Hi y'all! Thanks for the reviews! I have put a little more detail into the last chappie (due to a small complaint…Yes, I'm looking at you, Heartless! ;))! So you can check it out if you want, a bit more emotional stuff going on in it! As for Byro and Kyna, would you guys like to see them again? Anyways, Tails and Rouge are next. Rouge is haunted by Chilidogs! They will never rest until her face is as spicy as a…uh…Chilidog! They shall never take a break! : D *Nothing to do with me… O : )*
And then, it's out with the old and in with the new! Or is it the other way around? *Scratches head* Oh well. Anyways…
Me: Well… I never did find out the new nickname…
Sonic: I would've liked to know too. But Kyna's vanished for some reason.
Me: Yeah…
Silver: Shadow would've killed us if we called her here again!
Sonic: Uh huh. Right.
Silver: I wouldn't have wanted to be around, when she did tell Shadow the nickname.
Sonic: Yeah, but I would've given anything to find out! But poor Shadow had to keep it all secret! I really wanted to annoy him about it… heh heh…
Me: Maybe it's better that way… in secret I mean. We wouldn't exactly want Hell released here.
Sonic: Aw, c'mon! Shadow aint that scary.
Me: Uh… R-r-right… H-h-here's the next c-c-chapter guys. ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. All related characters go to SEGA.
Sidekick Swap!
Chapter 5
Tails & Rouge
"Gee, Kiddo. You sure know how to have fun." Rouge muttered, folding her arms and peering at all the inventions in the room. The fox fussed about with some wires in a certain mechanical box, a concentrated look on his face. Tails chucked a wrench into his mouth, and held it in between his teeth.
He answered in a muffled voice, "Well, I do invent stuff, Rouge."
"Yeah. But it doesn't seem to keep me on my toes."
"Inventions don't have to do that. They're still useful."
"Okay, okay, Cutie." Rouge snapped back dryly. "To be honest, this is a bit too much fun for a game show…"
"Mhm. Right, right. Just do me a favor, will you?" Tails asked, taking a moment to stand back and wipe his forehead.
"What?"
"Do be quiet."
"Pfft. I should be the one saying that, all this mumbo jumbo is driving me to the verge of insanity."
"Gosh, you've got a bigger mouth than Knuckles…" Tails muttered, while giving a sheepish grin.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing." The yellow fox grabbed his wrench once more, and bent over to the piece of machinery. Rouge looked about, rather bored. She tapped her fingers on her folded arms, wondering what she could do for a little fun. Finally, with a tiny bit of reluctance, she rested her eyes on the machine that Tails was building.
"Hm? What exactly are ya building, Cutie?"
"Um… It's too complicated for you to understand…" Tails seemed to trail off, as if he didn't want to tell her. He fiddled about with a couple of wires in the machine, before sighing hopelessly. Rouge raised an eye ridge, and then smiled smugly.
"Try me." Tails turned to face the bat, and cocked his head to the side, a confused expression on his face.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Don't keep a gal in suspense." Rouge winked playfully, to which Tails just winced.
He hesitated at his statement, and a few seconds later he replied, "It sort of generates… power for the X-Tornado."
"Aw, c'mon, Cutie. There's got to be more to it than that." Rouge didn't believe this statement. She glanced at the square-like box, and raised an eye ridge. It looked like a vault. "You aren't planning on hiding my emeralds are you?"
Tails suddenly looked away quickly, and nervously said, "Can you be less loud?"
"No gem can hide from Mama!" Rouge stated, a sly smile on her face. Tails shuddered. Rouge glanced about the room, as if pondering something. There were many inventions about the room, and all of them seemed to have interesting and unusual shapes. She wondered off towards one of them, a small look on slyness on her face. Tails went back to fixing his machine, wrench in hand. Rouge walked casually towards what seemed to be a dispenser. There was a square, hollow gap in the machine sticking upwards, sided by the controls. She tapped the machine out of sheer boredom, until she noticed something sitting within the glass at the top of the machine. A yellow emerald sparkled almost gracefully at the bat, enticing her to step forward.
"Rouge, could you pass me a screwdriver?" The voice snapped her from her thoughts. She grinned, somewhat sheepishly.
"Uh... Yeah, Cutie. Sure thing." She carefully grabbed a screwdriver from the table, and chucked the tool gently towards the fox, her eyes never leaving the emerald's sight. She back stepped towards the machine, while whistling non-chantly. Tails hummed to himself as he began screwing the cover of the machine, a satisfied grin on his furry muzzle. Rouge gave a sly grin as she stretched her hands backwards towards which seemed to be the control panel for the emerald.
"Rouge? What are you doing?" Tails pulled himself up and turned to the bat, while cocking his head to the side. Rouge snapped her hands away from the machine, her eyes burning with a little shock.
"Oh, nothing!" She cried, almost sighing in relief. However, as cheeky grin broke through, she added, "Except this..." Rouge ran forward towards the fox, and gave him the sloppiest kiss he had ever had, on the cheek. Tails stumbled backwards, his hands hitting the machine. The fox went red like a tomato, as he slapped his hand on his cheek, rubbing off the lipstick. He tried to give the bat a brave and stern glare, but when she smiled slyly, that stare broke away. Rouge blew him a kiss, and if Tails could, he would have choked on it, quite literally.
"You should w-w-warn me when y-y-you do s-s-something like t-t-that!" The embarrassed fox yelled, while shaking his fist somewhat timidly at the bat. The bat scoffed at him.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later, Cutie," Rouge stated, "You're lucky you got a second one."
"Just d-d-don't try that a-a-again! Or you'll be o-o-out of this h-h-house within seconds!"
"Oh, don't worry. I won't... for today, that is..." Rouge smiled innocently and turned around to focus her attention on someone else. The fox seemed to mutter something as he turned back to the machine, all the while eying Rouge from the corner of his eye. Rouge pretended to gaze at the machines about the room, secretly hoping Tails would turn away in order for her to steal the emerald she desired. Unfortunately for her, Tails' glare never left Rouge, leaving her stumped for the worst.
For two hours they were like this, and Rouge was DYING for some action. All she'd been doing was staring at pieces of metal which she barely knew of. Tails, however, had made the most of this time, and had gotten a lot done in the time spent.
"So... Have you seen Knuckles today? He was pretty hyped up..." Tails trailed off, as he placed the wrench between his teeth once more, while bending over to sort out a bundle of wires. Rouge seemed to be daydreaming, and didn't exactly hear what the young kitsune had said. "Hmm? Rouge?" The bat blinked a few times, before turning around to face the fox, her arms folded.
"Whatever the question was, then yes."
"So you have seen him?"
"Who?"
"Knuckles, of course."
"What about 'im?"
"Uh... Didn't you hear the question?"
"No. Sorry, Cutie."
"Oh. Then what were you doing then, instead of listening to me, that is?"
"Nothing important. Just wondering..." The bat trailed off, as she turned to the emerald once more.
Tails raised an eye ridge, while asking, "About what?"
Rouge changed the subject quickly, "Are you bored? 'Cause I certainly am."
A sweat drop fell down Tails' forehead, as he shook his hands nervously, stating, "Just don't get any ideas!"
"What?"
"Uh... NEVER MIND!" And for another hour, they remained silent. Rouge just wondered about all the time, while Tails got down to serious business on his inventions.
Rouge walked towards the emerald once more, as Tails brought lunch in. It was now 2:00PM, judging by Tails' clock. Sandwiches were piled on the platter, containing many different fillings. Placing the platter on the table, Tails stared out of the window, as he greedily tucked in to some mint sweets. With the fox no longer looking, Rouge decided to make her move rather quickly. She slid behind the machine containing her desired item, eying the wary fox with one eye, and the gem with the other. She quickly and quietly stretched her hands towards the keypad, her eyes glistening with sheer concentration. Her head lingered in front of the hollow hole as she tapped the keypad's buttons.
"Rouge? Are you having some lun-WAH!" Tails suddenly dived behind a nearby invention, as chilidogs shot out randomly in a frenzy about the room. Rouge's hand had slipped on the keypad, and whatever the machine was, it was spitting out chilidogs like a spitfire plane.
"Gee, you sure could have built a handier invention, Cutie." Rouge muttered, as she dived behind an invention very much like Tails did, while raising her eye ridge at the odd occurrence.
"IT WAS SONIC'S IDEA!"
"Uh huh. Right." Rouge nodded from behind the machine, taking cover from the incoming enemies... CHILIDOGS! Soon enough, the floor was covered in chilli sauce, buns and chilidogs, staining Rouge's boots, but not Tails' shoes. Rouge flapped her wings quickly, which were drenched in sauce. As she shook them, the sauce flicked towards over incoming chilidogs, to which they collided with a weak force. Although, that wasn't enough to keep the dogs at bay! One hurtled through the air, heading towards Rouge's face.
"AH!" The bat cried, as the chilidog hurtled towards her... rather slowly, too. At that moment, Tails had already sprinted towards the machine and shut it down. As he flashed a stern stare back to Rouge, it turned into a weak laugh. Rouge had the hotdog sauce all over her face, again.
"Oops." Tails murmured quietly, as he tried to hold back a small snigger.
"Aw, not again! I've just had a facial done!" She grumbled, while giving Death's glare to the machine. From now on, she officially hated chilidogs... too bad she was surrounded by them. She slapped her face, whipping the liquid to the ground. Her eyes seemed to burn with frustration. She snapped at Tails, "What're you grinning about? Be a gentleman and get a lady a towel to clean up this horrible mess!"
"I'm only eight. So that really isn't classed as being a... uh... gentlemen." Tails answered brightly, while rubbing the back of his neck. Rouge gave an annoyed huff. This wasn't a good day for Rouge.
Another few hours later, Tails heard a noise, after he had improved a machine. Fortunately for Rouge, the emerald was a fake. So she got to keep it... She wasn't very happy about it overall, though. Tails held a duster in his hand, as he had just been dusting off the many fluff particles which had clung to one of his old machines.
DING DONG!
"I'll get it!" Tails shouted, gesturing the duster towards the door. Rouge gave a small huff, and opened one eye while sitting with her arms folded on the sofa. Tails pulled the door open, his face full of little glee.
"Hi. I'm looking for-" The visitor stopped dead. Tails stared at the animal on the doorstep, seeing a silver hedgehog standing there, his yellow irises full of shock. He raised a pointing finger. "Y-y-you!"
"M-m-me?"
"Yes, you!"
"So... Uh... Why are you here...?"
"Say, don't I know you from somewhere?"
Tails flailed his hands about, denying the accusation, "Uh... Obviously not!" The particles on the duster began to float about, making the visitor sneeze. The duster was actually the same one used in Shadow's mission, which they had to abort.
"Wait... That's a..." You know those major flashbacks? Well, Silver just had one. "A duster...! A DUSTER?!"
"Huh?" Tails tilted his head, as he quickly hid the duster behind his back. Silver stepped through the door and looked behind Tails' back, seeing the duster hidden.
"YOU! YOU IMPERSONATED THE TWO-TAILED FOX I'VE SEEN FROM ACROSS THE STREET!"
"Not to ruin the moment or anything, but I'm the only two-tailed fox on this street."
"Uh... Right." Silver looked at the duster almost nervously, while stating, "That looks kinda like the duster I saw a few days ago..."
"Does it? I never noticed!" Tails slapped his forehead, as he had just realised what he had said.
"Hey, Cutie! Who's at the door?" Rouge's voice called; as she had nothing better to do than ask.
"Hm... That IS the duster I saw a few days ago. And is that a sniper in the back of the room?"
"Uh... Uh..."
"I would like an answer."
"Hey, silver boy! Get outta here, will ya? Major game show going on here, and if you don't wanna get embarrassed on the air, then get off MY LAWN!" Rouge ordered, as she walked to the door and slammed it shut in Silver's face.
Tails frowned, folding his arms while stating, "I think you mean MY lawn?"
"Hey, I got him outta here, though. Aint that enough?"
-A few hours later, Back at the Studio-
"So yeah! We kicked his butt! Right, Shadow?" An azure hedgehog announced, rather proudly.
"Clam it, Faker. Someone ended up in the hospital because of that event." The ebony hedgehog snapped back, while looking away with annoyance, and rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, I know... But, still, it wasn't boring!"
"Just forget it." The presenter listened with feign interest, while nodding his head understandingly.
"And, was that a daily duty?" The human asked.
"Uh... I wouldn't say, 'daily duty' I'd say, 'KICKING BAD GUY BUTT!' but that works too." Sonic stated, while rubbing the bottom of his nose.
"Interesting... Because I specifically told you that it had to be a daily duty."
"Hmph. Those things happen every day. So that might as well be classed as a 'daily duty'." Shadow answered back coldly; secretly glad it would be all over soon. He wouldn't have to hear the annoying rants of his rival.
"Coincidently, it's also breaking the rules. You two are disqualified." Shadow's eyes twitched at this answer, as he felt rage fill his eye sight.
"Are you saying that I went through ALL THAT, WITH FAKER? AND I GET NOTHING IN RETURN?"
The presenter rolled his icy blue eyes, and answered, "Yes. Now calm yourself, or I'll call security." Sonic backed away towards the door, while peering at the black hedgehog which was about to explode.
"Grrr..." Shadow clenched his fist, as his red eyes brightened with a malevolent glint. The presenter was too busy walking about idly to notice.
"Alright, folks. I think I'm getting outta this room a minute. Heh, heh..." Sonic told the readers, with his teeth gritted and his eyes widened. As Sonic closed the door, he heard 'ouches' and 'AGHHH!'s. He shuddered at the thought of it.
"Hey, Blue Boy. What'cha up to?" A feminine voice asked, as a white bat walked in the room, a smug smile on her face.
"Uh... Nothing much. Just listening to Shadow beating the heck out of an innocent pedestrian."
"Well, that's no surp-WHAT?"
"Hey, Sonic! I'll meet you in the atrium!" A two-tailed fox appeared at the main door, and walked into the room, where a rage-filled Shadow was.
"TAILS! NO, DON'T-" Sonic stopped when Tails entered the room, and the fighting noises had stopped. Tails was wide-eyed as he entered, seeing a human on the ground moaning in pain. The black hedgehog stood over him, an angered frown on his muzzle. He noticed Tails' expression.
"What? I needed to smash something."
"R-r-r-right, Shadow..." Tails trailed off. Sonic walked in while slapping his forehead.
"Gee, Shadow! We aint gonna get an emerald now!"
"I already have it." The hedgehog raised a blue emerald in the air. A flash of light filled the room, as Shadow muttered, "Chaos Control..." Within seconds, the hedgehog vanished.
"Hah! That... emerald... was... fake." The presenter murmured, as his body sprawled on the floor.
"What?" They all asked, tilting their head in confusion.
"Well... We... wouldn't leave... it here... right...?"
"Makes sense..." Sonic muttered. Rouge suddenly ran up to the presenter and slapped him.
"Fake emeralds are the work of the demons! Don't EVER do that again!"
"... Statement... noted... NOW... SOMEONE CALL ME AN AMBULANCE!"
I apologize if the last chapter wasn't so great, but I had the cursed... WRITERS BLOCK! -_- But, I think I'm back now. :D
Poor presenter. He got beat up by Shadow. I feel sorry for him. I bet some other replacement is gonna be sent after him. *grins knowingly*
So, a new start! 4 characters... I'm gonna notice that list, Gnat1. Which characters shall I pick...? Hmm...
Which is your favourite chapter/team-up so far?
I'd have to say Chapter 2. xD
Well, I'll leave you guys to it. R & R please, Guys! ;) See ya next chapter!