Chapter 10

Knuckles showed Tikal to his room. She rushed in playfully. She picked up things here and there to see what they did. She pushed a button on the TV and fell back on to the bed with surprise when the screen flickered into life.

"Wha… is that person stuck in that box?"

"No…" Knuckles sat down beside her. "It's just a picture… that moves… and makes sound…" Tikal was still mystified. "You're in the future, baby! Everything's different!"

"Everything?" She said with a knowing smile on her face. She jumped on Knuckles and they landed on the bed, lying down. She kissed him. She threw away her headband. Knuckles threw away his jacket as best as he could with Tikal on top of him.

They lay there, half asleep in the bed. Tikal lifted herself up to talk.

"Not so different after all, then?" She said. Knuckles smiled. She lay back down. "Did you ever have a Soultouch?" She asked, clearly out of curiosity. Knuckles was slow to answer.

"Once…"

"What happened to her?"

"She was killed in action."

"Oh god… that's so sad…" She said with genuine sympathy. "When was it?"

"Two weeks ago." He replied plainly. He was strong when talking about it, and didn't show any signs of breaking down. Tikal waited before speaking again. She held herself closer to him.

"Do you believe that people can find a new one?" She asked innocently. Knuckles looked down at her.

"I think I already have," He smiled.

Shadow was in the gym practising his fighting. He pounded at a red punch bag, slowly battering it off its fittings. With a particularly vigorous punch, it flew off the hinges and landed a few metres away on the ground, after hitting Amy in the back of the head while she hit a target with a wooden practice sword.

"Watch where you're breaking that thing!" She called out. This was by no means the first time. But Shadow was in such a frenzy that he didn't take any notice. He continued pummelling the punch bag into the ground, literally knocking the stuffing out of it. Chris walked up in front of him.

"Hi Shadow!" Amy rolled her eyes, but continued to watch. Shadow looked up, having just taken a bite out of the punch bag. He spit it out and used Chris as a new punch bag. Amy watched and struggled to hide her laughter as he beat the snot out of Chris. A few minutes later, Shadow was distracted by another punch bag and started to hit that. Chris fell to the ground unconscious.

Sonic couldn't get his head around Tails' story. Tails tried, in vain, to explain it.

"So… some weirdoes from the future came down and asked where Ixus Naugus is?"

"Yeah,"

"What did they do then?"

"They just flew off."

"Weird,"

"And when they were grilling me they burnt be on the face." He pointed at the still singed fur and flesh on his left cheek.

"Yeah, whatever." Tails glared at Sonic as he walked away.

Rouge couldn't believe she had found all this. It was in a few million pieces, but most of it was here. She carted the trailer into an empty warehouse. It was hard work, but it was worth it. She pulled the off it. There it was – it was fractured and splintered, but the master emerald and its fragments were here. She picked up pieces and attempted to stick them back on. They fell off straight away.

"Don't tell me I need the Chaos emeralds," She sighed.

Sonic met Amy about to walk into the bathroom. She was just wearing towel.

"Oh, sorry, were you about to…"

"No, if you need to go then go before I have a shower,"

"Is your arm okay? He nodded towards the bandage on her left shoulder.

"It's fine, it's probably best if I wash it."

"Let me take a look at it," They both went in to the bathroom.

She pulled the bandage off.

"It's healing,"

"Could you… keep an eye on me while I'm in the shower?"

"What, like, with the door open?" Sonic was slightly surprised.

"I mean… in the shower," Amy was slightly nervous saying this. Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, sure." Amy was relieved.

In the shower, Sonic kept a close eye on Amy as she washed, particularly when she used shower gel around the wound.

"Hold me…" She said under her breath with her eyes closed and her arms held close to her. Sonic gladly obliged. She urged him to continue. He took the initiative and pushed her up against the wall.