Welcome back to my next installment of The Price. I want to thank all my supporters for…. Supporting me. I do it for you.
It was sunset when Knuckles and Rouge arrived in Westopolis. They had not been here since the Black Arms wrecked it. It looked a whole lot better, but Westopolis was far from being totally rebuilt. The night life around here seemed to be picking back up, but it was still a little off. After the alien attack, not many people really wanted to live in Westopolis. That's why Knuckles and Rouge thought that this would be the perfect place for a quick heist.
"Wow! Westopolis is quite beautiful when the buildings aren't falling down," said ansRouge as she pulled into a gas station.
"It does have that certain feel about it," agreed Knuckles. "Why are we stopping?"
"Unless you want to walk the rest of the way, I suggest that we get some gas, Knucklehead," said Rouge. She reached inside her pocket and pulled out a twenty. "I'll be back in a minute."
"Bring me back a Mountain Dew and a honey bun," said Knuckles, handing her a five.
Rouge took the five and headed into the store, leaving Knuckles in the car. Rouge had left her phone in the car. Knuckles picked up the phone and began to dial Silver.
(Ring)
It rang a few times before Silver finally answered.
"Hello." Knuckles could tell that Silver was asleep when he called because he sounded like he had swallowed a buzz saw.
"Hey, Silver. What's the word?" asked Knuckles.
"Knuckles! I was wondering when I was going to hear from you," said Silver in a more alert tone.
"Sorry. I've been busy getting this money," said Knuckles.
"How's that going?"
"So far, so good. I am a quarter of the way there," said Knuckles.
"I expected you to be further by now. You have only four days to come up with the rest of the money or Lara-Su is history. You know that we can't let that happen," said Silver.
"It's not going to happen. I'll make sure of that."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No. Just be there when I need you," said Knuckles.
"You can count on that. By the way, how are you and Rouge getting along?
"She's been very supportive of me. I do believe that she understands the seriousness of this matter. We've hardly ever fought. I hate to admit it, but she's actually proven to be a great ally and an even better friend. I like this Rouge," said Knuckles.
"Well, once you give her your emerald, she probably won't be so friendly," said Silver.
"Maybe. I guess I better enjoy it while I can," said Knuckles.
Inside the store, Rouge had found Knuckles' Mountain Dew and honey bun and was now headed to the register. The clerk was a teenage porcupine with bad acne. He didn't even notice Rouge in the store. If she didn't need to pay for the gas, Rouge would've walked out of the store without paying.
"Excuse me," she said politely.
The porcupine did not turn around.
"Hello."
Still, no response.
"Hey!" screamed Rouge.
"Whoa. You don't have to yell, Bat-Lady," said the porcupine, holding his ear as he jumped from his seat. Whenever Rouge raised her voice, it meant that she was ticked. She placed her hand on one of her hips.
"Can I pay for this now and get some gas?" she asked.
"I don't know. Can you?"
Rouge's eye began to twitch. She grabbed the porcupine by his shirt. "Look here, spikes. I'm in a rush; so if you don't mind, I'd like to pay for this and get out of here as soon as possible," said Rouge.
The porcupine took a close look at Rouge. He stared at her with that same look for five seconds.
"I know you!" said the porcupine with surprise
"Excuse me?" asked a confused Rouge. She let the porcupine down with a nice drop.
"You're the bat that was involved in the bank scam. That was some cold shit to do. You and your partner are like the modern day Bonnie and Clyde. Hey, can I get your autograph?" asked the porcupine.
"How'd you find that out?" she asked him.
"It's been all over TV for the past five hours." The porcupine pointed at the TV that was on a table behind the counter. The TV showed the security camera footage from the job that she and Knuckles had pulled earlier today.
"Here, we see the female suspect, positively identified as Rouge the Bat, as she distracts the security guard while her male partner, who remains unidentified at the moment, sneaks in the back and holds the manager at gunpoint. A small amount was taken from the vault before the male suspect fled the scene. Suspects are armed and dangerous. G.U.N. has been alerted to the actions taken by their former agent and are currently in pursuit of the two suspects," said the TV reporter.
"Unbelievable. How'd they find out that it was me?" she asked herself.
Rouge placed a twenty onto the counter and scurried out the door.
"Turn on the gas pump, kid," said Rouge before the door shut behind her.
"Hey, she didn't even pay for the drink and honey bun. Her streak continues," said the porcupine excitedly.
Rouge hurried over to the gas pump and quickly pumped her gas. Then, she got into the car and passed Knuckles his snacks.
"Thanks, Rouge," he said.
"Whatever. Listen, we need to get out of here right now," she said.
"Why?" asked Knuckles.
"Things just got ten times harder. While I was in there, I saw our faces on TV. G.U.N.'s after us. They've already identified me. It won't be long before they know who you are," explained Rouge.
Knuckles punched the dashboard. "How'd they pick up our trail so quick?"
"I don't know, but we can't check into a hotel," said Rouge. "They'd find us out too quickly."
"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Knuckles.
"How should I know? This is your crazy scheme that you got me mixed into," said Rouge.
"So you're blaming me for G.U.N. being after us?" asked Knuckles.
"No. I'm blaming you for G.U.N. being after ME," said Rouge. "I must've been crazy to help you."
"If you want out, you can leave whenever you're ready," said Knuckles.
"Oh no. If I must go down, you're going with me, Knuckie," said Rouge.
"Are you done?" asked Knuckles.
"One more thing: I hope we share a cell," said Rouge with a sly smile.
Knuckles looked at her and smiled. No matter how much they argued, it always ended with a friendly smile and an occasional laugh.
"You seriously are batty, aren't you?" he asked.
"I was being serious, though. If we don't figure out something soon, we're going to be behind bars," said Rouge.
They were now headed into a high-class neighborhood. The houses were getting fancier and fancier as they traveled down the road. Knuckles and Rouge came upon one house with a limousine sitting in front of it.
"Stop the car!" said Knuckles.
Rouge brought the car to a halt.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Look. The guy is leaving, and it looks like he's going on a business trip," said Knuckles.
"That's a great idea, Knuckles. We'll use his house as a safety net for the night," said Rouge.
"Oh? My plan was to steal his limo and ride around in it for the night but your idea works too," said Knuckles.
Rouge placed her right hand on her forehead and shook her head. "You never change, Knuckles." She laughed out loud.
The limousine pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road. Knuckles and Rouge both glided down the hill to the front door.
"Shall we ring the doorbell?" asked Knuckles sarcastically.
"I always bring a pair of wire cutters with me in case of emergency," said Rouge as she pulled them from her heart top.
"You mean in case you're feeling jewel-hungry?" asked Knuckles.
"Same thing."
Rouge felt around for the security box. All rich people had alarm systems. They just can't do without them. This guy was no exception. Rouge opened the security box to reveal a sea of wires that all were different colors.
"Shit. This will take some time," said Rouge.
"Let me look," said Knuckles.
Knuckles took a quick glance at the configuration. "It's the red one."
Knuckles snatched the wire cutters from Rouge and hastily cut the red wire.
"No!" Rouge closed her eyes and covered her ears. After about five seconds, she opened her eyes and put her hands down. Knuckles pulled the front doorknob off the door, and they walked in. They both stared in wonder as they looked around the house after Rouge found the light switch. Knuckles put the doorknob back in place. It stayed in place.
The place was a football field. There literally could've been a stoplight installed in the living room for cars passing through. Everything in there was either gold or platinum. The chandeliers shined brightly down on their heads. Knuckles walked over to a wall panel. He pressed one button and a shark tank appeared from behind a wall. It wasn't a big, regular shark species. These were rare miniature sharks. Knuckles pressed another button and the floor started to move. Right in the middle of the living room, he had a hot tub, and it was even golden. His house could be on MTV Cribs.
"Wow! I could stay here forever," said Rouge. "I wonder if he'd consider adopting a thief."
"Only if he wants to ruin the house's property value," said Knuckles.
"Say what you want. I'll be in the hot tub. You can join me if you want," said Rouge.
Rouge stripped down to her 'bare essentials' and got comfortable in the tub.
Knuckles blushed so that he was totally red. He turned around to hide it. "Nah. I'll pass. I wonder what he got to eat up in here. I'm hungry as hell."
"Well, you don't have to leave the room to eat," said Rouge.
"Where? I don't see anything to eat," said Knuckles, looking around the room. He saw the smirk on Rouge's face and knew what she meant.
"You're sick," said Knuckles.
Rouge giggled in her sexy voice.
(A/N: If you don't know what Rouge was referring to, don't worry about it. Continue reading.)
He left the room in search of the kitchen. He looked all over the house. He looked over twenty doors. There were so many rooms in this mansion that Knuckles had gotten lost. There were doors that led to more doors, about twelve bedrooms, and the den. The den was about the size of Knuckles' house on Angel Island.
After about a half hour, Knuckles finally found the kitchen. He walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. A bright light blinded Knuckles for a second. When he could see, his lights sparkled like diamonds. The refrigerator was full of food, but the thing that really made him smile was the fresh grapes. Knuckles found a bowl from in the cabinets and started piling them into the bowl. Once he had enough, he grabbed the bowl and the bottle of wine that he had lifted from the wine cellar and walked out. It took him nearly ten minutes to find his way back to the living room. The big pile of grapes that he had in the bowls had been halved. Knuckles looked into the hot tub to see that Rouge was missing from the hot tub.
"Rouge!" he called out as he sat down on the Suede couch.
"I'm over here, Knuckie," she called from what appeared to be nowhere. Knuckles looked upon the stairs and spotted Rouge coming down. She was now wearing a stunning white silk gown.
"Why are you going through his wife's things?" asked Knuckles.
"He's not married."
"How do you know that?"
"I know businessmen. They wine and dine sexy, young girls and buy them all these expensive garments in exchange for sexual favors. Besides, do you see any pictures of his wife around the house?" Rouge explained.
"I guess you have a point there," said Knuckles.
Rouge came over to the couch and sat real close to Knuckles. Usually, he'd brush her off, but this time, he let her stay. He felt relaxed with her near him.
"Knuckles, how'd you know that the red wire was the right one?" asked Rouge.
"I didn't. Red's just my favorite color," said Knuckles.
Rouge giggled softly. "Knuckles, you are truly a great person."
"If I'm so great, why did Magic get away with Lara-Su?" he asked her.
"You didn't LET him take your daughter. It was just beyond your control. Nobody could've done any more for their child than you," said Rouge.
Rouge leaned in and tried to kiss Knuckles, but he resisted.
"What's wrong?" asked Rouge.
"Just stop the act, Rouge. We both know that the only reason that you're still with me is that you want my emerald. I see right through your ruse; so don't bother playing with my emotions," said Knuckles. He pushed her aside and walked up the stairs and into the master bedroom. He buried his face into his hands.
"You feel like a failure. You feel that if you had done things differently, things would be better. You feel like you're the cause of all the terrible things that happen to you. Right?" asked Rouge. She was standing in the doorway.
"How would you know how I feel?"
"When I was a girl around seven, my father, if he must be called that, walked out on my mother and me. When he left, he took everything but the clothes on our back. After that, we moved in with my aunt for a while, but that was short-lived because of my aunt's drug problem. My mother didn't want me around the influence; so we moved into a rundown apartment building on the lower east side of Station Square. My mother found a job cleaning up at a processing plant. She worked herself to exhaustion everyday and walked two and a half miles to get there. A few months later, my mother caught pneumonia. We were barely getting by as it was; so we couldn't afford to go to a doctor…."
Knuckles looked up at Rouge as she attempted to hold back tears. He went over to her and pulled her into an embrace.
"It's okay," said Knuckles as he hugged her. She returned the embrace.
"I was so alone," said Rouge through teary eyes. "At first, I blamed myself until I finally realized that there was nothing that I could do, but there is still something that we can do for Lara-Su. Knuckles, don't let her grow up without a father like I did."
"I won't. You have my word," said Knuckles.
Rouge gave him a kiss on the cheek. This time, he did not struggle. She worked her way around to his lips, where he gladly began to return the favor. Soon, Rouge opened her mouth and requested entrance into his. He gladly opened up and tasted her luscious lips. Having her soft body pressed up against his hard one actually felt good to both of them. Knuckles was coming out of his shirt and Rouge was getting back into her undergarments. They soon began to have a rough make out session until Rouge felt something stick her. She had to push Knuckles off, to her regret, and see what had stuck her.
"What is it?" asked Knuckles.
Rouge pulled the item from under her.
"This was poking me in a very uncomfortable place," said Rouge. She examined the item, which was a keyset. "Hey, wait a minute. These are not ordinary keys. They look like keys to safe deposit boxes. The box numbers are even written on the keys.
"Still, how do we figure out which banks hold which keys?" asked Knuckles.
"Simple. What's the only bank in Westopolis where rich people do their banking?" asked Rouge.
"Central Banking?"
"Exactly. Knuckles, I think that we've found our next move."
Took me a while, but I finally finished. If I have a major mistake in my writing, send me a PM. This laptop can act funny at times and place my typing icon in weird places. I would say more, but I have a chemistry test to study for. Please review!
ICY KNUCKLES