A/N: Hey, all! I'm back with more insanity and another update! I think my writer's block is mostly gone...for now.

Before I begin, I should probably make a note about my writing style which you will see later on into this chapter. Most of the time, the plot lines in my stories are dark with very serious, involved main characters. I think it must be to keep myself sane (or maybe just so I get a few kicks and giggles while writing), but I usually also include a few characters that are meant to add a kind of lighter mood to the story (aka comedy relief). I was thinking about this recently, and I decided it might be wise to add them in in this chapter. Some of you may have guesses about who they may be...You'll just have to read and find out. ;)

Also, I'm thinking about which characters I should add to this story in addition to the ones I already have. I made a note about this at the end of the chapter that goes more into depth about it.

Another positive note - This chapter isn't going to be nearly as long as my previous one. That's good, right? It's also kind of funny, in my opinion. :)

Knuckles: Stop talking and write the chapter already! I'm still in pain, you moron...

Author: Shush, you...I can make that pain worse, you know.

Knuckles: (-Sweatdrop-) Carry on, carry on...

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, etc. that were created by Sonic Team and are owned by SEGA. However, my OC is mine. Come to think of it, my brains and the plot are also mine...So! Any other similarities you see are purely coincidental.

Chapter 4 - Preparations

Rouge rolled over on her stomach and kicked her feet playfully against the wooden backboard of her bed. The rusty box spring creaked loudly underneath her, and she held a hand to her ear in automatic response. Before her, the blue flyer that she had received the night before had been laid flat against the fuzzy white comforter.

ALFONSO VALENTE
PREMIERE!

Central Square, Central City
Tomorrow Night Only!
8:00 PM to Midnight
Please arrive in Formal Attire.

For ticket prices and sales,
contact the Central Square Entertainment Office.

The bat's eyes skimmed over the yellow text a few times before her attention drifted to the silhouettes of strange masks and ribbons that constituted an intricate web of theatrical artwork large enough to cover the entire page.

"Alfonso Valente...sounds familiar," Rouge mumbled softly to herself, tracing one of the illustrated ribbons with her right index finger. The flyer was very vague, not even offering the slightest glimpse of what the event might encompass. Therefore, she was unable to determine what the "Alfonso Valente Premiere!" might possibly be.

Rouge sat up on the edge of her bed and stared at a small white item that was resting on her dresser. She suspected that it must have been a gift from the same cat that had given her the flyer to begin with as her pocket had been empty before she encountered him. However, it seemed odd to her that an experienced, cautious jewel thief would not have noticed such a movement. To her knowledge, the cat had simply stood before her throughout the course of the conversation. His appearance and departure, on the contrary, had been quite enigmatic.

Stretching her arms to the ceiling, Rouge let out a large yawn and blinked a few sleepy tears out of her eyes. A jolt of pain shot through her right shoulder, and she quickly put her left hand to it and gasped. Gazing into the vanity mirror across from her, the bat slowly pulled the neck of her silky black pajama top down and examined the afflicted shoulder. The wound was barely visible, but Rouge could clearly see that a small bruise had developed at the location where the epicenter of pain seemed to be.

What in the world? she thought, holding her shoulder tightly. When did this happen?

A gust blew in through the balcony door, throwing the ticket on Rouge's dresser up into the air. As the small slip began to flutter downwards, Rouge stood up and caught it in mid-descent. The other thing that perplexed her was that the ticket she had received from the cat appeared to be for a very expensive seat in this upcoming event. Though from his dress and manner he seemed to be quite wealthy and generous, she could only begin to imagine the sheer amount of money that he had spent in order to acquire such a seat. For him to hand it out to a random woman out of pure altruism was truly a remarkable deed.

Rouge picked up the azure flyer from the edge of the bed and examined it closely. She still had not decided on whether or not she would attend the event. For the cost of the ticket that she had received, however, she figured that it was probably best if she made certain that the ticket did not go to waste. If she had not been so clueless about the works of this Alfonso Valente character, she may not have been so reluctant to make her choice...

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, the pensive bat eavesdropped unintentionally on a heated spat between a married couple living in the apartment beside hers. Though the first few sentences of the argument were muffled by the wall, the voices quickly rose to a point where the bat doubted that there was anyone in the entire apartment building who could not make out every single word that passed between them.

"I can't stand you!" a woman's voice yelled shrilly, causing Rouge to cover her ears and wince. This was not the first time that she had been forced to listen to a squabble of this caliber. In fact, her two neighbors argued quite frequently, and she was growing weary of it.

The husband's voice responded, "What? Ok, how is this my fault? Your mother's birthday pres– "

"You broke it! Do you have any idea how much trouble I had to go through to find that?"

"Hey, do you think I did it intentionally? If it was such a precious gift, you shouldn't have left it..."

Rouge buried her head under her pillows and desperately tried to block out the bickering. After a few minutes, the stifled voices were halted by the slamming of a door. The bat withdrew her head from under the pillows and sighed deeply, hopping out of bed. She did not know the couple very well, partially because of their recurrent problems. At times, she wondered how long their relationship would last.

Rouge smirked and stared at the blue flyer with an omniscient glare. She now recalled the various facts that she had gathered unknowingly from the media.

Alfonso Valente, the "genius of modern romantic film"...How could I forget? Rouge thought as she picked up the flyer and absentmindedly examined the yellow print. I've never actually seen anything that he has produced, though. With all the hype that he receives, this 'premiere' might be something worthwhile after all.

As Knuckles began to awaken from his slumber, the early morning sun greeted his tired eyes warmly with its piercing white rays. The exhausted echidna quickly sat up and clenched his eyes shut, holding out a large gloved hand to block out the sun. He blinked a few times and groaned quietly upon realizing that he was still in a significant bit of pain. Though his misery now was only a hint of what he had suffered through the night before, he was far from being at a state of comfort.

His jaw ached rather sporadically, but the resulting anguish when these outbursts did occur was still quite painful. He did find, however, that the simple act of touching his cheek did not send him into such a state of agony anymore. Even so, Knuckles tried to avoid applying pressure to that area out of hastily-developed habit.

With a large yawn, the crimson echidna rose to his feet and began to pace around the top of the altar. To his pleasant surprise, the injured leg had all but completely healed while he reposed. He still experienced modest spurts of pain when pressure was placed on the leg, but he doubted that this would obstruct his progress. The leg was also a bit stiff from the exertion that had been placed on it under its excruciating condition, and Knuckles attempted to remedy this immediately by stretching the limb. This action, however, resulted in only meager success.

After a few moments of contemplation, Knuckles sprinted down the steps of the shrine and came to a halt, thrusting his fists at an imaginary foe. He pivoted quickly and unleashed a powerful uppercut in the other direction, slicing through the humid air. As he lowered his arms, the guardian smiled and gazed at the shrine of the Master Emerald. He was prepared and well enough to begin his search for the bat girl and the precious gem that she had stolen.

"You're going to get something nice to wear...You're going to wear it...and you're going to LIKE it!"

A frustrated pink hedgehog trudged down the sidewalk, dragging a puzzled blue hedgehog behind her by the wrist. A small orange fox ambled along behind the pair, drawing in the sights and sounds of this unfamiliar city and trying not to pay heed to the scene in front of him. He swished his two tails subconsciously as heads turned and countless eyes stared at the spectacle that was unfolding on the sidewalk.

"What's wrong with me coming as I am?" the cobalt hedgehog replied with an amused grin, winking at the pink hedgehog. This enraged her further, and she whipped out a wrinkled blue flyer and shoved it in the hedgehog's face, pointing at a specific line.

"We're supposed to come in formal attire, Sonic!" she shouted at the top of her voice. Behind the pair, the fox sighed and shrugged. The blue hedgehog only smirked and attempted to pull his wrist away from the female.

"Well, seeing as how I never agreed to come to this to begin with, I don't see how it's really an issue. I'd rather explore this place, anyway."

With that said, Sonic drew his leg back and prepared to dash, but the pink hedgehog stopped him and turned his body to face hers. With flaming emerald eyes, she held her right hand to the side and a large red and yellow hammer materialized in her grasp. She brandished it menacingly, and the blue hedgehog gulped as he smiled at her in hope of winning some sympathy. The fox took a few steps forward and held up an admonishing hand.

"Amy, stop it!"

The fox pointed to all the people now gathered around the trio, and Amy slowly lowered her Piko Piko hammer as she giggled nervously, meeting each pair of eyes in turn. Sonic let out a relieved groan and tried to escape while Amy was distracted, but the fox stepped in front of him with a threatening scowl.

"What are you doing, Tails?" the azure hedgehog asked, scratching his head. The fox sighed and pointed at Amy.

"You told her that you would go to this."

Sonic stretched and tapped his foot as he thought for a moment. After a few seconds, he shrugged and gave the fox his trademark smile.

"I don't remember telling her anything like that," he replied sincerely. Amy heard this and turned to face the hedgehog of her admiration, her mallet held in a ready position.

"You don't remember? But you promised that you would come!" she snapped, her blood boiling as venomous ideas manifested on the tip of her tongue. She pondered for a moment and grimaced, remembering that Sonic had a tendency to go back on his promises to her. "Why did you think that we came here to begin with?"

Sonic shrugged and glanced at the fox, who was currently occupied with a young girl who was trying to pull on his tails. He turned anxiously back to Amy, but she had begun to stare at the flyer in her hands with a mesmerized expression on her face.

"Alfonso Valente..." she cooed with a wide grin, embracing the flyer. "His romance movies are so wonderful and..."

Amy sighed dreamily and spun around. Sonic and Tails, however, groaned audibly at the thought. The pink hedgehog ignored this reaction and gazed lovingly at Sonic, conjuring amorous fantasies in her mind. Tails turned to Sonic and smiled nervously, trying to create at least a bit of interest in the bored hedgehog.

"It should actually be very interesting," the fox explained as his tails swayed back and forth out of habit. "It's supposedly a giant light show and stage performance, according to the research that I did last night. Valente is keeping his lips sealed about what kind of show it is, though, so there's a lot of interesting speculation about the whole thing."

Sonic turned to the fox and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm just telling you, Sonic...It might not be all that bad. I'm actually kind of excited about it!" Tails concluded, turning to face Amy. She had finally escaped from her trance and was now smiling sweetly at the fox.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We need to get you two something fancy to wear!"

Amy took the troubled Sonic by the wrist again and pulled him along behind her. Tails followed cautiously, desperately hoping that the careless hedgehog would not do anything to incur Amy's wrath again. There was an expression of sheer terror on Sonic's face as he dragged his feet; he knew that he could not escape from the enthusiastic pink hedgehog at this point. His heart sunk into his stomach as Amy's jade eyes lit up at the sight of a quaint boutique only a few meters away.

"Elegance and Purity..." Amy read off of the painted purple sign that hung in front of the shop. She pressed her nose to the window and gazed at all the flowing, glittering dresses behind the glass. "Ohhh...They're so pretty! I wonder if I can afford this, though..."

Without hesitation, Amy grabbed the wrists of her two companions and stormed through the glass doors, her eyes agleam with desires (that were probably beyond her price range). Sonic and Tails shot each other worried glances as Amy immediately rushed over to a sequined red dress and pressed the fabric to her cheek. Tails began to inch inconspicuously toward the men's section of the store while Sonic just stood still for a while, amazed at how enthralled Amy had become with a mere piece of clothing.

Knuckles awoke to a booming voice over the train's loudspeaker system. He rubbed his eyes and leaned his right elbow against the window, resting his healthy cheek on his open palm. His wounds were stiff from his lack of movement, but the pain was bearable. As the haze began to fade from his mind, the piercing female voice rang out once more.

"We will be arriving at Central Train Station in six minutes. Please remain seated as the train pulls into the station. Thank you."

The echidna sighed and stared out the window at the city landscape. The train was currently passing over a bridge which overlooked a majestic blue river. The early afternoon sun shone down upon the horizon of skyscrapers and metal structures which glittered like pure diamonds in the distance. It was practically identical to what Station Square had been before the attack of Perfect Chaos. Now, of course, Station Square was in the process of being rebuilt to its former glory. It had been absolutely ravaged by the extent of the disaster, and many of its residents had fled to other cities until it was fully restored. Many still remained, however, and Knuckles had spent the bulk of his morning wandering through the streets in search of a signal from the Master Emerald. Unfortunately, he did not pick up even the slightest signal from the Emerald.

(A/N: I will explain my views on the whole post-SA Station Square situation later. Don't ask me about this...yet.)

Knuckles frowned as the crests of buildings passed before his eyes. This city would be his second stop in his journey to find the bat, and he had no idea where she could possibly be hiding. He doubted that this city would prove any more fruitful than Station Square had. If Rouge wanted to be clever and intelligent in keeping the Master Emerald out of its guardian's grasp, she probably would not decide to hide out in a grandiose city that the echidna could reach within the time span of a few hours. Central itself was only about fifty miles or so west of Station Square. In addition, a train had recently been added between the two cities in order to make transportation more convenient.

The train passed under a tunnel and Knuckles watched as dim yellow lights popped on above the heads of the passengers. When he had departed from Station Square, he had chosen to doze off in order to rest his body for the challenges that he soon would face. However, Knuckles had only succeeded in making himself even more drowsy than before. Hoping to clear this quickly, the echidna stared out the window and followed the small lights on the side of the tunnel with his violet eyes.

Thump.

Knuckles felt his heart pound and his head lurch as he underwent a temporary sensation that was very familiar to him. His eyes darted around the train and he waited intensely as the feeling became more and more distant. He stood up, alarming the young woman who was sitting in front of him, her baby asleep in her lap.

The Master Emerald...It's here!

Knuckles dashed into the aisle and searched about him, looking for the nearest exit. He needed to leave the train and pinpoint the source while the opportunity remained available to him. To his displeasure, the attendant who was sitting at the front of the train car had other opinions.

"Where do you think you're going?" the woman asked, folding her arms and jumping in front of the door that Knuckles was approaching. He glared up at her and held his fist up in front of him angrily.

"I need to get off here!" he responded, and the woman rolled her eyes. She carefully reached down and took the echidna's wrist as if directing a child.

"You can't get off here, Sir. Once we reach the station, you may go anywhere you please. I'm afraid that we can't let you go wandering around in the tunnel, though."

Knuckles growled and pulled his wrist away from her forcefully. She snarled at him, reaching for one of his dreadlocks. He jumped backwards, smirking at her with a smug expression. The woman stood still for a moment, her hands clenched into fists, and sighed deeply. She then shot the echidna a horribly fake smile and took a step in his direction.

"All right, Sir, that's quite enough. Please go back to your seat...The train will be arriving in about a minute."

Upon hearing this news, Knuckles sighed and turned in the opposite direction. Even if he forced his way past the attendant and dug his way out of the tunnel, it would not save him much time at this point. Sitting down, he heard a ding, and the loudspeaker system crackled to life.

"We are now arriving in Central Train Station. I repeat, we are now arriving in..."

The guardian yawned, watching as the train decelerated and stopped inside of an immense station. He quickly stood up and hurried off the train, the attendant sending him questioning glares as he wove his way through the gathering crowds and sprinted through the open exit. Admittedly, Knuckles was astonished at his luck in locating the Master Emerald. However, in the face of what had already occurred, he was more than willing to take any breaks that he could get.

Sooooo...? Did you likey? It was rather easy to write, actually. I took a two-day break after Chapter 3 and this was nice and quick. :)

Knuckles: (-Sighs-) I'm still in pain...What an annoying writer.

Author: (-Cough-) Anyway! Though they may seem kind of random in this chapter, Sonic, Tails, and Amy do serve a purpose in the plot. Thus, they had to be introduced eventually...as my silly characters!

Knuckles: Ugh...Knowing Sonic, he'll probably try to steal the spotlight and be the hero of this whole thing.

Author: (-Tugs on one of his dreadlocks-) Hey, you...Just let me finish talking!

Knuckles: Ouch! Stop that! (-Pulls it away and examines it carefully-)

Author: Anyway, I was wondering if you guys want me to include any other characters in the story. My main idea is for Team Chaotix (They could be worked into the whole mystery element of the piece). Thoughts? Suggestions? I don't really want to add a lot of characters, so I'll leave it up to reader response. What I already have set in concrete is good enough for me. :)

Knuckles: Hm...Shadow should come in and kick sonic's rear out of MY STORY!

Author: (-Sighs-) Knuckles...It's my story. I really do think Shadow is an awesome character, but he just wouldn't fit in with the storyline. Plus, I have plans with him for a later fic. (-Winks-)

Anyway...(-Glares at Knux-)

Knuckles: (-Gulp-) Feel free to leave a review!