Writer's Note:
Sometime ago, I drew a picture of Rouge doing a handstand for Knuckles, impressing him, while hanging out at the beach. Later, the picture has now inspired me to write this story.
Note to Disclaimer: Rouge and Knuckles belong to SEGA!
Knuckles kicked back on the altar next to the Master Emerald, doing his usual guard duty that he always did every day. Even though Chaos was neutralized, the Master Emerald was still very important.
All was calm on the Floating Island, no mad scientists attacking or gem thieves coming to steal the emerald. He didn't care about the mystery surrounding him and his job, Knuckles didn't want to question anything.
Pretty much as far as he was concerned, the red echidna was willing to spend the rest of his life up here, protecting the Master Emerald and trying to preserve what remained of the echidna lineage forever.
His eyes shot open, defense reflexes kicking in as something rustled in the bushes close by. Knuckles stood and raised his fists, someone was here, another unwelcome guest wanting to steal the Master Emerald.
"It better not be you, Eggman!" Knuckles yelled, he charged down the altar steps and dove into the bushes to tackle the intruder, only to find himself pouncing on a very familiar face he hadn't seen since yesterday.
"It's been a while, Knucklehead." Rouge the Bat said in a teasing voice.
Completely surprised, Knuckles got off the bat girl and helped her stand up upon her feet. He hadn't expected to see Rouge here, not since the events on the Space Colony ARK and Shadow's sacrifice, and why was she wearing a pink thong bikini?
"Um, hi, Rouge." The red echidna said, cheeks blushing red as he tried not to stare at Rouge, "What brings you to this neck of the world at a time when I'm busy guarding something very important?"
"I finally got a day off from working with G.U.N, especially after we saved the world the other day." Rouge replied, "I was on my way over to Sapphire Beach when I decided to swing by and see my favorite red echidna, handsome."
"I... guess you're just paying a quick visit?"
"You could say that, yeah. Besides, I like you, Knuxie."
Knuckles blushed even more, "Thanks, I think you're pretty too."
"Then again," Rouge said thoughtfully, "I thought I'd invite you along."
"Wh-What? You and me, down at the beach?"
The bat giggled, "C'mon, Knuckles. I thought you liked fun."
"I like fun."
"Then come with me to the beach, you need some fresh surface air."
"I have a duty to guard the Master Emerald, so, no thanks."
Rouge seemingly got angry and yanked one of Knuckles' dreadlocks. "Listen here, Knucklehead!" She yelled, "I like you and I'm willing to let you spend all day on a floating landmass, guarding a big green rock.
"But there is a time where you have to get off your ass and spend time with your friends on the surface below. You can either come with me to the beach for a while OR I WILL STEAL THE MASTER EMERALD FROM YOU!"
Knuckles panicked, "Y-You're not serious, are you?"
Rouge put her hands on her hips, looking at the echidna almost sternly, "What's it going to be, red echidna? Beach or Master Emerald? I don't have all day, so make your choice right now!"
Knuckles raised his hands in surrender, "N-N-No, don't steal the emerald. I-I'll go to the beach with you, j-j-just let me get my sunglasses, flipflops, swimsuit and sunscreen."
It didn't take long for Knuckles to get some flipflops, sunglasses and his swim trunks. As for the sunscreen, Rouge already had some on her. She thanked Knuckles for making the right choice in tagging along.
He couldn't believe the shapely bat girl would threaten to steal the Master Emerald just to make him to hang out at the beach with her, just who did Rouge think she was anyway?
The two treasure hunters jumped off the edge of the island, taking flight over the ocean as Knuckled glided with his fists outstretched and Rouge flapping her batty wings and her arms out to her sides like airplane wings.
As they flew over the sea, Knuckles couldn't help but take in the view, it did feel great getting a nice bird's eye view of the world. A flock of seagulls flew past the two, squawking and ignoring them as if they didn't exist.
Knuckles and Rouge's flight didn't last too long, the bat was the first to spot the seaside looming ahead and called out to the red echidna, telling him they were nearly there, and he saw the lovely beachside just waiting for them.
Yellow sand, rolling waves, palm trees and green bushes. The red echidna loved paradise; his whole island was technically paradise. He glided in and landed on the beach before Rouge, letting her land in his arms to her surprise.
"Wow," The bat girl exclaimed, as she looked up at Knuckles and lay in his arms for a bit, "You're quite a dashing one, aren't you?" The red echidna told her not to push it as he helped set up the beach umbrella and purple blankets.
Sapphire Beached looked remarkable and it felt like the ideal vacation spot, the way the crystal-clear ocean water sparkled made Knuckles realize this was the main reason why Rouge had chosen this instead of Emerald Coast.
"Knucklehead!" The bat called from nearby, Knuckles felt something hit him on the back of the head and turned to see that Rouge had tossed him a volleyball. "Oh," he smirked, "You wanna play, eh? Alright, let's do this!"
For the next few minutes, the echidna and the bat threw the beach ball back and forth, having a good time. Well, it was mostly Rouge enjoying herself while Knuckles almost felt miserable, he just wanted to guard the Master Emerald.
After a nice round of beach ball, Rouge asked the red echidna to put some sunscreen on her. Reluctant at first, Knuckles obliged and helped the bat apply plenty of sunscreen to her arms and legs before rubbing some on her back.
Next up, they went swimming together, Knuckles loved swimming. Despite the fact he almost felt miserable, he found that plenty of good came out of spending some time at the beach with his semi-rival/fellow treasure hunter.
Knuckles was taken by surprise when Rouge splashed him, giving the red echidna a teasing look that led to him splashing her right back, leading into a splash war which Rouge bested the knucklehead in.
They didn't spend too much time in the water and stayed very close to shore in order to avoid the possibility of being attacked by wild Orca whales, soon the two were out of the water and relaxing on the beach.
Rouge sat under the sun, tanning in the summer rays while Knuckles mostly stayed under the shade of the umbrella, he rubbed a bit of sunscreen on his knees and arms, making sure he wasn't sunburned.
He took notice to the bat's purse lying next to him, confused and curious as to why Rouge would even leave it open. In fact, he could see a shiny red gemstone inside. Was that...? Was that a Chaos Emerald?
Seeing the emerald, Knuckles realized he'd almost forgotten about his duty. Thoughts of the Master Emerald flooded his mind, his relaxed face became one of worry, worry that Eggman was trying to steal the hunk of rock right now.
'No.' The echidna thought, shaking his head, 'I can't let something bad happen to the Master Emerald, no, no, no. "Knuckles, whats the matter?" Rouge asked, taking notice to the panic on the echidna's face, "You look terrified."
"I-I'm fine, Rouge." The echidna assured her, "It's just... The Master Emerald."
"Aw," Rouge hugged Knuckles, "Are you worried about your island and the Master Emerald? Calm down, you lovable doofus, you've hardly been gone from the island for, oh, an hour and Eggman isn't watching the island. The Master Emerald will be fine."
"Says the girl who threatened to steal it when I was hesitant to join you."
The white bat rolled her eyes, "Yeah, about that threat, I... wasn't really serious. I was joking, there was no way I could try to steal the Master Emerald on your watch. How else was I going to persuade you to join me on a beach trip?"
Knuckles looked at the bat, "Really, you were never going to do that?"
"It was all just to get a reaction from you, Knuxie."
"Man, that's a relief, but I still worry about the Master Emerald."
"How'd you like to see my acrobatics?" Rouge asked, "Will that help you not worry about the Master Emerald for the rest of our hangout?"
Before Knuckles could say anything, the bat did a back handspring, followed suit by a somersault, three cartwheels and a backflip before striking a pose. "Impressed, Knuckles?" Rouge asked. Knuckles was dumbstruck by the bat's flexibility.
Then, the bat did a full-on handstand with her back turned to the echidna even as she moved her head up to look up at Knuckles, who was completely amazed. "Are we impressed yet, Knucklehead?" Rouge asked again in her sassy voice.
"Not bad, Rouge." The red echidna gave a thumbs up just as an orca whale jumped up out of the ocean nearby and dove back in, "I'm impressed with your acrobatic flexibility, which is almost on par with mine, I'd give it a sweet nine out of ten."
Rouge stood up, bowed and plopped down atop the echidna, pressing her body against his. "I'm glad you're impressed," She said with a hint of seductiveness in her voice, "Think of it as my way of thanking you for being impressive as well during our scuffle on the ARK."
With no other words to speak, Rouge pressed her lips against Knuckles' and the two of them started to make out as the red echidna started to realize what was going on. He'd never experienced anything like this before, but this was quite a first-time experience.
Both treasure hunters made out for a bit before breaking the kiss, Knuckles' was blushing and confused while Rouge was smirking and trying to stifle a giggle. "Um?" The echidna asked, "Is it ok if I go home now since you've been... generous?"
"Of course you can go." The bat replied, hugging Knuckles, "You can head back to your home island and return to guard duty anytime, thanks for hanging out with me. I... felt lonely, especially since... since we lost Shadow."
Knuckles could see some sadness in her face, the bat's ears had drooped. "You must've had a special bond with Shadow during the short time you two were together, huh?" The echidna commented, "I'm... very sorry. Well, gotta go, see you later, Rouge."
As rad red glided on back to the Floating Island, Rouge sat on the beach, watching him go. Later that night, Knuckles lay back next to the Master Emerald and looked up at the stars as he thought about his day, it had been something and he sure needed some fresh air.
With nothing else to think of, the echidna closed his eyes, knowing that no one was going near the Master Emerald. Meanwhile, Rouge lay upon a massage table at the Sapphire-Beach spa resort, smiling as two muscular men massaged her toned, slender back.
For a split second, despite being in separate locations, both treasure hunters could almost read each other's thoughts and connect their minds telepathically as they thought of almost the same exact thing: Today had been a fun summer day.
The End