small cage, suddenly jumping and stamping forcefully on the cage floor. The bottom came loose and he fluttered safely to the ground.
He casually walked over to the cell and smiled happily while the two inside stared at him with disbelief.
"Knuckles wants to talk to you." He said very matter-of-factly, handing palm pilot and mini-keyboard through the bars.
"Why does that name sound so familiar...?" Shadow asked no one in particular.
furfly12: This is Karpa. Knuckles, isn't it?
blustreek18: yes. give me the coordinates.
furfly12: Why should I? Who are you?
blustreek18: im a guardian. we need to get the emeralds back as soon as possible. please give me the coordinates.
furfly12: What a coincidence! So am I!
blustreek18: ...waitaminute, who are you?
furfly12: Karpa Fairchild of the highbred echidnas.
Shadow rolled his eyes as he was reading over her shoulder.
--.o.--
Sonic squinted at the screen, still suffering from a mild concussion.
"What the hell is a highbred echidna?"
"A stuck-up breed of blue bloods that CALL themselves echidnas. If she's a guardian, she must be the caretaker of the Lumin Emerald." Knuckles, being a guardian AND an echidna and therefore knowing everything about what he just said, stated.
"Oh. I see. Well, you know more about this kind of thing than I do, so I'm just going to pass out for awhile...wake me when we get there." he said this with a slight slur, wobbling on his feet for a moment before falling to the floor.
furfly12: is sending you a file. Accept?
blustreek18: thanx. Btw, who's with you?
furfly12: With me? Oh, you must mean Shadow. He's my accomplice.
"Shadow? Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Espio, appearing out of nowhere, asked whilst peering over his shoulder. This caused the red one to jolt in shock.
"GAAA! I HATE it when you do that!"
"...I'm sorry?"
"Anyway, yeah, maybe she's talking about ANOTHER black hedgehog named Shadow. Or, he's still alive."
"The latter being the more sensible conclusion."
"Precisely."
blustreek18: does eggman have the lumin emerald?
furfly12: You know your history. I'm impressed. No, it's safe for now. Half, anyway.
blustreek18: half?
furfly12: No time to explain. Just get us the bloody hell out of here.
blustreek18: rgr. on our way.
"Well, let's get this over with." Knuckles said as the coordinates were being printed.
(((and in my haste to post another mistitled chapter, I decided to end it here and write the next when I have more time. -pinches her Travi-sama's ass for fun- alrighty then, goodnight my beloved readers! All two of you! Raa!)))