Chapter 3

James' POV

It's amazing how massive space is, but at the moment I was more concerned on how big this ship was. From what Rouge showed me on the map, the ship was about as the size of a blue whale. I was a tad worried about us getting caught, but the information Rouge had printed out showed there were only 5 people running the ship, 7 if you counted us. The map showed the ship was powered by the almighty Master Emerald. The Master Emerald is a massive green jewel, the size of a beach ball. Its powers are limitless, but also next to impossible to use unless you're Knuckles the Echidna. He was the only one who was known to have been taught the ancient chant needed to awaken the large rock's power. I guessed from the fact that the aliens had said they only captured me and Rouge, that they knew it as well. Rouge had told me by the looks of all these charts, we were light years away from Earth and there was only two ways we could get back, either get the ship to turn around, or use Chaos Control. Seeing as we didn't know much about the aliens or their technology, we decided Chaos Control would be the best option.

Rouge put the map down and spread it out to show me her plan. Her plan was simple, or so she said. We were five rooms away from were the Master Emerald was stored. We had no way of knowing if the aliens would be in the rooms between us, so we needed to find a way to sneak through. The vent was an option, but it would only get us to the room just before the Master Emerald chamber. We decided it would probably be guarded by two of the aliens, so we'd need a decoy. Rouge said we'd decide on that once we got there. We sat down and went over the plan a few times and it was soon simple for me to follow.

"You know, you remind me of someone I know" she said smiling at me. I grinned.

"Someone you like I hope?" I asked playfully. She giggled and nodded. She seemed to be quite friendly and truly familiar. Rouge the bat. Then it occurred to me. "Do you know Eggman Robotnik?" I asked her urgently. She blinked and nodded.

"I used to work for him, why?" she asked me curiously. I knew it. She was the same Rouge the treasure hunter who had helped the doctor escape from the ARK a few years ago when it was crashing towards the Earth. I nodded to her.

"Do you know where the doctor is now?" I asked her. She shook her head. I sighed "Thanks anyway."

"How do you know the doctor?" she asked curiously. I explained to her my past with the doctor. She nodded after my explanation and told me she would help me find the doctor once we returned to Earth. I smiled and nodded. I looked at her with a smile.

"Thank you" I said sincerely. I looked at her and our eyes met for a moment. She giggled and I chuckled as we climbed back into the vent, she again insisted I go first. I got us through to the room before the Master Emerald and to our surprise, it was much larger then we had planned and the guard was much more then we gave it credit for. It was a massive blue and green creature that looked like a huge dragon. Rouge looked scared. I decided then and there I wasn't going to let her get hurt, so I told her to stay and jumped down. The massive creature looked down at me and growled as I unzipped my gloves and reached in to them for my greatest weapon.

Jenn's POV

Shadow finally calmed down after much soothing and fell into a deep sleep. I silently got up and moved towards the door, quietly unlocking it. I then turned to check, making sure he was still asleep and then opened the door, quietly slipping out. I decided to go back and take his gun, holding it secret agent style, slipping back out.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard a loud crashing and heard a booming voice calling my name, "JENNIFER THE HEDGEHOG! GET YOUR BEHIND BACK HERE RIGHT NOW! AND GIVE ME MY GUN!" I gulped and sighed, making my way back up the stairs and walked into the room, handing his gun back and sat back on the bed, "Sorry…" He glared daggers at me.

"Try that stunt again and you're head will be all over that wall" he snarled, grabbing his gun out of my hands. I bit my lip, looking down at my bed.

"I'm sorry Mr. Shadow, I'll never ever do it again…I promise…" I looked up at him. Shadow mouth twitched for a moment and then broke into a small smile.

"Don't let it happen again. Now get to bed before I change my mind" he said, taking a seat back down on the bed. I laid down, watching Shadow out of the corner of my eye, placing one of my hands on his, pretending like nothing happened.

"It won't ever happen again" I promised, a small smirk on my face. Shadow was about to say something, when we heard Sonic again.

"Oooooooooooooooo, Shadow's got a girlfriend" he said from the window. Shadow held his breathe and pulled the window shut, returning to his seat beside me and held my hand.

"You just be good okay?" he said sweetly, almost seductively. I bit my lip, a deep blush spreading across my cheeks.

"Oh, okay. I will Mr. Shadow, but why do I have to stay in my room?" He smirked.

"To make it easier for me to keep an eye on your beautiful body" he said playfully. I blushed even more at his comment.

"Oh stop it. Your making me blush…" I looked away from him, covering my face with my hands. Suddenly I felt him press his lips against my cheek and I turned my head towards him, biting my lip, "What…what was that for?" He looked into my eyes and smiled sweetly.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said in a seductive voice and before I could respond, he pressed his lips against mine. I slowly closed my eyes, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissed him back, a blush still firm on my cheeks. I felt him slide his arms around me, his lips gentle but firm against mine. I heard a sound come from the window and could tell it was Sonic pressing his face against the window trying to get a better look.

"Give me a second Shadow…" I muttered, moving over to the window and closed the blind, sitting back down on the bed. "Now, where were we?" He came over and lied me on the bed and rubbed my sides "Oh, I remember" he said, purring as he kissed me softly.

James' POV

It was my favorite way to win a fight I other wise had no chance at. I had pulled out a small purple ball and tossed at the ground. It burst into smoke and the chemicals in it mixed with my fur. When the smoke cleared up, I could hear Rouge burst out in laughter from up above. The beast itself was holding in a laugh of its own. The chemicals in the smoke had puffed up my fur and changed the color which made me look like a giant banana with arms, legs and a face. I pulled out a pair of maracas and held them over my head. I spread out my legs and started bending my knees and straightening them back out, making my upper body bounce up and down and I started to chant.

"PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME! HEY YA! HEY YA! PEANUT BUTTER JELLY WITH A BASEBALL BAT! PEANUT BUTTER WITH A BASEBALL BAT!" This act I used only when I knew I had no chance of winning a fight. The beast was now on its back, laughing uncontrollably. Rouge jumped down still laughing and put a hand on my back to calm herself down.

"That… was amazing" she managed to say. I pulled out a small vile and drank it. The contents returned my fur to its former glory. After much effort, we finally managed to squeeze past the massive monster and get to the Master Emerald room. We entered the room and it was one of the greatest things we had ever seen. It was a massive coliseum of gold. The alter in the middle of the room held the Master Emerald with a large tablet behind it that had ancient text written on it. Rouge flew up to it, with me behind her. She read the text out loud and the Emerald began to glow brightly. I touched it and felt its power. I looked up at Rouge and she flew down and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind me.

"Chaos… CONTROL!" I shouted. Suddenly we vanished from the room with the Master Emerald.

I don't know what happened to the ship out in space, all I know is Rouge and I had made it back to Angel Island, a floating paradise in the sky. We lay beside each other in the grass, arms and legs spread looking up at the sky as we tried to catch our breath. We looked at each other, our eyes meeting. I smiled and she smiled back. I got up and lent her my hand. I helped her up and she hugged me.

"Thanks for your help" she said sweetly. I nodded.

"Any time" I said smiling. She giggled and looked over the edge of the island.

"Think you could get us back down to Earth? Maybe your place?" she asked. I nodded and grabbed her arm. I warped her to my 'house' and after a few moments, she lept into the air flew off after we said fair well. I went into the house and sat down. I pulled out my piece of rubble and went back to work. The piece was now half a set of dominos.

Jenn's POV

"That was very unprofessional of me. But then again, emotions are more important than profession" Shadow grinned, holding me close to him, trying to catch his breath. I stared up at him lovingly as I snuggled closer to him and sighed happily.

"So…what do we do now? Do we just wait?" He glanced down at me.

"Unless you have any other ideas. We're basically stuck here until those aliens decide to show up." I turned my attention to the door way, seeing an eye peeking in through the crack, not knowing who it was. Shadow slowly turned and looked in the direction I was, "Oh" was all he said as he pulled the blankets over us, trying to hide anything he possibly could, "You saw nothing…" he glared at Cream who was the person in the doorway.

"W…What were you two doing to each other…?" she said, her face white as a ghost as she began shaking in shock.

"We were umm…hugging each other in a special way that only older people can do…" I smiled innocently.

"Uh, yea… hugging. What were you doing spying on us anyways?" Shadow glared, holding me closer. Cream rubbed her eyes, glancing away from us.

"I was coming to check on you guys and the door was open so I peeked in, but when I saw I couldn't stop staring…" I looked up at Shadow, then back at Cream.

"Uh Shadow. How old is Cream exactly?" My eye twitched.

"She's six years old. Now Cream, don't tell anybody about this. Understand?" Shadow replied.

"What do you mean she's only six? Why doesn't anyone tell me about these things? And why was the door unlocked?" I exclaimed, covering my face.

"But, why?" Cream asked shyly, kicking the ground innocently. "Shouldn't I be telling people you love each other?"

"Uh. No, no and NO! This is to be kept a secret. Got it?" he growled, burying his face in my fur. Cream looked down, then back up at Shadow.

"Yes sir. But can I ask you a question?" she blushed. Shadow raised a brow at her.

"What is it?" he glared, watching her every movement.

"When do I get to do that?" Cream answered sheepishly.

"Uh…" Shadow turned to look at me for guidance, "Jenn?"

"When you're older Cream, when you're older…" I replied, sighing as I flicked Shadow's ear.

"But how much older?" she asked again, an innocent look on her face.

"I'll tell you when it's time Cream. Now please go home to your mommy and don't tell anyone about this 'kay?" I smiled.

"Alright. I'll go home" Cream replied, turning to leave. Five minutes later I heard her shout from outside, "HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT GUYS! JENN AND SHADOW WERE HUGGING EACH OTHER IN A 'SPECIAL' WAY!" Shadow snarled loudly, trying to get out of the bed.

"That little…I'm going to get her for this!" he growled. Luckily I caught him before he did anything drastic and pulled him back into the bed.

"Now, now Shadow…calm down and relax…" I muttered, holding him closely.