CHAPTER 3: In search for a Partner and a Career
Helllllllooooo Again my friends! I'm back with another chapter right here!
After gaining back her composure, rubbing her teary eyes and her breathing back to normal, Rouge calmly stepped out of her shower. If there was one good thing about Rouge instead of her beauty and singing, and acting talents, it would be controlling her emotions quickly. She draped herself in a towel and exited her personal bathing room.
After getting dressed in her nightgown and reattaching her make-up, she quickly put on her robe and left her trailer, checking if it was clear. She started to run quietly, past the other trailers of her costume designers, producers, and cosmeticians, and headed down the silent aisles of vehicles. She slowly walked past the motor homes, reading each name until she got to the trailer and name she wanted: Tikal Echidna.
Rouge knocked on the door, waiting for her agent to answer. The door finally opened, showing a young orange, female echidna dressed in a blue, white and green night gown with a blue eye-mask on her fore-head that replaced where her every-day crown like headband was.
"Miss Rouge? Why are you up so late? It's past midnight already. You can get your skin wrinkled by taking such risk."
"Right now, I don't care. I need to talk about something Tikal." Rouge responded strictly.
"Oh yes. Oh coarse. Come in." Tikal opened the door wide enough for her partner to come in. "So what would you like to discuss with me?" she asked politely, closing the door behind her.
Rouge sighed in relief, happy to finally tell someone about her stress. "Well---" she began. "It's about Knuckles..."
- - - - -
"He cheated on you!?" Tikal had a shocked expression on her face, not expecting Knuckles to do such a thing.
Rouge nodded sadly crossing her arms. "Can you just believe that?"
Tikal slowly shook her head with shock still written on her face. Of coarse she had feelings for Knuckles, and like any other girl who'd have a crush on a guy who was already taken, would be happy if he split up with his girlfriend so they could get a chance. But Tikal wasn't like that and felt the complete opposite.
There was a short pause.
"I'm sorry about this." Tikal showed her courtesy.
Rouge groaned. "Yeah well, I came here to tell you that, and for you to do me a favor."
"And what will that be?" Tikal asked, concerned.
Rouge hesitated, then looked at Tikal straight in the eye. "I want you to find me another partner." she answered surely.
- - - - -
Shadow tried to listen to the rest of the songs, but they all sounded the same and the male singer was quite dull. He just continued to replay the song: "My Happy Ending". It was his favorite song out of the album he heard. He noticed that her voice seemed exactly like the expression of the song: Melancholy, yet still proud. He took one good guess on why she sounded like it.
'She broke up with that echidna.' he thought.
And he was right, with three good reasons.
1.) She's singing a solo instead of a duet like in the rest of the songs.
2.) She composed the song herself.
3.) The tone of her voice mated the song perfectly.
It all led up to her and her boyfriend, her partner, being broken apart. Shadow just stared at the cracked ceiling, listening to the song for the twenty-fourth time. He didn't feeling anything towards the song, only realizing that it had much emotion.
But he had to admit: She was an excellent singer.
- - - - -
Tikal took a bit of surprise. "Are you sure about this Miss Rouge?"
Rouge only smirked slightly. "Am I always sure when it comes to me?" she asked.
Tikal fiddled with her fingers. "Um, well... I guess."
"Then get to work and find me a new partner. I'll give you three days maximum."
Tikal's eyes widened. "Three days! That's impossible. It took months to find Knuckles!"
Rouge thought. "Fine. I'll give you a week, and since I feel considerate, I'll help you look for my new partner."
Tikal still wasn't satisfied, but she didn't want to get scolded by Rouge, or worse... fired. She managed a weak smile. "Alright."
Rouge clapped her hands together in excitement. "Good."
And with that, Rouge left without another word. When the door closed, Tikal just stood there, staring blankly at the door.
'"I'll give you a week."' Tikal repeated in her head.
She looked at the floor. "One week." she told herself. "To find a partner for her... I'll find her a partner. I'll give her the best partner I can find. In less than seven days."
- - - - -
Rouge, finally satisfied with herself, walked back to her trailer. She smirked. 'I'll get you back Knuckles. Just you wait.' When she went back to headquarters, she went to her bed, turned off the lights, and slowly fell asleep.
- - - - -
Shadow yawned as he gargled the water inside his mouth. He shot it out, walking out of the small bathroom, and to the old, ripped couch. But before he could lay back down, there was a knock on the door.
He sighed in annoyance, and pulled out a gun out of the chore beside the couch, reloading it. 'If it's those gangster bastards. I swear I'll shoot without mercy.' He then quickly opened the door, pointing the gun at... "The landlord!" he almost yelled, and hid the gun behind his back.
A big, purple cat looked down to his renter in confusion. "Good evening Shadow." he said slowly, and politely.
"What do you want Big?" Shadow asked rudely.
There was a small pause, with it obvious that Big was trying to remember why he was at the front porch of his renter. "Oh yeah! You need to pay me."
"What!"
"You owe me $326,000 dollars and 58 cents."
"But I paid you last month!" Shadow hollered in irritation.
Big shook his head slowly. "Sorry Shadow, but it was not enough. It's either pay, or go."
Shadow snarled, not getting his way. He crossed his arms and thought. "Fine, I'll pay everything by the end of the year."
"Every penny?" Big asked stupidity.
Shadow growled. "Every penny."
Big squealed, clapping his hands with glee. "Oh goody! Pennies!"
Shadow slammed the door on the landlord's face. "Idiot." he mumbled, walking back to the couch.
He set the gun on the table, beside his 'bed', and started to get himself comfortable. He looked at the clock on the crack and stained wall. It read: 12:12.
'I'll find a job tomorrow. If I have nothing else to do.' and with that, he drifted off to sleep.
- - - - -
Dawn came. Rouge slept peacefully, under her silky blanket covers of her bed. There was a sudden knock on her trailer door.
"Miss Rouge, it's time to get up now." It was Tikal, Rouge's helper.
Rouge groaned. "Five more minutes."
"Miss Rouge we need to look for your new partner now, later would be too late."
There was a silence as Tikal listened to what was going to happen. The door to Rouge the Bat's room opened slowly. There stood a drowsy white bat. Tikal gasped at her appearance.
"Miss Rouge! You have rings under your eyes. I told you not to stay up to late." Tikal told her.
Rouge moaned. "I know. I stayed up late, looking up for a guy. I checked magazines, the newspapers, the internet, popular single man singers, none of them are good enough. Either their voices are too low, too high, suck, or their just ugly."
The sun was just about to come out. "What time is it?" she asked, yawning at the orange echidna.
Tikal looked at her watch. "It's a quarter before six." she answered.
Rouge sighed. "Can I get just another hour of beauty sleep?"
"I believe so. You cannot go out in public with your appearance being, unlike you. It will blow your image."
Rouge ignored her. "Oh, I'll just go get ready." she said and slammed the door shut.
- - - - -
Shadow's heavy eyelids finally managed to barely open. He groaned as he slowly got up to stretch. When he finished, he looked at the worn out clock: 5:41 a.m. Shadow arched an eyebrow.
'Why did I wake up so early?' he asked himself as he laid back down to drift of to sleep once again.
But for some reason, his brain wouldn't allow him to sleep. Shadow demanded more rest, but instead, his brain told him to get up and search for a job. Shadow sighed in annoyance, obeying his brain's order. He kicked the light, holey blanket of and walked to the entry door. There was a newspaper right in front of the entry door.
'Let's see if there are any 'Help Wanted' jobs.' Shadow picked up the newspaper, and began to skim down throughout the whole thing. All the jobs were two meanings to Shadow.
1.) They were too boring or mature for him.
2.) They were all too low pay or immature.
Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed, flipping towards the next page that held more jobs. Nothing there too. He flipped page from page, skimmed from row to row. Every job... was pathetic. After he read the whole thing, twice, Shadow threw the paper to the floor and stomped on it in frustration.
'God damn it all.' he snapped and headed towards the bathroom, getting ready for the day. He was planning to go out, and this time find a more interesting career that he could at least do with ease.
- - - - -
"Um, Miss Rouge?" The young orange female echidna with sky blue eyes asked for attention from her partner.
"Yeah, what?" The white bat responded, continuing to walk forward with drooping eyes from lack of sleep. "And if it's about anything, and I mean ANYTHING that has to do with the bags under my eyes, or anything of my drowsiness, I don't wanna hear it." Rouge warned her.
Tikal shook her head. "No it's not that it's just," the female echidna looked up at the other side of her partner. There stood a tall, red, and black robot with glowing green markings. "Why did you have to bring a robot bodyguard?" she asked sweetly, yet concerned.
Rouge forced a sly smirk, looking proud of herself. She placed her hands on her hips. "Cause' ya know how gorgeous I am and that EVERY man wants me. And to show off my body, and to keep every man from laying a finger on me, I brought Omega along." She explained.
Tikal only nodded. "Oh, I see."
The female echidna and bat, followed by the red robot, continued to walk though the crowded sidewalks of the city Rouge first wanted to scout for a perfect singing partner, and boy-friend, Hollywood.
Dusk was now appearing with the sun starting to slowly set. Rouge, Tikal, and Omega were now sitting at a bench at a city park, looking at the city map.
"We'll look for every male in this city. None of em' are good enough for me! Either their slinky or dumb!" Rouge cried out in frustration. (I'm sorry if I offended any males from California. Please forgive me!)
The bags under her eyes seemed to darken, but Rouge didn't show any appearance of exhaustion. She was too stubborn to show how tired she was.
Tikal studied the city map with the red robot, Omega right beside her. "We've been to every male celebrity residence. Not to mention every city in this state." she informed her partner.
"Negative. We have not proceeded through any Karaoke Clubs." Omega confirmed.
Tikal looked at were the red robot was pointing with his eyes. he studied it for a minute then nodded in agreement. "You're right. Rouge, why not go here? We might find a guy with a good enough voice."
Rouge shook her head. "Noda chance Tikal. Those men at the karaoke bar are usually the 'drunkies'. I don't wanna partner who's always drunk."
Tikal sighed. "Alright."
Rouge then sat up from the park bench and walked off with Tikal and Omega following beside her.
"We're not giving up. We'll search this whole planet if we have to. But I need a partner by next week." The albino bat warned her agent.
Tikal's eyes looked tired. "We must find a partner, even if it means searching throughout the whole country, and the whole world? That would be at the least a decade Miss Rouge."
Rouge gave a glare at the young echidna. "So? I don't care." She then looked back straight ahead.
Tikal was concerned for her partner. 'She's really determined to find a perfect man to replace Knuckles. Still... Knuckles, how could you do such a terrible thing to Miss Rouge? Why?'
The three beings were now heading back to Rouge's private jet, ready to be sent to another place, to again search for the perfect man, for Rouge the Bat.
- - - - -
Shadow found himself again striding on the sidewalk, but this time, focusing on each store he passed by. It was day two in search of a new job so he could pay his rent, and he was in a dangerous dept as it was already.
The sun was now setting, and Shadow read each of the store's title he passed. 'Kim's Nails, Bebe, PacSun, Suncoast, Claire's, GameStop, Walden's Books,' Each store was just not his style.
He then looked across the other side of the street for any good stores for hire. This time, it was usually restaurants. 'Lugie's, Village Inn, Denny's, McDonalds, Red Robins, Subway, Applebee's, T.G.I. Fridays, Golden Coral, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Sicily's, Papa Murphy's' None seemed of any interest.
After another hour of roaming the streets, with the sun now fully setting, Shadow called it quits for the day. And started to walk back home.
- - - - -
Once he got to his rented trailer, Shadow calmly closed the crooked door and threw the rusty keys on the limping table. He jumped on the coach and laid there, breathing deeply, looking at the crack on the ceiling that seemed to have gotten bigger from the last twelve hours he was gone. He slowly got up and looked at his shoes: they were are worn out. The torn white leather and the scratched red sols around them, and now, the holes where starting to grow bigger, pulling the threaded leather apart.
"Need new shoes." He noted.
He then slammed his fist on the limping table next to the springy coach. "Damn it!" he cursed to himself.
He then felt a sudden pain with the fist he just slammed, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore. He slowly lifted up his head and looked around him. His eyes searched around the trailer for no apparent reason. He had almost no furniture.
The only ones he owned were...
1.) The old torn and springy coach that used to be black but was now a dull gray with many stains of dye or food.
2.) The limping table that only had three legs instead of four, and wobbled a lot, but the table was so old, the legs could break any second, especially after the impact Shadow did to it.
3.) A small, mini T.V. that could be mistaken for a Gameboy, but with an small set of bent antenna wires.
4.) The refrigerator that didn't work anymore and was filled with spoiled foods like rotten eggs. Shadow never dared open it since the smell was too awful, you'd rather die then take a sniff, and with yellow sod smeared all over it.
5.) And last, the coat hanger, which only hold up to three items since almost all the pegs are gone, including two of the legs, so Shadow had to make it lean on the wall.
Yes. That was ALL the furniture he'd own. And the trailer was the cheapest, the only home he could ever afford. Shadow couldn't look at all he had anymore. It was too little, but at least he had something. A place to live was one thing, but he was already broke.
"Whoever created the use of money; kiss my ass and die." Shadow growled as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen, the VERY small and NARROW kitchen. He had no good food. He couldn't afford any, but he at least had a bag of stale chips that expired two years ago, and yet it was nearly empty. Shadow just gobbled it all up since he had nothing to eat all day.
He sighed. "I guess I have to keep looking for that job that will get me through this hell." He said to himself.
He was now heading to his 'bed' until he heard a knock on the crooked, and rusty pale blue door.
Shadow rolled his eyes. "What now god damn it!" he called, walking to the door and bursting it open.
As soon as he saw who it was, his eyes widened in shook to expect the least person he'd see.
"Hey there Shads. Been awhile eh?" the guest asked.
"You." Shadow growled.
There in the doorstep, stood a blue hedgehog with green eyes. He had a polite smile on his face. "Yup it's me. How's it goen' pal?" Sonic asked.
Shadow glared at the blue hedgehog which was his annoyance. "How do you know where I live?" he nearly snarled, not answering Sonic's friendly question.
Sonic only crossed his arms. "Jeez, you could at least show some enthusiasm for seeing me." he said sarcastically.
"Answer me!!!"
Sonic raised his hands, not wanting to cause any trouble. "Okay okay! I followed ya hear when I saw you walken' down the streets earlier. Happy now?"
Shadow started closed the door. "Not in the slightest."
Sonic stopped the door with his foot to keep it from closing. "Aw, common Shads! Can ya lemme in?"
"Don't call me Shads! And no, you're not welcome in my territory." Shadow tried to push the door closed, but Sonic used the same force and pushed the door to keep it from closing.
"I know you're looking for a job." Sonic informed, hoping it would convince Shadow to stop.
It didn't.
"I don't need help from an annoying hedgehog who looks just like me, but dumber." Shadow responded.
"At least hear what I gotta say!"
"Bug off you pest!"
Shadow then used all his strength to shut the door. It was sudden, so Sonic took surprise, and the door finally closed. Sonic tried to open it, but it was locked.
"Shadow open the door!" Sonic called out, banging the door with his firsts like a spoiled baby having a tantrum.
"That guy's so damn annoying!" Shadow scowled, walking back to the coach, ready to take his nap. It was already passed 10, and he had to get up early to search for a job.
But before he turned off the lights, he skimmed through-out the newspaper one last time. Page from page, until he saw something that caught some interest. But it wasn't a job, it was a saying for an advertisement.
"Pick the job that best describes your true talents." he read aloud.
He set the paper down on the three legged, wobbly table. He was then in ponder, ignoring the bangs from the entry door. Sonic was still there.
'A job to use my talents properly... do I even have any talents?' he asked himself.
He crossed his legs to count his talents. 'I'm good at destroying things. That's one. I'm good a stealing. That's two, I'm a good fighter, three, good at causing chaos, four, good at being poor, five, being lazy, six. That's all the talent's I have... and none of those do anything with a job. DAMN IT!' Shadow kicked the table into the wall, releasing his stress.
No job was good. He then switched the nearby lamp off (that wasn't his) and started to fall asleep, ignoring the continued thumbs and bangs from the door. Yes, Sonic was still out there, wailing like an annoying child.
Chapter 3 Theme: "Whataya Want From Me" by Adam Lambert
Hey, slow it down, whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Yeah, I'm afraid, whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
There might have been a time when I would give myself away
Oh, once upon a time, I didn't give a damn
But now, here we are, so whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Just don't give up, I'm working it out
Please don't give in, I won't let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Yeah, it's plain to see
That baby you're beautiful, and nothing wrong with you
It's me, I'm a freak, yeah
But thanks for lovn' me, 'cause you're doing it perfectly
Yeah, there might have been a time
When I let you slip away
I wouldn't even try
But I think you could save my life
Just don't give up, I'm workn' it out
Please don't give in, I won't let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, whataya want from me
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Just don't give up on me
I won't let you down
No, I won't let you down
And so just don't give up, I'm workin' it out
Please don't give in, I won't let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, whataya want from me?
Just don't give up, I'm workn' it out
Please don't give in, I won't let you down
It messed me up, need a second to breathe
Just keep coming around
Hey, whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
Whataya want from me?
AN- Short chapter I know, but I really wanted to post it! Now for the bonus commentary…
supreme- Here I am with my brother, again! Okay X-treme since it's only 9 at night, and you're not cranky like last time, tell the readers something about the story!
X-treme: ... I can't believe you actually posted our conversation in the second chap!
supreme- Yes I know, anything else?
X-treme: It was frikkin' 3 in the morning and you let other people read it?! And why am I even writing this?
supreme- Cause you want to or I won't give back your skateboard unless you do?
X-treme: You're impossible Katie ya know? Impossible.
supreme- No! I'm possible! Like Kim Possible! Now just say something about the story! Any compliments or stuff?
X-treme: Sure. I helped you most of the time with dis story at the start and now.
supreme- That's true but any positive, good, jolly things you can say to my dear readers?
X-treme: Yeah, don't forget ta R&R n' say that these commentaries are stupid and the story sucks without my help.
supreme- You're impossible!
X-treme: You're the one who's making me type this for your third chap!
supreme- Well you could at least tell my readers something they should know about the story!
X-treme: This story's about A poor street punk dude named Shadow n' a rich celebrity named Rouge and they both need what each other has. Shadow needs a job 2 get him enough money to pay his debt by da end of the year, n' Rouge wants' a partner to make her x- boyfriend jealous and take her back. So then they meet and---
supreme- You're going to spoil the story!
X-treme: U told me to say something!
supreme- Yes but not the whole thing!
X-treme: Well I just said something, can I have the board back now? Where is it?
supreme- Nope! Not yet.
X-treme: It's in your closet ain't it? C'ya
supreme- Hey! You get back here 'beep'! Sit your lazy butt right back down on this chair!
"..."
"..."
"..."
supreme- -sigh- he's gone. That didn't really go to well as I thought, but what the heck? I'm still going to post this commentary! And I did!
- - - - -
"..."
supreme- Hi there again X-treme! How are you feeling right now?
X-treme: pumped.
supreme- Oh boy…
X-treme: what?
supreme- What did you think of this chapter?
X-treme: Well, this time, I didn't really help ya out, but instead edited and added a few things to make it a bit more spiced n' interesting. But I think u should've taken my idea n' put Shad's in there for Shadow fans to enjoy this chap.
supreme- - Wow! That's the most you ever said in any of our commentaries! Goodie!
X-treme: Ya know I hate it when ur too hyped.
supreme- I know! I like it when you're annoyed. You look sooooo cute!
X-treme: ... Are we done now?
supreme- Nope! mars bars monster loves these commentaries of ours!
X-treme: Oh really? Well that only makes 1. (no fence' mars)
supreme- Well, other people read it!
X-treme: Okay I'll believe ya… IF u prove it then.
supreme- Alright I will! My dear readers, if you read these commentaries and enjoy reading them, please send a review and PROVE my brother wrong about people not reading this 'retarded' bonus.
X-treme: You're 2 much Kate.
supreme- I'd say the same for you.
X-treme: ...
supreme- Anything else we should discuss? -smirks slyly- Like that love life of yours?
X-treme: Hell no
supreme- Tartar sauce he's right and he got away! -POUT- Ah well, there's the next chapter!
A.N.- DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW FOR SHADOW OR ROUGE'S SAKE!! OR AT LEAST SONIC'S SAKE!!! Please review!
~Supreme