UlTTrRa SiK pRoDuCtIoNs pReSeNtZ:

LoVe'S bUrN

By: UlTtrrAa ShAdDow

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Sega's characters...but I'd be a very happy guy if I did!

-Okay Lo siento, I apologize for not updating for awhile. But to make up for it, this is a nice, long juicy chapter! And when I say long, I mean long! Muwahaha!

-And also, I think the author-answering-reviews idea is kinda sweet, so when you review, I'll reply to it! But as always, enjoy the fic!

You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to things you don't want to feel."

Pov: Third person

Standing before the group of friends was the very echidna who held the fierce red eyes and the stern, adamant scowl. However, as he slowly rose his head and gazed upon them, his crimson eyes, behind all the intensity, held glimmers of ache. For in his hands he held a bleeding, female echidna.

For a moment it seemed as if a wave of sorrow had flooded the echidna, but once his sights fell upon a familiar ebony hedgehog, his demeanor changed instantly as his eyes glinted ominously. Only a few seconds of intense eye contact sparked between the two before the figure of their affection spoke, "Knuckles…"

The bright crimson echidna eagerly turned his gaze to the orange fox who blinked at him from behind his taller, blue friend, "Tails! She needs medical attention NOW!"

Tails jumped, being dislodged out of his semi-daydream state, "Oh, of course! Sonic, I may need a little help with carrying her!"

Instantly, the blue hero sparked to life, "Of course lil' bud."

As the golden fox approached the echidna quickly, he looked over his shoulders, calling to the others, "Amy, do you think you could prepare a fresh bed for Tikal and boil some water for her injuries? "

"Right!" The pink hedgehog made treks into the workshop.

"Shadow, could you and Scythe gather firewood for the fire?"

"Count on it," Shadow turned away disappearing through a thicket of trees.

"…The hell kind of technology do you have." The silver-eyed hedgehog followed Shadow seconds later.

"Cream, could you please make a batch of coffee…I feel that I'm gonna need the whole pitcher!" Tails sighed.

"Okay," Cream said running inside.

Tails watched as Sonic carried the limp Tikal in his hands, and just as the azure hedgehog entered his workshop he stared at the remaining friends then followed his older friend. This left Rouge, Knuckles and Daisy standing outside.

The red echidna stared silently at the grassy earth before him, now that the black and crimson hedgehog had left, he was able to lower his guard, slightly.

Rouge was silent, staring at the grass below her feet as well, slowly she elevated her gaze to the red echidna before her. Although his fur was a natural reddish hue, the stains of Tikal's life fluid stood out rather boldly.

"Knuckles…" Rouge began, sorrow filling her voice.

"…"

"I have to go now, Tikal needs me, and I have to clean myself up," Knuckles said no louder than a murmur.

He walked passed her silently, never taking his sights from in front of him. The white bat watched silently, not knowing how to react.

"Who is he?" the yellow hedgehog asked.

"He's…" Rouge paused, thinking of an appropriate answer, "He's my ex."

The yellow hedgehog's ears dropped, "…Oh boy…"

Tails stood outside of a closed, wooden door with a medical kit in hand and a white coat draped loosely about his frame. It was only mere seconds ago that Shadow and Scythe returned with the firewood for the hot water. Tails sighed; the stupid gray-eyed hedgehog had given him quite a handful about not having a fully operational stove.

"What's wrong with you? Here you have some stove from the nineteenth century, and yet, on the other hand, you have the Coffee King two-thousand. If that isn't bastardly, I don't know what is."

The golden fox waited serenely, blinking; it had felt more than good to kick the bickering hedgehog out of his place…even if momentarily. His idol, Sonic, reclined on his favorite couch that he dubbed 'the throne,' and tapped his foot anxiously as he tried to force his thoughts upon the television before him.

Sighing lightly, Cream watched the bubbling dark brown liquid brew as she wrung her hands. The slamming of a door made all three of the room's occupants jump as they turned to gaze at the stone-faced echidna entering the room.

"Jeez man!" Sonic hissed.

Ignoring the blue hedgehog, Knuckles approached Tails who appeared to be waiting outside of a slightly closed door. The echidna was dripping water lightly, with water running from the tips of his unruly quills; it was obvious that the echidna had just returned from a bath.

Before the echidna could speak to the fox, a shrill cry of pain was heard from behind the heavy door. Knuckles sharply turned his intense, hawkeyed gaze upon Tails, "…What are you still doing out here?"

Slightly frustrated, Tails turned to face the echidna, "I'm waiting for Amy to finish bathing Tikal and for her to finish dressing her wounds."

Then the small fox arched an eyebrow, "Do you want me to see her now?"

An odd expression crossed the echidna's face, "No!"

Slightly haughty, the fox replied, "I thought not."

Seconds later, the door opened and a wet, disheveled Amy Rose closed the heavy wooden door behind her, panting. She was soaked from head to toe and her breaths came out in deep, ragged streams. Noticeably, her eyes were like green inferno.

Suddenly the blue hero turned to gaze upon the pink hedgehog feeling anxious, and ultimately stimulated. The sight of a wet, dangerous, wild-looking Amy Rose had sent these vibes into the azure hedgehog.

"I…did it…" Amy gasped, "She's…all yours."

"Is she all right?" Knuckles asked carefully.

Instantly Amy turned to look at him incredulously, " Oh she's more than fine. She's got enough fight in her to take on the heavy-weight boxing champion!"

"Well then, I'm off to see my client," Tails replied.

He straightened his white coat and entered the room, stone-faced.

"…He's certainly taking this seriously, isn't he?" Sonic said as Amy took a cup of coffee and sat beside him.

Knuckles glanced sideways at the hedgehog, "He'd better be."

"Yeah," Sonic said turning his gaze to the floor.

The blue hedgehog looked up at Knuckles, who leaned against a nearby wall. The red echidna gazed skyward, as if he was in his own thought world.

"…What, Sonic?"

Sonic snapped to attention; momentarily he had begun to daydream, but now the red-eyed echidna was returning his stare. Sonic frowned slightly; just what had happened to his friend to have turned him…into this being standing before him?

"How have you been, man?"

Knuckles blinked momentarily, then smiled, it was the innocence of the question that had gotten to him, "… It's been long…"

Sonic sighed, "…I know what you mean…"

Another odd switch was triggered inside the echidna, and his eyes became inferno, "And how could you possibly know what I've been through?"

Sonic and Amy blinked, caught off guard by his sudden venomous behavior, "Jeez, sorry! What's eating you?"

The front door opened as Scythe and Daisy entered appearing to have finished another one of their arguments. The red echidna's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the black hedgehog, "You…"

"…Uh-huh…"

"But?--"

"…Tried to kill me."

"…Why?"

"…He's a bastard."

Frowning slightly, Amy looked from Sonic, to Cream, to Daisy, "Did I miss something?"

Scythe's smile hardened, "Inevitably, I think both of us have some explaining to do."

Knuckles nodded his head, "When Tails is done with Tikal."

Scythe nodded in response then turned to look at the yellow hedgehog with the coffee-colored eyes, "Get Shadow and Rouge, I don't feel like telling the story multiple times."

The moon washed over the oceanic landscape, and found its reflection in the gentle, sighing ocean. Admiring the view together was the white bat and crimson-quilled hedgehog. Turning to look at the hedgehog behind her, Rouge turned delicate blue eyes upon him, "Shadow…it just seems so awkward trying to talk to him."

Shadow had a solution to the problem though, "…Then don't."

Rouge sighed, "Shadow…don't be like that, he's still my--"

Rouge paused. Shadow arched an eye brow and turned to face her, "Your what?"

Rouge remained silent staring at the grass, "I…don't…"

Electricity arched through Shadow, "Do you still love him?"

Rouge quickly gazed up at Shadow, unable to find her voice. The hedgehog stared at her with an unreadable expression, possibly due impart to the shadows masking his eyes.

His fist curled into a tight ball, just as he was about to speak, the front door opened, revealing a yellow hedgehog, " Hey, you guys, you might wanna hear this…"

Without another word, Shadow entered the workshop.

"Shadow!" Rouge called, rising to her feet.

The ebony hedgehog kept walking until he disappeared from sight; not once did he turn to gaze upon her. Rouge followed quickly and entered the workshop.

She found herself amongst the others, who were congregated around Tails' best, and the only wooden table in the metal workshop. Everyone, sans Tails were talking amongst themselves softly. Rouge decided to take a seat between Amy and Daisy.

A door closed gently as Tails finally emerged from Tikal's room with an almost empty pot of coffee. The young fox looked beyond exhausted and took the nearest seat, "Before everyone bombards me with questions, one: yes, Tikal's okay. Two: No you can't visit her, she's asleep. And three if you really wanna see her, then talk to her later, not now."

Tails took a deep breath and continued, "Okay...let's…let's get a move on. What is the big, important meeting about?"

"Want more coffee, Tails?" Cream asked.

"Oh yes please," Tails said.

She took the pot and headed towards the kitchen. Sonic bit his lower lip, "Okay, how about you start Knux, and tell us about what happened to Tikal."

Knuckles sighed, he suddenly looked fatigued, " I…I believe Eggman did this to her, because the Master Emerald is gone."

Everyone's face in the room fell. Sonic just happened to vocalize all of their feelings, "Aw dammit!"

Knuckles curled his fists into tight balls, and ember sparked in his eyes, "…He double-crossed me. I trusted him completely, and then he turns around and stabs me in the back. He took the Master Emerald…"

Sorrow threatened to overwhelm his features, "…And then he hurt Tikal, she paid for my ignorance, my stupidity. She shouldn't have to pay for my faults…"

A wave of silence fell upon the crowd, who stared sympathetically at the echidna. Cream even continued to pour coffee in an already full cup, spilling over the counter.

However Scythe, who was slightly less than touched, sucked on his teeth nonchalantly. Daisy, who sat nearest to him, was already in tears. Scythe crossed his arms; this was enough.

Sure Eggman had hurt her, but hadn't he had done the same thing to him? Not to mention the fact that he would carrying the nice, half-moon scar on his eye lid for life, because some of Eggman's androids thought it would be fun to try and carve hieroglyphics into his face.

Everyone in this room was missing the bigger picture; of course Tikal had been collateral damage in his path, but Eggman had taken the Master Emerald, and was about to do some really nasty stuff.

Taking a step forward Scythe was ready to speak, "True, many of us have fallen into Eggman's cruel grasp, but now, he is plotting some pretty evil crap with that stone. If we don't stop him, then many others will become his victims as well."

"Well, if we all go to fight him, won't we be enough to stop him?" Amy asked.

Smiling slightly, Scythe shook his head, "No…And that's just it. I have no idea how the Emerald works, but all I know is that if it's in his hands. We're screwed."

Sonic clamped a hand upon Knuckles' shoulder, "Well, that's why we have the expert of the Master Emerald right here, Knuckles, the guardian of the Emerald."

Knuckles blinked, "Well, if he has the Emerald of course we're--"

Suddenly, the red guardian smiled crookedly. Shadow arched an eyebrow, "What is there to smile about?"

Knuckles turned a confident, red-eyed gaze towards the black hedgehog, "Sure, the Master Emerald being gone is a bad thing…we're done for only if he's able to activate its powers. However, only someone of the Guardian blood can harness its powers."

Tails smiled, "So that means, he can't completely start his plans, because he's lacking the powers of the Master Emerald!"

Knuckles smiled, "Exactly."

"Well that buys us tons more time to make our move," Sonic said happily.

"But that still does not answer my initial question," Shadow said, more so to himself,"What is he using the emerald for?"

"Power source," Scythe replied, eyes glazing over slightly, "Through the procuring of the Master Emerald, master and creator Eggman will have an indefinite source of power to use at his expense."

Sonic blinked, "Okay...that was kinda weird..."

Daisy blinked up at him, surprised slightly, "And just how do you know this?"

Scythe smirked, "Well, momentarily, I was a bad guy."

"Also," he tapped his head, "The information is in my database."

"?" Was Daisy's response.

"Database?" Rouge asked, "What do you mean?"

Scythe laughed, "Oh come on now, you know what my creator specializes in; robotics."

Daisy stood up and rushed over to the silver hedgehog, looking frantic, "So what was that creepy monotone speech you just gave us? And as for the barcode on your arm? And what are you? Are you--"

"Artificial intelligence?" Tails asked.

"Not quite," Scythe said smiling, "I'm made of blood, tissue, and bone, just like the rest of you, but I just happen to have some machinery in me."

He tapped his gray stomach and smiled at Rouge, "You think a normal guy could survive a shot to the chest at point-blank range? It was my abs of steel that saved my ass!"

"But isn't your abdominal below your chest?" Tails asked.

Scythe frowned, "Shut up."

Daisy stepped away from him in shock, "An—a robot?"

"Cyborg," Rouge corrected carefully.

"Okay," said Sonic, adjusting slightly in his seat; this all had been a lot to swallow, "So here's what we just learned: Eggman can't use the Master Emerald, and Scythe's some kind of cyborg."

Rouge turned to look at Scythe, "So why would Eggman try to destroy his only breathing, living creation? You'd seem to be his most…valued possession. You exceed even Metal Sonic!"

Scythe smiled, "Machines have their limits of strength, but your boyfriend, Shadow, has no limits of power….So the Eggman says."

Shadow shrugged, "The doctor may be sadistic and twisted, but he knows power when he sees it."

"…Says the fatty in the roller-skates!" Sonic replied.

Shadow paid him no heed, acting as if he had never spoken. Cream giggled lightly.

"So in the meantime, what do we do?" Amy asked.

"If we're going to see Eggman," Tails said, "Then we're going to have to prepare for this expedition."

"The sooner we attack him, the better," Shadow said.

"Agreed," Sonic said nodding his head.

Scythe turned to look at Knuckles, "So are you in with us? Are you going to kick Eggmans' ass with us?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes, "No one messes with my friend and my emerald and lives to tell about it."

Sighing, Tails looked up at his cuckoo-bird clock on the wall, "Wow, it's already twelve in the morning…"

"It's much too late for anyone to return home at this hour," Rouge said, stretching slightly, "I'll phone your mother Cream, do you think that will be all right if you stay for the night?"

Cream nodded her head vigorously, "Oh yes! This'll be fun! It'll be like a huge sleepover!

"I'll go get the blankets and pillows," Amy said, heading towards a closet, "Wanna help me Cream?"

The small rabbit smiled, "Okay Amy!"

Smirking, Scythe watched them disappear, and he found himself setting his sights upon the yellow hedgehog, however he noticed that when he took a step towards her, she backed away from him. Scythe frowned; was she trembling as well?

"You can't be…a machine," Daisy whispered looking at him with a heartbreaking sob, "I…don't believe it…"

Just as soon as she had uttered those words, she had bolted out of Tail's front door in a fit of tears and sobs. Scythe, clearly taken off guard followed her.

"…What's eating shortcake?" Sonic asked, blinking.

Shadow scoffed; what an idiot, how dare people ever compare him to the blue moron, "Isn't it obvious?"

The young fox turned his attention to his friends before him, "Well… would you guys like to start planning our actions against Eggman now? Or wait until later?"

"Hmm? Oh good idea lil' bud, let's start now," Sonic said smiling at his little friend.

"I just hope they're okay," Tails sighed, looking at the place the two hedgehogs once were.

The four of them found seats closer together. The azure hedgehog gazed around at the other four faces within their circle. He couldn't help but smile; never would he thought that these people before him would be collaborating with each other.

"Knuckles?" It was a slightly deep female voice.

Although she had addressed the red echidna, the entire group directed their attention towards Rouge, "Can I speak to you please?"

Without a word, Knuckles rose to his feet and began to follow Rouge outside, "You guys go ahead and start without me, I'll catch up with you later."

However, before he left the echidna failed to see the look upon the crimson and black quilled hedgehog's face. Sonic threw his hands up in disappear, " Jeez! Does anyone else in our group plan on leaving now?"

Just as Knuckles shut the door to the workshop, Rouge spun to face him, eyes alit with emotion, " Knuckles…I…"

Knuckles waved his hand, "Rouge, there's no need to apologize."

"Knuckles, its because of me that you joined Eggman," Rouge said shaking her head, "I…I never meant for all of this to happen. Especially with the incident with Tikal."

Knuckles gazed at Rouge with miserable, crimson eyes, "Don't…say that, you didn't have anything to do with what Eggman did to her. I've let all bygones be bygones."

Rouge blinked up at him, " Do you…really mean that?"

Knuckles nodded his head, "Yes. The only person I have a vendetta with is Eggman himself."

"And what about Shadow?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles sighed, "…There are bigger things between the two of us now. He knows that too. Everyone will be in serious trouble if Eggman has the Master Emerald's power at his hands."

An uncomfortable silent passed between them, Knuckles shifted his weight to his other leg and gazed at Rouge, "…So, are you with Shadow officially now?"

Rouge nodded her head in response, "Yeah."

"Has he been good to you?"

Rouge smiled, "Yes Knuckles, he has."

The red echidna looked at her sideways, "…Is he a better kisser than me?"

A strong blush broke upon Rouge's face as she fell into a fit of laughter, "Knuckles! I will NOT answer that question!"

Knuckles winked at her, "I believe you know the answer to that one."

Rouge smiled at him as the warrior continued, "Just so you know, I'll always care for you Rouge, no matter what or who you choose."

"Thank you Knuckles," Rouge smiled slyly, "I'll hold you to that!"

Just before Rouge left, she felt a gentle hand clamp down upon her wrist. She turned to look at the red echidna who stared at her with a soft, warm gaze, "So I know we're friends and all now…but…"

He looked off to the side before he returned her inquisitive gaze, "…Can we share just one more kiss?"

Tears muddled the yellow hedgehog's vision as she tore through the trees and bushes, not caring whether or not they scratched her bare arms and legs. She finally rested herself when she reached a moon-lit lake. Daisy collapsed at the edge of the lake, looking at her reflection.

She sniffled quietly until she heard loud, uncanny noises coming from the direction she had just come from. Daisy turned her gaze behind her and saw a path of trees, grass, leaves, and bushes flying into the air.

A final tree collapsed, and there standing on the tree was the silver and black hedgehog. Glowing green eyes had fallen upon her as he approached her with a prominent stride.

In fear of the creature who had made quite an entrance and looked almost demonic in appearance with the glowing eyes, Daisy covered her face. When she uncovered her face and looked up at him, she was staring at the silver-eyed hedgehog yet again. With his brow furrowed, he didn't give off the air of being angered, but more so confused.

"Please don't do that again," Daisy sniffled, "The whole glowing green-eyed thing was scary."

Scythe smirked, "…What? I was using my night vision. How do you think I found you so fast?"

He made a dark smile, "Next time I'll have to use my heat vision, then my eyes will be red."

Then his smile disappeared, "Why did you run away like that?"

Daisy looked up at him, "What?"

"I said, 'why did you run off like that?' You only freaked after I told you that I was half robotic."

Daisy wrapped her arms around her legs and placed her face on her knees, "…Because…"

She shook her head "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I shouldn't have done that."

"And yet you haven't answered me."

"Because…I have to admit, you caught me off guard with that."

Scythe squatted so that he was on her level. He waited for her to continue, "But I mean…"

She suddenly blushed and looked away; Scythe looked at her skeptically, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," she said shaking her head furiously.

"…Want the green lights to go on again?" Scythe asked smiling darkly.

The dark hedgehog smiled even wider at the sight of her sudden fear, " O-okay then…I'll tell you."

She looked down as she began to twiddle her thumbs, "Well, I was just thinking about…um…how we could work out together if you were an android."

Her face flared with color as he quickly snapped his head to look at her, "…Together? As if we were---a couple?"

He looked at her with an intense expression. It wasn't displeased or joyous; it was more so a look that one wore before going into battle; stern.He stood up and offered her a hand, she gratefully took his hand and they started back to the workshop in silence. Daisy gazed at the hedgehog worriedly; just what thoughts were going through his mind?

'That's a bit odd, he didn't act pro or con...'

It was a brand new day at Tails' workshop. The day had opened beautifully; the clear blue sky stretched for miles without a single cloud in sight. The group had decided that today would be last day before they infiltrated Eggman's base.

So, in order to prepare for the day, Shadow and Sonic thought it appropriate to train the others for combat. Both of the hedgehogs set up different types of drills, ranging from training that dealt with speed, endurance, strength, mental prowess, and combat abilities.

They decided to create teams based on how well everyone performed and observing everyone's strengths and weakness. Sonic based his decisions off of how well certain people worked well with each other.

He noticed that whenever Knuckles and Tails were put together in a drill, they had a system of where one person attacked and the other covered.

He also noticed that Shadow and Scythe tried to best each other by destroying the most targets and they usually ended up becoming fatigued or careless. Shadow based his decisions off of individual talent.

With Knuckles'almost berserk strength, it was most likely that he would be able to balance the lesser capabilities of someone like Amy Rose. However, since the pink hedgehog was a couple of steps quicker than the echidna and had a longer reach with her weapon, she would be able to cover some of his flaws as well.

He also noticed that when someone like Sonic or was Knuckles was fighting alongside someone such as Amy or Rouge, they fought and strived much more valiantly.

Now, it was eleven in the morning and everyone was finishing up their last obstacle course drill. With Daisy and Cream scorekeeping at the finish line they recorded the times and winners with the order being:

Sonic: 52 seconds

Shadow: 52 seconds

Scythe: 1 minute 03 seconds

Knuckles: 1 minute 05 seconds

Rouge: 1 minute 25 seconds

Tails: 1 minute 35 seconds

Amy: 1 minute 54 seconds

As they all panted, allowing their lungs to take in air, Daisy and Cream approached them with clipboards ready. Daisy smiled, ready to speak,"Well, congratulations! You have finally finished all of the training! So here are all the final results: In the speed drills Sonic, Shadow, and Scythe were consistently the top three. In strength drills, Knuckles, Scythe and Shadow finished in the top three the most."

Cream gazed at her clipboard, "And as for endurance tests, Sonic, Scythe and Knuckles were the top three regularly. In the mental capabilities test, Tails, Shadow and Rouge performed the best. And lastly, those who performed best in the combat category are: Knuckles, Sonic, and Shadow."

"Well," said Sonic, who was smiling slightly, "I'm pooped, I'm gonna eat before I do anything else, who's up for some grub?"

"Ooh! I am!" Amy called waving her hammer in the air.

"Yeah, me too!" Tails cried.

"Okay, I'll be back in ten with pizza!" the blue hedgehog darted out of sight.

Knuckles sighed, "Well, now at least I can see how Tikal is doing."

He left the others and entered the silent workshop. He opened the heavy wooden door to see that the echidna princess was sound asleep. Knuckles took a seat near the beige echidna and studied her carefully. Both Tails and Amy had done a fine job on cleaning and mending the echidna princess.

The only remaining signs of her injury where the white tape wrapping around her torso. He rested a gloved hand upon her face where heavy lashes rested upon her cheeks. At his touch the princess stirred slightly, she turned towards him and slowly awoke as she revealed turquoise eyes.

"Kn-knuckles!" she gasped.

The red warrior smiled at her gently, "Hey Tikal, how do you feel?"

"I feel a bit faint…and light-headed," she said, "…And cold."

She looked toward her midsection, gasped, and quickly shifted the blankets so they covered her almost completely, "W-what am I doing here?"

Knuckles' smile disappeared, "Eggman took the Master Emerald…and in the process he hurt you gravely."

Tikal's gaze dropped, "It was all my fault…I did not defend the Emerald—"

"Stop," Knuckles said, shaking his head, "You did all you could Tikal. I won't hear otherwise."

"Don't worry, we're going to fight him tomorrow and when we do, I'll get him good for you," Knuckles said smiling, "You just get better."

Tikal stared at the floor, "…All my life I was afraid…"

Knuckles looked up at her, "Huh?"

"As you know, I was the guardian of the Master Emerald before your time…I have always been afraid of fighting…and defending the Emerald because one day I knew that I would have to fight for it. But when I fought the Eggman…"

Tikal turned an intense gaze upon the other echidna, "Although I was afraid…I…I felt complete. Like I had finally found myself; like I had proven all my people wrong; that I'm not a coward or a weakling…that I am a true guardian of the Master Emerald. Knuckles, when you go to fight the Eggman again, I wish to accompany you."

"Tikal, you can't be serious, it's too--"

"Dangerous?" Tikal said with a dark whisper, "How dare you say that to me. Before you even walked the terra, I, Tikal, was the guardian of the Master Emerald. Although I may not have the fighting experience as you, but I do have the combat skills and techniques of those of the echidna warrior class. So do not lecture me about what is or isn't too dangerous for me."

Knuckles blinked, slightly stunned from the sudden personality change from the taciturn princess, "…If you wish to come with us Tikal, I can't stop you…but I can fight alongside of you."

Tikal smiled, "…Thank you Knuckles."

"But," Knuckles started, "That still does not change the fact that you're wounded…"

Knuckles almost jumped out of his skin when Tikal laughed loudly, "I am not an immortal for no reason…observe!"

Tikal closed her eyes as a bright blue flare of light engulfed her. Knuckles shielded his eyes, as the sky-blue light filled the room.

"Whoa!"

Night had fallen over the workshop as everyone was preparing for the next dawn. Everyone was thrilled that the ancient monarch had made a full recovery and was bound to join them in their fight against Eggman.

It also meant that they had someone who could mend their wounds. Amy returned with a box filled with folded leather garments and dropped them in front of Rouge and Tikal.

"Well," Amy said, placing her hands on her hips, "If we're going to be doing combat, then don't you think us girls should have some combat clothes? 'Cause I will NOT be fighting in my dress!"

Rouge laughed and Tikal tittered. The huntress smiled, "I understand, but do you have an extra outfit for Tikal?"

"I ordered plenty!" Amy said happily.

She dug into the box and pulled out a black, leather one-piece outfit with pink ascensions, "This one's mine…"

Next she pulled out a black and purple suit, "This one's for you Rouge." She pulled out a black and green suit, "And for you Tikal."

Cream and Daisy watched distantly with admiring eyes. They both gasped when Amy dropped two more suits upon the floor. Daisy picked up the black and yellow suit as Cream held the small, black and orange suit. Daisy looked up at Amy with round eyes, "Are…are these for us?"

Amy winked, "You betcha!"

"Oh thank you!" Cream cried.

Both the rabbit and the yellow hedgehog bear-hugged Amy, "Augh!"

Amy plummeted to the floor with their combined weight and Daisy and Cream popped up as they admired their suits.

"Come on Cream!" Daisy cried, "Let's try on our suits!"

"Okay!" Cream chirped.

"…However, I hope you do that in a more secluded setting…"

Scythe entered the room smirking, he turned his gaze to Rouge,"By the way Rouge, Shadow wants to see you. He's outside."

Rouge appeared outside, spotting the red and black hedgehog, "You wanted something Shadow?"

Shadow turned to face her and did a double take, with Rouge in her leather, form-fitting suit, "…Look hot."

Rouge laughed and placed a hand on her hip, "Now why did you call me out here?"

Shadow playfully tapped his foot and looked stern. He put on a thinking face as he circled Rouge, seemingly taking all of her in. He After completing one full circle, he stopped before her, "That outfit is pretty tight…not that I mind at all but…"

Rouge sighed, ignoring him, "Shadow?"

Shadow's smile faded, "When we go tomorrow, I want you to be as careful as possible…And if things get too rough, I want you to pull out…Understood?"

Rouge smiled, "I understand…But the same goes for you Shadow."

The black hedgehog nodded his head and sighed, "Fine then. But it's getting late and we're going to need all of our strength for tomorrow. Let's get some rest."

Shadow took a couple of steps before he realized that Rouge wasn't alongside of him. He stopped and turned to look at her, " ?"

"Shadow?" Rouge asked looking up at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Will…will you sleep with me tonight?" she asked.

The black and red hedgehog's pupils shrank to the size of dots, "…"

Rouge sighed, shaking her head lightly, "No I don't mean it that way…What I mean is…I'm nervous about tomorrow and…I feel that if I sleep with you beside me, I'll feel safer."

"Rouge you didn't even have to ask…I'd do anything for you," Shadow replied.

He reached out his hand toward the white bat, and smiling, Rouge took his hand, "..So you said you'd do anything, hmm? Would you wear pink frilly bows in your quills?"

"…Let's not get ridiculous…"

Shadow jumped slightly as he felt a pinch on the rear, " Yow! What was that for?"

Rouge smiled wickedly, " That was for the having your mind in the gutter when I asked you to sleep with me!"

"And who wouldn't?" a voice called from inside of the workshop.

"Shut up blue boy!" Rouge hissed.

To be continued!

-Chapter 23 Theme-"Hey There Lonely Boy"-Stacy Lattisaw