Me: Welcome back, readers!

Sonic: Can I ask you a question?

Me: Sure.

Sonic: Why did you tie up, Shadow?

Me: Because at the end of chapter 2, he told people that he would see them in their dreams.

Shadow: *Tied to a chair with chains* I was just joking.

Sonic: Really? Because it's hard to tell.

Me: I know right. He just has this blank expression on his face that makes it hard to tell what mood he's in.

Sonic: Yeah, one time he told he was going to stuff me inside a garbage can. I couldn't tell whether or not he was serious.

Shadow: You two are talking about me like I'm not here!

Me: See. Even now I'm having trouble trying to figure out whether he's mad or sad.

Sonic: Maybe he's in between.

Me: Yeah.

Shadow: Grrrr.

Sonic: Anyway, shouldn't we be doing the introductions?

Me: Yeah. Go ahead.

Sonic: Ok. Welcome to the third chapter of 'I Want My Big Brother, Sonic'. We hope you guys enjoy it and leave some good reviews. Now...

Shadow: Que the flipping story.

Me: REALLY?!

IWMBBS Chapter 3: Secrets

He had to be lying.

She pressed herself tightly up against the metallic wall, goosebumps rising up against her skin underneath her slim jumpsuit due to its cold surface and the thin fabric of her suit.

She rested her elbow on the armrest of her chair and leaned her head against the palm of her hand. She smacked heavily on the watermelon flavored gum in her mouth as she stared, eyes lidded, at the screen of her ship's monitor. "So, I'll be able to waltz onto your ship? Just like that?"

She tiptoed to the end of the corridor, the heels of her boots clicking lightly on the floor. Once there, she peered around the corner, her trained eyes spotting the medium-sized camera that hid unsuccessfully within the shadows of the corridor.

Eggman bobbed his head, his face cast in a blue light, allowing her to practically count the numerous frown lines etched on it. "Positive. My security system will be completely offline from the time your high heeled boot touches the deck until you step off of my ship."

She sighed, silently convincing herself to trust her gut, before stepping out from behind her only shield and perfectly into the view of the camera, her eyes focused on the device and her ears perked.

She blew a bright pink bubble, which grew about an inch before popping, and narrowed her eyes. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

She stood there a full minute, prepared for the vibrant red flashing lights and ear-splitting screech that was sure to follow, but, to her surprise, the camera merely focused on her for about a second before turning in a different direction.

Eggman gave a fake expression of hurt, a hand on his chest as if she had shot him in the chest. "Now, when has there been a time when you couldn't trust me?"

She quickly shook off the shock of not being discovered and, instead, wasted no time stretching her wings out to her sides. She crouched down before jumping into the air, her wings flapping effortlessly to support her weight.

"Depends."

Her gaze lingered on the camera for a moment longer and then, without a word, she flew down the corridor, her bangs flying into her face.

She leaned forward, her teal eyes flashing dangerously. "Do you want me to tell you the long or short version of how many times you've betrayed me?"

She took another left down a corridor that looked exactly like the rest she passed, her mind replaying directions from her memory.

"After that take a right-"

Her body leaned to the right, her left wind flapping hard to avoid smacking into the cold, hard metallic wall. This time she entered a dimly lit corridor, the gray color of the walls seeming to fall prey to the copper colored rust that was slowly creeping along it.

"Then a left-"

She paused mid-flight, silently eying the dark hallway before her. She then lowered herself gently to the ground, her high-heeled boots clicking as they came in contact with the floor. She entered the dark corridor, taking note of the flickering lights above her.

She tsked softly underneath her breath. What is he? Too cheap to pay the light bill?

She squinted her eyes, the built-in night vision hidden deep within her teal-colored orbs, allowing her to make out the shapes that were trapped in the murky shadows alongside the corridor.

"Down that hallway, you should see some cells-"

She peered between the incredibly thick iron bars of the cell closest to her, her nose crinkling at the stale scent that wafted from inside it. Cobwebs lined the inside of the cell, thin spiders crawling around in them, and dust covered every inch of it in thick layers.

She rose an eye-ridge. "Exactly how many cells are we talking about here?"

"About…" Eggman hummed, "approximately 100."

"And why, may I ask, do you have so many?"

Eggman glared in her direction. "That is none of your concern. Now, are you here to play detective or are you here for what we had a deal on?"

"You can't blame a girl for being curious." She mumbled.

Eggman ignored her comment and cleared his throat. "Now, as I was saying, the cell you will be looking for is the third one on the left."

"One."

She uttered to herself quietly, stepping past the first cell.

"Two."

Her gaze swept over the second cell, taking note of it's similar condition to the first.

"Three."

She paused and stood in front of the third cell, her hands reaching out and clenching the thick bars tightly. She pressed her face against them, ignoring their icy, cold surface, and her teal eyes searched within the dark depths of the cell.

She raised an eye-ridge. "And how do I know that it's not a trap."

Eggman gasped at the accusation, dramatically placing a hand over his chest as if she just shot him there with a gun. "Do you honestly believe I'm capable of doing something that underhanded. Me?

She rolled her eyes. "Yes."

Eggman's shoulders drooped and he exchanged his expression of hurt for a look of annoyance as he pursed his lips. "Fine. If you're so concerned about it being a trap, then let me inform you that when you get there, there should be a bright red light shining from within the cell."

Her eyes narrowed, hypnotized by a dark red pulsing light that sliced through the darkness. Her right hand released the bar in exchange for digging through her pocket. Her face brightened when her fingers closed around a small object and she pulled it out, revealing a shiny silver key.

"And before I forget." His hand dove into his pocket that was located on his red jacket. "Here."

A silver key went flying through the air. She reached up and caught it in one swift move, staring at her reflection in its shiny surface.

She tore her eyes away from it and, instead, focused on the back of the fat 'doctor', watching as he bent over his control panel. "What's this for?"

She shoved the key into the key-hole and twisted it to the side with a sharp clink. Pocketing the key, she then pushed the door open, cringing when it made a loud, irritating creaking sound.

"It's for the cell." Eggman peered at her out of the corner of his eye, his glasses reflecting the light from the console before him. "What? You don't honestly believe that I would let a young lady, like yourself, go around kicking down doors."

The dim light from the corridor poured in from behind her, just barely slicing through the murky darkness of the cell. She took a step forward, frowning when her eyes took their sweet time adjusting to the darkness of the cell. But, when they did, she found herself confused when she realized that the bright red light had vanished.

But, how could it have disappeared? She looked, cautiously, around the cell. It was here a moment ago-

Her train of thought was sent to a screeching halt when something from behind suddenly gripped her wrist. She instantly whirled around, body going into defense mode as her foot went flying through the air in an effort to disarm the culprit. But, that idea was quickly throw out the window when her foot was stopped mid-kick by the culprit grabbing her ankle. She squirmed, struggling to retrieve both of her limbs, which, proved to be near impossible since, whoever had her in their grip, was similar to an unmovable stone.

"Hey! Let go of me!" She hissed. "This is no way to treat a lady!"

To her surprise, the culprit's grip slackened at her words and, with a light tug, she managed to pull herself away. She then backed away from the culprit and allowed the darkness of the cell to conceal her as she lightly rubbed her throbbing wrist.

"... Rouge?"

The name was whispered softly and with hesitation as if the person was unsure whether or not they were talking to the right person. Her ears perked up and her eyes widened when she recognized the deep, husky tone of the voice. She cast her gaze back to where had left the culprit standing, biting back a gasp of surprise when, for the first time, she noticed the vibrant red light that illuminated the outline of the culprit. Her eyes found a pair of familiar fiery red eyes, staring back at her with mild shock within their depths.

"Shadow?"

Rouge hissed lightly when her pupils were re-exposed to the bright fluorescent lights of the previous corridor, a hand hovering above her eyes in an attempt to ward off the light.

"What are you doing here?"

Rouge lowered her hand and twisted her head to glance at the black-and-red hedgehog who was currently slumped up against the wall, staring intently at her. Once he noticed that he currently had her attention, he straightened up, leaning up as subtly as he could. She smiled slyly at him, a hand resting upon her hip.

"What do you think, Handsome?" She snipped. "I'm here to rescue you."

Shadow scoffed, his expression hardening. "I'm not some kind of pathetic damsel in distress, Rouge. I don't want your help."

"Hmm." She placed a finger on her cheek. "You're right, you're not a damsel in distress. They're usually pretty and very grateful towards the hero for getting them out of a sticky situation that they otherwise wouldn't have been to get out of by themselves." She ignored the sudden heated glare that was aimed at her forehead. "But, and correct me if I'm wrong here, it seems more like you need help rather than you want it."

Shadow growled, his glare seeming to intensify to the point where he would've made a grown man cry. But it proved fruitless against Rouge who merely countered his glare with her usual cool expression, the smirk on her face not even wavering.

Rouge tsked lightly at him, using one hand to wag a finger at him while the other dug into the pocket of her jumpsuit. "Now, Honey, there is no need to be in denial. We're all friends here. But, if you really don't want my help," she unveiled a stubby red key from the depths of her pocket, "I can just take this key, that would most likely open up those dreadful handcuffs of yours, and leave."

And with that, she turned abruptly on her heel and advanced forward towards the end of the corridor, her hand making a move as if it was going to pocket the key. Shadow watched her back intensely, shaking his head at her so-called threat.

"Good riddance." He barked in her direction, pushing himself off of the wall. "'It wasn't like I had asked for your help in the first place."

Shadow gritted his teeth, sucking abated breath through his mouth when his head throbbed heavily at the sudden movement. He cringed when the chains of his handcuffs clinked together, producing a sharp click. He glared icily at the accursed bright red glowing thingies around his wrists, silently hoping that they would eventually freeze under his stare and allow him to simply break them.

When that, unsurprisingly, didn't happen, he huffed loudly through his nose, frustrated. He glanced up at Rouge, a frown gracing his lips.

"Rouge," the bat paused mid-step, her right ear twitching at the sound of her name, "wait."

Rouge craned her neck and peered over her shoulder at Shadow, the corners of her lips slowly stretching into a knowing smirk. "Yes, Handsome?"

"I…" Shadow suddenly found the floor to be the most interesting thing in the world, "I need your help."

Rouge cupped a hand around her large ear, feigning an innocent look as she leaned more into Shadow's direction. "What was that?"

"I said it once already." He snarled. " Do not make me repeat it."

Rouge pouted, walking back towards Shadow. "I'm just teasing you, Handsome. You don't have to take everything so seriously. Now," she waved the key in the air, "let me see those handcuffs."

Click. Click.

Rouge slid the key, firstly, into the metal key-hole of the left part of the handcuffs that enclosed his left wrist. She twisted the key and, after a few seconds, the left side of the handcuff popped open, releasing Shadow's wrist from its imprisonment. Shadow, immediately, began to rub his sore wrist and, much to Rouge's annoyance, dragging the other piece of the handcuff with him.

"Stop squirming and," Rouge grabbed the right side of the handcuff, "let me open the other side."

Shadow complied with her request, fully surrendering his right wrist to her. Rouge then slid the key into the key-hole of the right part of the handcuffs and, with a sharp twist, the other side of the handcuffs popped open, releasing Shadow's other wrist. The handcuffs fell, slack, into Rouge's open palm, their vibrant red color slowly sinking away to a dull gray. She pocketed the stubby key and, deeming the now harmless handcuffs as deactivated, studied them.

She lifted the handcuffs up and, gripping both sides, Rouge pulled the handcuffs in opposite directions. The chains, connecting the two main parts of the handcuffs together, creaked and strained underneath the weak force of her pull, drawing a chuckle from Rouge. "Heh."

Shadow, who was, at the moment, rubbing his wrists which were sore from the constriction the handcuffs had placed on them, refocused his attention on her, his eyes narrowing at the amused expression that had taken over her face. "What?"

As soon as she realized she had his attention, Rouge replaced her expression and, instead, feigned innocence. "Oh, nothing. I'm just a little curious on how the Ultimate Lifeform was unable to escape from these," she jiggled the handcuffs, mockingly, before his face, " dainty little thing."

"Shut up!" He roared, wrists forgotten as he made a grab for the handcuffs. Of course, Rouge, having expected his reaction, pulled back in time to allow Shadow to grasp at nothing but air. "And put those away!"

Rouge smirked. "Why? You aren't afraid of them, now are you, Handsome?"

"No." Shadow stated, glaring at the smugness that had made itself apparent on Rouge's face.

"Then, what's the problem?"

"It felt like those handcuffs were…" Shadow stared down at his hands and clenched his fists, his wrists still stinging from the handcuffs, "siphoning the Chaos energy from me."

"What!?" Previous teasing forgotten, Rouge held the handcuffs pinched between two fingers and made a show of thrusting it out as far as her arm would allow her, away from her body. "You mean, this little thing was taking Chaos energy from you the entire time?"

"Yes."

Rouge rose an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Shadow gave her a blank look, his mouth set in a grim line. He then placed his hand out before him, palm facing up, and scrunched his eyebrows in concentration. Rouge watched, curiously, as Shadow's hand glowed a dark cherry red, a small ball of light seemingly forming in the middle of his palm and slowly forming into some kind of shape. Suddenly, without any warning, the glowing layer that covered Shadow's hand started to flicker, in a fashion similar to a light bulb, and the ball began to twitch and shoot out sparks. Then, the ball burst, like a water balloon, in Shadow's palm, leaving nothing behind, but a pile of glittering dust. Shadow clenched his hand shut, Rouge taking note of the small tremble in said appendage that accompanied the action, and crushed the rest of the dust.

"Does that answer your question?" Asked Shadow, his voice, at least to Rouge, sounding low and somewhat strained.

Rouge nodded, watching as tiny rivers of sparkly dust slipped between Shadow's fingers, the dust dissipating into nothingness just before it hit the metallic floor. "... Yeah, it sure did."

"Good. Now," Shadow leaned up against the wall, his eyes firmly glued on Rouge,"you can answer my question."

"Go ahead, Handsome." Rouge prompted.

"What are you doing here?"

Rouge rose an eyebrow. "You already asked-"

"Well, I'm asking it again." Shadow's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Like I said before, I came here to rescue you-"

"You were lying then and you are still lying now." Shadow cut in, impatience layering his voice. "Tell me the truth."

"Alright, fine, you got me." Rouge placed her hands up in the air in a mock surrender. "The truth is that I was concerned about your well-being, like a real friend should, and decided-"

"Rouge."

"Ok," Rouge gave him a sour look, "I got a call from Eggman and he told me that there was some kind of 'treasure' he had stashed away on his ship and that I was welcomed to it as long as I was willing to… trade something for it."

"Which was?"

"... A Chaos Emerald."

Shadow crossed his arms against his chest. "And you believed him?"

Rouge frowned. "No. But, I was interested."

"And you just gave him your Chaos Emerald?" Asked Shadow, pointedly.

"Well… it's more like what he traded me for it was much more valuable."

Shadow eyed her, curiously. "Like what?"

Rouge grinned at him and stuck a hand deep into the recesses of her jumpsuit's pocket. Shadow watched as she drew out a somewhat medium-sized black box.

Shadow rose an eyebrow. "A box?"

Rouge frowned. "No. It's what is in the box."

Shadow witnessed, his curiosity growing, as Rouge peeled back the top of the box, his eyes narrowing in anticipation. Suddenly, without any warning, pain blossomed in the back of Shadow's head, making him wince before he could control it. His legs went limp and he soon found himself dropping down to one knee, his gloved hands coming up to grasp at his head.

"Hands-Shadow!"

"You need to tell him."

She ignored the truth that rang within those words, blowing her unkempt bangs out of her eyes as she busied herself with straightening up the first aid kit that sat opened before her, it's contents sprayed out all over the table.

"You know he hates it when someone knows something that he doesn't ."

She chewed on her bottom lip, her hands clenching the white bandages she was currently holding tightly.

"Especially something like this-"

"I know."

Her voice was quiet and guilt-ridden. Somewhere behind her, a chair squeaked and she was suddenly aware of the sound of wheels rolling against the floor.

"Then tell him or I will-"

She twisted around in her chair and, without any warning, the ball of white bandages went flying through the air. It smacked into the nose of the red echidna that sat backward in the chair, his arms crossed over the back of it. The echidna merely blinked at the ball, that now sat on the floor, before he looked at her, an eye-ridge raised.

"Was that suppose to hurt-"

"You can't ."

Her voice cracked and he found himself snapping his mouth close when he noticed the tears that started to make an appearance at the corners of her misty eyes.

"Amy-"

Amy sniffled, her jaw tight and her expression grim. "Knuckles. You promised you wouldn't tell him."

Knuckles sighed, looking away from her piercing gaze. His foot kicked at the metallic floor and he pushed himself backward and forwards in his chair, the wheels squeaking in protest. "I never said that I would keep my promise."

Shock briefly passed over her face before it melted into a mask of frustration and hidden hurt. "You jerk! You said you wouldn't tell him until his injuries were healed. And if you haven't noticed, they're not."

Knuckles breathed deeply through his nose, just barely keeping a lid on his anger as he tightly clenched the back of the chair, the plastic bending easily under his fingers. "You can't keep babying him, like this-"

"I'm not." She retorted quickly, turning her back to him which made her short pink quills swish through the air. "I just want to make sure he's okay for once."

"He seemed pretty okay with me."

"Well," Amy huffed, stuffing a small bottle of aspirin into the kit, "that's because you're oblivious."

Knuckles scoffed. "To what?"

Amy twisted her body to face him, an expression of annoyance on her face. "To everything apparently." She gestured towards the forgotten bundle of bandages. "Hand me those, please."

Knuckles leaned down and picked up the bandages before he flung the ball at her. Not expecting him to throw it, Amy squeaked, catching the bandages and practically juggling it to keep it within her grasp. Once she had a grip, she glared at the echidna who, in return, smirked.

"I said to hand me them." She stuffed the bandages into the kit. "Not throw them at me."

And I want to know why I'm apparently oblivious to 'everything'," he air-quoted the word with his hands," or whatever that is. But, I guess we can't all get what we want."

Amy sighed, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Knuckles, you just don't understand-"

Knuckles leaned forward, his hard violet eyes clashing with her softened jade. "Then help me understand. Because if I have to keep this secret from Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, I at least want to know the heck-of-a-good-reason why."

Amy stared into his mysterious violet depths for a second longer before she turned her head away, effectively breaking eye contact with him. "Fine." She fingered the first aid kit, turning down the two clasps on the sides with a loud click. "Have you ever, you know, noticed that sometimes when we get into a fight, someone ends up getting hurt?"

He nodded. "Of course, I do. I mean it happens pretty often."

"Exactly. It happens so much that we don't even notice anymore when someone's hurt."

"So?" He leaned forward, his hand supporting his head. "What does this exactly have to do with Sonic?"

Amy whirled around to face him. "Don't you know!?" A frown crossed over her features when she was met with an expression of confusion. "Of course, you don't. Isn't it obvious? Whenever one of you guys get hurt, like you or Sonic, for an example, we always just assume that you guys would be okay-"

"Just get to the point already, Amy."

She glared at him, irritated at the sudden interruption, but otherwise did what she was told. "What I'm saying is," her eyes suddenly found the gray metallic floor as the most interesting thing in the world, "you guys get hurt more than any of us wants to admit. And we're all so used to seeing you guys get hurt that, sometimes, I feel like we just brush it off like it's nothing."

"And by 'you guys', you actually mean Sonic. Don't you?"

She nodded almost absentmindedly, tracing the red cross on the first aid kit. "He pushes himself, Knuckles. He goes into battles all the time and comes out with injuries of all varieties. He always just brushes them off like they don't even matter; like they don't even hurt. And then another fight appears just around the corner and he suddenly jumps up at the chance to fight something even though no one forces him to. And then…"

"And then…" Knuckles echoed.

Amy sniffled, a hand scrubbing at her face and Knuckles suddenly became aware of the tears that had already begun to slide down her face, leaving behind a visible trail. "And then, he collapses. I mean, you saw what happened after Chris came out of the Master Emerald, right?"

Knuckles nodded. It had occurred just before his so-called-friends stole the Master Emerald from him, and, in the end, practically forced him to go with them on their crazy adventure into outer space.

From what he had been told by the others during that time, Sonic had gone missing for an entire week without saying a single word to anyone. Of course, his friends all just assumed that Sonic was being, well, Sonic and that he was going through that weird phase of his where he would disappear for days on end. Imagine their surprise when the hedgehog practically appeared out of nowhere with a stupid smile on his face, ready for action, only to faint right in front of all of his friends which, in turn, gave them all a huge heart attack.

It turned out that the hedgehog had gone up against an enemy that might've been way out of his league, which later turned out to be Dark Oak, and was forced to launch the Chaos Emeralds out into outer space- what an idiot- and was left to fall back to Möbius without any kind of help. What happened during the week after that event was a total mystery to everyone since Sonic refused to give out any information of any kind about it.

"Then you understand what I'm talking about."

"Not exactly. I mean, I still don't understand why you're so sure that babying the Idiot is the best idea."

"Knuckles," sadness melted away from her expression and was instantly replaced with annoyance, "we both know that Sonic can't stand the thought of sitting on the sidelines. Just because, for once, I don't want to see him push himself to the limit and nearly get himself killed, doesn't mean I'm babying him. It means I'm trying to be a good friend, something you should try once in awhile."

Knuckles ignored, with great difficulty, her comment. "Still. How does keeping this all a secret benefit him?"

"The less stress placed on his shoulders, the faster he'll heal. Besides, I don't know about you, but I," she gestured to herself, "don't want to see Sonic go through another seizure like he did last night."

Knuckles frowned at the mention of the said event that happened what felt like days ago but was actually only a few hours ago. As annoying as Sonic could be at certain times, he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the happy-go-lucky hedgehog trading his cheesy smiles and attitude for expressions of tremendous agony and screams of anguish, happening again. Once was enough, thank you.

A sudden knock at the door, thankfully, saved Knuckles from reliving the dark thoughts that still seemed to be floating around from last night. Amy, who also seemed happy for the distraction, cleared her throat.

"Come in!" She chimed, her voice almost devoid of the anger and sadness that were there only a few moments ago, and instead traded for a light, cheery tone.

The door slid open with a soft swoosh, unveiling the nervous-looking yellow fox who stood on the other side. If he was trying to hide his nervousness was a complete mystery to Knuckles, for if the kid was, well, he was doing a terrible job at it.

Amy smiled warmly, showing no signs of even noticing Tails' body language. "Hey, Tails! Do you need something?"

"Uh, yeah," he stated, uneasily, "I was kind of wondering if you saw Knuckles anywhere."

Knuckles raised his hand from his little corner in the room, startling the fox. "Right here, Kid."

"Oh, hey, Knuckles. Um," he looked back at Amy, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in an adorable imitation of Sonic, "do you mind if I borrow Knuckles, Amy?"

"Go ahead, Tails. Just as long as he, " she narrowed her eyes at the echidna, "promises to keep our little agreement."

Knuckles waved a hand at her. "Yeah, yeah," he stood from his seat, "I promise."

"I'm serious, Knuckles."

"What else do you want me to do? Pinkie promise, you? Because I don't know if you've noticed." He held up his hand, hidden within in his shapeless glove. "That's kind of hard to do."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. Leave. But I'm holding you to your promise. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

And before Amy could say anything else to Knuckles, the echidna practically shoved Tails' out of the room, the doors sliding shut behind them.

Amy sighed, blowing a droopy bang out of her eye. "I hope you do."

Me: Well, that's all folks!

Sonic: Binge watch Looney Tunes, much?

Me: Maybe. Anyway, Shadow, how did you enjoy-wait! Where is he?!

Sonic: What do you mean? *Points at chair* He's right-oh. Yup, he's gone.

Me: GONE!? WHERE?!

Sonic: I DON'T KNOW!

Me: ARGH! Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but me and Sonic have some important business to take care of. So, for now, we'll see you guys later!