Chaos Controller15: Alright, happy Valentine's Day! It's time to see what happens with the cliffhanger from last chapter. Are you ready? Let's go! I don't own any of the characters and/or games I used.
Shadow clenched his gun in hand. His mind was made up. His finger fell onto the trigger. "Happy Valentine's Day, Knux. Goodbye."
Knuckles realized he was for real. Shadow pulled the trigger.
With a boom, the red echidna's body fell lifeless to the floor. It was the end. Shadow couldn't help but smirk a little. "Nice knowing you." He threw the gun down and ran out of his house.
He ran straight for Rouge's house. One thought was in his mind. Should he tell her what he did? Maybe then she'd need comforting from him. He'd be more then happy to provide that.
He was right at her door again. He took pleasure in slowly knocking, more then happy to wait a few seconds for the bat to answer. But suddenly an unbelievable force hit him in the side and sent him flying down the street.
He shook whatever hit him off and opened his eyes to see what hit him. There, towering over him was the one thing that didn't make sense. It was Knuckles. He didn't look like he'd taken a scratch even. Strange, cause Shadow as sure he just shot him.
"What the... How the f(censored) are you alive? I killed you!"
"Not really."
Shadow as bewildered. He slapped himself in the face. "Ow! Not dreaming. Gotta be a hallucination." He said, then felt his side.
There was pain. "Not a hallucination."
"Don't you get it, I'm alive?"
"How? I shot you!"
"Actually, you didn't."
"Well then what did happen?"
"Your bullet missed." Knuckles explained calmly.
"Well then, what happened? I had my gun aimed right at your head. You dropped dead!"
"I fainted. My body dropped just before you shot and so the bullet missed." Knuckles explained.
Shadow threw a punch at Knuckles. He dodged. The two began wrestling around on somebody's yard.
Meanwhile. Rouge opened her door again. "Hello?" She smiled.
Her eyebrow dropped. "Anyone?"
"Nope. Again? That's the second time this has happened to me today." She shrugged and shut her door.
Knuckles and Shadow were still at their street fight, throwing punches and kicks left and right. None of them were hitting, though. Finally. Shadow caught Knuckles off guard and made break for it. A chase began as Knuckles followed after him.
They ran into the city. Shadow ran into a sign and fell down. Knuckles wound his arm up behind him. He launched the massive punch, but missed as Shadow got up. The hedgehog tripped Knuckles and ran off. The echidna got up and found Shadow's trail. Shadow ran right into a mall. Knuckles barged in after him.
Shadow ran into the coffee ship. "Anything. I'm really thirsty right now."
The shopkeeper eyed him strangely. "Uh... OK. Here you go! Fresh roast."
Shadow nodded, paid and ran out. He saw Knuckles at the front door looking for him. "Here knucklehead, catch!" Shadow tossed the paper cup on him.
Knuckles only saw it at the last second. He caught it, but squeezed it too hard. The cap blew off and hot coffee spewed out all over him. "Ah, it burns!" Knuckles charged at Shadow, shaking off the drink while doing so.
Shadow dodged easily and ran into the video game store. The hedgehog was distracted when a certain game caught his eye. "Sonic Free Riders! I've been wanting to buy this game." Shadow picked it up.
He casually walked into the line with one person in front of him. That's when he noticed Knuckles running in. "Damn it I forgot." He said and threw the game backwards.
"Hey wait, is that Sonic Free Riders?" Knuckles asked.
Shadow nodded. "Yay! Let's try it!"
"Uh... Cool."
Shadow noticed an Xbox 360 and a TV screen in the back of the store where he could demo different games. "Do you mind?" Shadow asked, pointing at the plastic case that protected the Xbox 360 console from being stolen.
Knuckles bashed it and Shadow lifted it off. He opened up the console and inserted the disc. There was a Kinect sensor below the TV screen that recognized the two animals instantly. The game started up and Shadow brought the game to the multiplayer screen. They each selected themselves and the race began. "Hey, how about a deal?" Shadow said as he selected a track.
"What kind of deal?" Knuckles asked.
"Whoever wins gets Rouge with no argument."
"You're on!" Knuckles exclaimed.
Now the challenge was really heating up. The race started. At the beginning, Shadow and Knuckles had their share of fails as they got used to the controls and motions to the game. After the first lap, everything was ironed out.
Going into the fourth and final lap, it was a good race. Knuckles was in the lead, but just barely. Shadow got a powerup and hit Knuckles with it. He took the lead. "There we go!"
The finish line just got into their sites. They laid eyes on it, Knuckles just behind Shadow. Just then, the employee at the store realized what was going on. "Hey! What are you doing over there! You can't just take the console like that!"
The man ran over and shut the console off. "No! You! How could you! I was about to win!" Shadow snapped.
"I don't care. You can't just take that cover off just to play whatever game you want. That's for demos only!"
"But there were high stakes!" Knuckles growled.
"Who cares? Buy the game and play it at your own home!" The man yelled, "Now scram! Get the heck out of here!"
Shadow and Knuckles retreated out of the shop. Shadow made a break for the exit of the mall, but Knuckle stripped him up. On the ground, Knuckles was ready to pick Shadow up, but the hedgehog got away. "See you elsewhere." Shadow ran out of the mall.
Knuckles punched the door off its hinges and followed. He found Shadow on his way to Rouge's house. Right before Shadow could ring the doorbell or knock on the door, he threw himself right into him. Shadow slammed off the door and then fell down. One of the hinges was knocked loose on the impact.
Shadow rolled over and Knuckles charged at him. The hedgehog got up, and ran quickly out of the neighborhood. Soon after, he felt a sharp pain in his side and fell down.
Knuckles began searching for him, but wasn't having much luck.
Rouge heard the big bang on her door and got up. "Now what?" She asked.
"Please tell me this is something good." She said.
She opened her door. The second hinge fell off and the door collapsed right in front of her. "Yeah that was good all right. Who the hell did that?" She asked, furious.
"I will so sue whoever knocked my door off, especially if it's just some pranker who's just doing it for a reaction to put online. Ooh, I'll get you. Whoever you are."
Rouge marched into her living room to make a quick phone call. Meanwhile, Shadow had led Knuckled into his house again. "All right, how about a deal?" Shadow asked.
"Like?"
"We each get to spend fifteen minutes alone with her at her house. Somehow she'll choose who she likes more afterwards. We'll leave it in her hands. How about it?" Shadow proposed.
"Sounds like a plan. Besides, my charm is way too much for whatever you'll do."
"We'll just see about that. Coin flip to see who goes first?" Shadow questioned.
"Sure." Knuckles agreed.
Shadow brought out a coin and allowed Knuckles to call it. He said heads. Shadow threw it in the air. It landed on tails. "Ha. My decision. I say I'll go first. Set the high bar for you."
"Whatever. Your fifteen minutes start now." Knuckles said.
Shadow dashed for Rouge's house. It hit him. Where was the heart shaped box of chocolates. The bushes. He scrambled around in the bushes in hunt of it. Inside the house, Rouge heard it and ran out. "Aha!" She shouted, pointing, "I caught you this time. No way you're breaking into my house."
She saw the bush rustling and ran back into her house. She brought out her golf club and whacked the bushes.
Whatever was inside yelped in pain. She ran back into her house and came out with a pot this time. Again, there was a loud yelp from inside the bushes. She ran into her house and brought out her plunger. "Aha! Now I've got you." She stuck the plunger into the bush.
She felt the suction catch something and pulled back. All that returned was the staff of the plunger. "Damn it. Big guy, aren't you."
She heard the creature inside the bush plead for her to stop, but ignored it and brought out her fishing rod. She threw it into the bush and got something. She reeled it in. Slowly a tail poked out. It was redder then anything she'd ever seen. As she kept reeling she realized it was a hedgehog. When it was completely out, she saw exactly who it was. "Shadow?"
"What were you doing?" He snapped at her.
"I am so sorry. I thought you were trying to break into my house."
"No, I just came over to say hello."
"Then what were you doing in my bushes?" Rouge questioned.
"H-happy Valent-tine's Day, Rouge." He handed her the box.
"Aww, Shadow you didn't have to, thank you." Shadow detected a slight blush on her part.
"Wow, I didn't notice that?" Shadow asked, trying to sound oblivious to what really happened.
Rouge sat down on her couch. Shadow sat on the recliner next to it. Rouge began to explain the strange going-ons. "It's been weird. All day I've been receiving knocks on my door, but nobody has answered it. Then, there was a loud BANG and it collapsed. I was trying to figure out if it was a prankster shooting a video."
"Hmm, that is strange. Well, I definitely haven't seen anything. I'd be the first to let you know." Shadow said firmly.
"Alright, I still wonder though. But anyways, what brought you here?" She asked.
"Um, well. I don't know. It is Valentine's Day, so, you know. I wanted to do something special."
"Really? You consider coming to my place special?"
"Of course. I always enjoy the times we spend together."
"That's so sweet of you Shadow. It lightens the strange day I've been having."
Shadow moved to the couch with Rouge. He quickly glanced at the clock. He still had 10 minutes to try to get her. "Are you hungry?" Rouge asked.
"Actually, I am a little bit."
"OK. One minute, let me fix us up a quick meal."
Rouge disappeared into her kitchen. She came back less then five minutes later. "Wow, this smells great. What is it?" Shadow asked.
"It's leftover chicken. I threw the jalapenos in to add some spice. I hope you don't mind."
"No, I like spicy food. I can handle anything!" Shadow boasted.
"All right, hopefully you can cause I put a lot in."
The two began eating the meal together. Within five bites Shadow was sweating profusely. He hadn't eaten anything that spicy in a while. He took his napkin and pretended to wipe his clean face, but then secretly wiped all the sweat off of his forehead. When Shadow leaned in for his next bite, Rouge felt something fall on her hand.
"Shadow, are you sweating?" She asked.
"No, not at all." Shadow lied.
"Are you sure it's not too hot for you?" She questioned.
"Yeah. It's just barely getting there. If you had a drink that would be great before it gets too bad." Shadow blurted out in almost a frantic pace.
"Uh, sure. Just let me know if you can't eat it." Rouge said and brought Shadow a bottle of water.
"Ah thanks."
Shadow took a quick gulp and then went in for another bite. As hot as it was, he was not about to be the wimp. One of the jalapenos fell off of his fork and onto his hand. He shrugged and stuffed it into his mouth. "Best part." He said with a smile.
"Shadow, I wanted to ask you something." Rouge said.
"Go ahead. I'm ready." Shadow said, secretly wiping some sweat away while Rouge shifted uncomfortably.
What was she going to ask him? "I don't know. You just... You're acting strange today. Since you've come in you haven't stopped talking my ear off. I'm used to you being quiet and to yourself and obviously not being so frank about enjoying 'all the times we spend together.' What's gotten into you?" She asked.
"N-nothing." He stuttered.
"Come on, something's going on inside that head of yours? Tell me, what is it?" Rouge argued.
Shadow was stuck in a battle he couldn't win. He sighed. "Well... Whatever, you win. Fine. It's just... Um... Whatever, I'm just gonna come clean and hope I don't sound like an idiot. I..." Shadow shook his head, "I love you, Rouge." Once the words were out it was a relief.
Yet he still held his breath. What might she think? She stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. The chicken dinner fell to the floor.
Meanwhile, back at Shadow's house, Knuckles was sitting in front of the hedgehog's computer. He was typing in a bunch of codes of some sort. "Come on, please work." He said, pressing the enter button.
The screen lit up with the image of Rouge's living room. "Yes! That's right!" He had hacked into her security system.
Knuckles celebrated as he kicked back to watch the show. "So, how's he screwing this thing up now?"
There wasn't sound and so he couldn't hear anything. They were just sitting there, seemingly frozen. Knuckles was starting to wonder why.
Finally, Rouge began to lean herself towards Shadow very slowly. Knuckles chuckled. "Come on Rouge! Beat him up, knock him down!" He chanted as he watched.
He was hoping she'd headbutt him, or kick or punch him. Or maybe even a good old fashioned slap to the face. That'd certainly work.
"Beat him up! Knock him down!" Knuckles continued to chant as Rouge got even closer until the two bodies on the screen touched.
Knuckles chuckled in victory. "There you go Rouge!" He cheered.
Then it hit him. "Holy crap they're kissing! No! No!" He continued to watch, but the cheering stopped instantly.
Back to the house, Shadow was the most surprised hedgehog in the house. Rouge actually did have feelings back for him after all, didn't she? He never thought he'd have the confidence to do anything he was doing, yet he was being rewarded handsomely by a kiss with the girl of his dreams. The rogue, treasure-hunting bat was all his. Knuckles wouldn't be able to even come close to topping the performance.
When the kiss ended, it felt like it lasted forever yet that it ended too soon at the same time. Rouge touched her cheek. She was warm throughout her entire body after the kiss. She liked the feeling and wanted more of it. She looked at Shadow for a second to make sure he enjoyed it.
He was out of it. The irises just weren't there and his mouth was hanging open. "Shadow?" She said quietly.
He didn't flinch. "Shadow." She said more seriously.
Still nothing. "Whatever. You asked for it." The bat reared back and slapped Shadow full on.
In the hedgehog's house, a certain echidna was enjoying the show. "Oh! Yeah! That's right! Nice work Rouge!" He cheered.
Shadow shook his head and stared at Rouge. "Come on Shads, lose your temper and start a fight now. You can do it." Knuckles quietly begged of Shadow.
Back to the house, Shadow touched the cheek. It was warm from both the kiss and the slap. He shook his head a second time. "Thanks. I needed that." He said.
Rouge giggled. "Come ere you!" She tackled Shadow and laid of top of him, leaning her head in for a second kiss.
Shadow wasn't about to resist. Instead he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Once more, let's go to Shadow's house where Knuckles was beginning to get furious with the events going on the screen. "No damn it! What the hell is wrong with him? Or her for that matter! Kick him out! Oh wait," Knuckles said in a much lighter tone, "On second thought, his time is up. Guess I'll get the pleasure of kicking him out myself." Knuckles cracked those big knuckles of his.
"Time to crash this party." He rubbed his hands together and ran out towards her house.
He got to the house. Being the door was open, he walked right in. When he got into the living room he pretended to be as stunned as he could. Both of them were enjoying themselves too much to open their eyes and recognize the intruder. They continued to make out until Knuckles finally said something. "Whoa. Is this a bad time?" He asked innocently.
"Ah! What?" Rouge shrieked and looked up.
"Oh. Knuckles. You scared me. What are you doing here?"
Shadow, now barely able to hear after having the bat shriek in his ear, looked up as well. When he saw who it was he scowled.
Knuckles put his hands up in defense. "I am so sorry. I had no idea." He lied.
Shadow just got even angrier. He knew it wasn't a mistake. He knew exactly why Knuckles was there. His fifteen minutes were up.
"Um. Should I leave?" Knuckles asked.
"What?" Shadow asked, trying to hear again.
"Should I leave and come back later" Knuckles repeated, much louder.
"Oh. Yes, that wouldn't be a bad idea as-" Rouge cut him off halfway through.
"No. Come on in. What do you need?" Rouge asked in recovery after being caught.
"Not much. I just came to say hello, you know." Knuckles said while eyeing Shadow.
Shadow wanted to argue, but didn't want Rouge to know that he was fighting with Knuckles over her. So he just stood up. "Oh crap. Sorry guys, I'd love to stay with you, but I've got to go beat Sonic on the lanes in a game of bowling. See you." He leaned down to whisper into Rouge's ear, "Thanks. Happy Valentine's."
This, no doubt, ticked Knuckles off, but the echidna kept his cool for the moment and let Shadow leave. "Bye!" Rouge called out.
Shadow left and ran off for his house. Once he got there he saw the computer sitting on his couch. He picked it up, finding it strange. He didn't leave it there earlier. When he looked at the screen he knew what it was. "Ah, so this is what he was up to. It'd also explain his 'impeccable' timing, walking in on us at just the wrong moment." Shadow grinned evilly, "This is gonna be good."
Back at Rouge's house, Knuckles sat down on the couch. "All right. Well, I'm sorry I walked in on you like that. I should've knocked on the wall or something."
"Oh." Rouge shifted in her seat, "Yeah. Sorry about that. I wasn't expecting anyone. Uh. Sorry." She blushed, hoping Knuckles would drop the topic.
"No, my fault. Anyways, do you know why your door isn't there?" He asked, though he knew what really happened.
"No. Did you knock too hard earlier today?"
"No. I haven't been over until just now."
Rouge shrugged. Before he could say anything else, something wafted into his nose. It was a good smell. He sniffed for it. "Mm, are you cooking Rouge? It smells great."
"No."
Knuckles took another sniff. What was it? It seemed like it was coming from below him. He looked down. "Somebody dropped the chicken dinner." He said.
Rouge looked down as well. Sure enough, the plastic container was laying on the ground with cooked chicken scattered nearby on the floor. "Oops, I don't remember that happening." Rouge said and picked it up.
The bat cleaned up the small mess and then sat down with Knuckles.
Back at his house, Shadow was watching everything. "All right. Hopefully Knucklehead says something wrong here. That'd be great."
At Rouge's house, Knuckles was ready to speak up. "So, are you doing anything good for Valentine's Day today?" Knuckles asked.
Rouge shook her head. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that at all. It's nice to relax sometimes."
"What brought you here Knux? There has to be some reason." Rouge said.
Knuckles froze. He knew that if he didn't speak up about the true reason he was there Rouge would get suspicious, yet he didn't want to just ruin the moment either. "Knuckles? You okay?" Rouge asked.
Knuckles sighed. It was his moment. "Yeah, just fine. Do you mind if I... Show you something I thought you might like." Knuckles said sheepishly.
He didn't mean for it to come out that way. "O...k..." Rouge answered.
"Wait one moment. I'll be right back."
Rouge had no idea what was going on, but back at Shadow's house, the hedgehog was having the time of his life. "Yes! She kicked him out!"
Then, within minutes, the echidna stepped back in. "No! What happened?"
At Rouge's place, Knuckles was holding the jewelry case behind his back. "Well, Rouge. I just wanted to come over and say hi and all that. But more importantly, I wanted to say that I," Knuckles gulped, "I love you." He held out the jewelry case in front of her.
He was filled with confidence at that point. He was sure she'd like that. The hard part was admitting his feelings.
Rouge took it and opened it. Inside there was, "Knuckles. Is this a joke?" Rouge turned the box.
Nothing was in it. The echidna flushed. "Damn it. He wouldn't dare." He scowled as he looked around. Then her moved his hand and heard a clanking sound.
"Huh?" Rouge asked.
"No, never mind. It was a joke. Here you go, Rouge."
Knuckles brought the bat's arm out in front of her and placed the jewelry in it. He sighed in relief when she looked at it.
Right away her eyes sparkled. "Wow, it's beautiful Knuckles. You know you didn't have to. This must have cost you a fortune."
"No, not a big deal. Not for you at least." Knuckles smiled, proud of himself.
"Wait a minute. Knuckles. Does this have anything to do with Shadow? And the incident?" Rouge suddenly asked.
Knuckles thought for a moment. "Uh. No, not at all. It's all coincidence that I saw you and Shadow. I just thought because it was Valentine's Day what better time? Right?"
"All right." Rouge put the sapphire necklace on.
She pounced on Knuckles now and planted a kiss on his lips. This multiplied into many more. Knuckles took his mouth away for a quick second. "How about we take this somewhere... More private, you know, just to make sure." He suggested.
Rouge agreed and the two stood up.
At Shadow's house, the hedgehog was shouting, and cursing, at the computer in his lap. "Damn it! Come on Rouge! How could you just turn your back on me like that! This is insane! You crazy. Wait, what the hell is he doing?" Shadow asked as he watched Knuckles reach down behind Rouge's back.
The bat was blocking his view so he had no clue what was going on. The next thing he knew the screen went black. "You've got to be kidding me!" He roared, "That... That... Whatever he is! He's laying his hands on my woman! And now he cut the camera!" Shadow picked up the laptop and got up.
He threw it down, instantly breaking it in his rage. "The nerve of that guy. He's going to pay." He ran out of his house.
He got to Rouge's right away. Without hesitating he ran in. They were nowhere to be seen. He ran around Rouge's house. The last room he checked, Rouge's bedroom, had its door closed. "Knuckles! Where are you. Come out! I need to fu..." Shadow trailed off, not wanting to alert Rouge, "I need to see you quickly."
Inside the bedroom, Rouge broke away. "That sounds like Shadow. One minute." Rouge got up and found him right outside her door.
"Hey. What are you doing here?"
"I... Uh, I just came to ask Shadow if he wanted to come play bowling with Sonic and me. But, I can see you're busy." Shadow looked behind Rouge even though she was attempting to block his view, "Hey! Is that Knuckles on your bed?" Shadow asked sternly.
Knuckles popped up off the bed. "Bowling? Sure, I'll come play bowling with you guys!" Knuckles said and approached Shadow.
Shadow smiled. "Great! Let's go!"
Before Rouge could speak up, they were out the door. Rouge stood there. "Ah, I get it. It's too much too even invite the girl you love to a game of bowling." Rouge smirked and shook her head.
Shadow and Knuckles ran out of Rouge's sight. "I'll play bowling. I'm gonna bowl you over!" Knuckles growled and threw his body at him.
He missed and went rolling around on the ground. He got up and resumed chase. The two chased each other into a restaurant. Knuckles again tried to ram Shadow. The hedgehog ducked and Knuckles landed in somebody's lasagna. "Come on man! And that was good lasagna!"
"Sorry, but I've got bigger problems." Knuckles said as he spotted Shadow making his way to the exit.
The echidna was able to cut him off. Growling, Shadow ran in the kitchen. Knuckles chased after him. He saw his enemy at the end of the room. He avoided the first chef, but then saw a plate of grapes on the counter. He picked one up and ate it. "Yum!" he picked some more out.
"Hey! What are you doing?" One of the chefs asked.
While this was happening, Knuckles noticed a black blur blow by him. "Sorry guys. Gotta go." He took the rest of the grapes with him and ran after Shadow.
The hedgehog stumbled and fell to the ground. Knuckles was able to gain ground, but Shadow got up and turned around. Knuckles followed him into a casino.
"Got you!" Knuckles said and lunged at Shadow.
He was able to just tip the hedgehog, but it wasn't enough to make him lose his balance. Knuckles fell and rolled around a little. He bumped into a poker table. It was enough force that all of the chips shifted to a particular crocodile. "Hey! Thanks Knux!" Vector smiled, "I think I'll cash in now."
"Anytime." Knuckles said and got up.
He looked around. At another poker table, he saw quills identical to that of Shadow's. "You're dead hedgehog." He pulled his arm back and slung it forward.
He crashed the back of the guy's head. The dealer looked behind him. "You aren't Shadow." Knuckles realized his mistake.
The dealer picked up a bunch of chips and threw them at Knuckles. "Ow. Sorry, it was an accident. I swear." Knuckles said.
Then he noticed Shadow out the corner of his eye. Shadow ran right into Knuckles, taking him to the ground. "No fair. I was distracted."
"All is fair in war." Shadow responded.
"Now she's mine!" The hedgehog taunted and ran out.
"No you don't!" Knuckles followed again.
The chase resumed. Knuckles found Shadow and in desperation laid out in attempt to trip him. He just barely made it, but he wrapped his hands around Shadow's legs. Both of them were on the ground. Knuckles was the first to get up. "Say goodnight." Knuckles chucked and threw a punch.
It missed. "Not today!" Shadow said, running away.
Knuckles cursed and chased Shadow into a football stadium. They got to the middle of the field and stopped.
"Hey, didn't they say they were blowing this stadium up?" Knuckles asked Shadow.
"Yeah, today." Shadow answered casually.
"Today?" They both shouted.
Just then they heard a countdown. "3..."
"Ahhhhh!" They began screaming.
"2..."
"Nooo!" They continued.
"1..."
"We're gonna die!" It started small, but then a huge explosion came in.
It propelled them into the air. They began to wonder why they didn't just run, but it was too late at that point. Up at their peak, Shadow turned to Knuckles. "This seems like a fitting end. Good war, man, good war." The black and red hedgehog said.
"Yeah, I agree. You, too. It was fun. We'll go out together." They shook hands.
As they started descending, Knuckles noticed something. "Hey, that's Rouge's house, isn't it?" He pointed.
"Hey, yeah. Look at that!" Shadow remarked.
The two sudden friends approached the ground at a rapid pace. "Goodbye pal." Shadow said.
"Goodbye. Life was good."
"Yeah." Shadow agreed.
They hit the ground hard. The ground shook slightly from the impact. They rolled around a while until finally coming to a halt. Knuckles felt the ground. He opened his eyes. "I'm alive!" He screamed in joy, throwing his hands into the air.
"Hey. Shadow." He said, shaking the hedgehog's body.
"Y-yeah? Wait. I'm alive! Holy crap I'm alive!"
"I know isn't it great?" Knuckles said and threw his hands up.
It was a miracle. The two embraced for what seemed like hours. Then they looked up into the setting sun. They happened to be in Rouge's neighborhood. Right up the road, they saw the bat herself. But she was kissing Sonic!
The speedy blue hero had his arms wrapped around her waist while Rouge's arms were around Sonic's neck.
"!" Knuckles and Shadow shouted in unison.
Everything seemed to go into slow motion until the end of the kiss. When it was over, things resumed. Rouge licked her lips. "Thanks Sonic. I think we got em good." She smiled.
"Yeah, me too. You gonna tell them?"
"No, I'll let them fight over me a while longer." She walked back to their house.
Knuckles put his hands on Shadow's shoulder. "This is your fault!" Knuckles said.
"No, you're fault!" Shadow retorted.
"Come on, you are so full of it!" Knuckles said.
"No I'm not! You're the one who made her suspicious going right after me." Shadow argued.
"But you screwed up and creeped her out in the first place." Knuckles snapped.
"I did not! She was feeling me!"
"Oh yeah that's right. You're the one who scared wits out of getting caught kissing."
"But you did that on purpose!"
"You still could've gone into the bedroom like I did." Knuckles said.
"Wait a minute. Why are we arguing amongst ourselves?" Shadow wondered aloud.
"Because it's your fault and you won't just accept it. Why?" Knuckles asked.
"Well, what are we doing? We're the idiots." Shadow stated.
"Huh? You are!" Knuckles snapped angrily.
"No, enough." Shadow looked up at Sonic who was still standing there, "You know what I'm thinking?" Shadow asked.
"No. What?" Knuckles asked curiously.
"Let's get him!" He shouted, eying Sonic.
Knuckles grinned. "Good idea!" They helped each other up, never taking their glares off of Sonic.
The blue hedgehog gulped.
Chaos Controller15: Well, there you have it. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This story took a lot of effort, but it was fun and enjoyed every minute of writing it. I hope you had just as a good a time reading it. This is the longest single chapter or story I've ever written and am pretty happy with how it turned out. Well, once again, Happy Valentine's Day. See you next time.