Chapter 7: Initiation

"Hey guys, we're back," Sonic said as he led Amy, Blaze, and Silver into their new HQ, aka Tails' house.

Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and Cream looked up and eyed the newcomers for a moment.

"Hi, nice to meet you guys," Tails said. "My name's Tails."

"The brains of our team," Amy told Silver and Blaze, who nodded at the young fox.

"My name's Cream," the girl said, "and this is my chao, Cheese!"

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese said cheerfully.

"Cream is who cheers us all up," Tails said and smiled at the rabbit.

"I'm Rouge the Bat," she said. "Resident thief and treasure hunter."

More nods.

"Knuckles the Echidna. Guardian of the Master Emerald. Resident tough guy."

"Yep. Hotheaded and gullible, too," Sonic quipped, prompting a glare from Knuckles.

A guardian? Blaze wondered. She'd have to ask him about it later.

"I'm Amy Rose," the pink hedgehog said. "Sonic's girlfriend."

"And that's about it," Knuckles said, and Amy stuck her tongue out at him.

"You better be careful, Knux," Sonic said. "She swings a mean hammer, you know."

Silver and Blaze then looked at Sonic, who'd yet to make an introduction.

"Oh, I'm just Sonic the Hedgehog. Fastest thing alive, no big deal," he grinned.

"And you two are...?" Rouge asked.

"Oh, my bad," Silver said. "I'm Silver the Hedgehog. I have the power of psychokinesis." He lifted a book to show them.

They all gaped.

"Oh, now that's cool," Sonic said.

"Oh wow, another hedgehog?" Knuckles said. "We have our hands full with those two," he indicated Sonic and Amy. "Not to mention Shad-"

That sucked the air out of the room.

"He's not dead," Rouge said. "I've talked with him since. 'Ol Egghead has been keeping him alive."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow and felt a hint of jealousy.

"That guy just won't die, will he?" Sonic said. "He's one tough dude. For a faker, that is."

"And you?" Rouge asked of Blaze.

She looked up. "Princess Blaze the Cat," she produced a flame in her palm, getting them all to jump back a little. "And guardian of the Sol Emeralds."

Princess? Amy thought.

Fire? Tails thought.

"Oh, you're a guardian, too?" Knuckles said.

She nodded, but Sonic butted in. "Yeah, but Knuckles here isn't a very good one. It's so easy to steal his Master Emerald from him."

Knuckles huffed. "So says the guy who threw all 7 Chaos Emeralds into space."

"Hey, we got them back!"

"Uh, Sonic, did you forget we only have 4 right now?!"

"Uh, yeah, but this is a different issue, Knuckles."

"Guys, can we focus-" Tails said.

"OH!" Amy suddenly squealed, causing everyone to wince. "Blaze and Silver, you two are together aren't you?"

The cat and the hedgehog both turned bright red.

"Oh my gosh, that is so cute! You absolutely have to go on a double date with me and Sonic some time!" she squealed again and gripped Sonic's arm.

"Amy…" Sonic said, feeling his face redden.

"Oh Sonic, you look so cute when you blush like that!"

Now Sonic was redder than Silver and Blaze. He saw Knuckles looking at him, like she's your girlfriend.

"Amy, stop it," Sonic said as firmly as he could.

Amy looked at him and her eyes lost some of their glimmer. "Oh, sorry… I just can't help myself. I'm a total sucker for romance," she smiled.

"Uh, actually, we're not…" Silver said, too embarrassed to look at Blaze.

"We're friends." Blaze said simply.

Awkward.

"So…welcome to the team," Tails said, prompting a few chuckles.

"Don't worry, the worst is over now," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, that was just the initiation," Tails said.

"Well, if you haven't run off yet, you're good. You'll get used to us," Sonic grinned, though he was still blushing.

"So do you all have a leader?" Silver asked.

"Uh," they all said, and heads eventually turned towards Sonic.

"Ah, don't look at me," Sonic said. "If anyone, it's Tails."

The fox frowned and blushed a little. "No, Sonic, we usually do what you say-"

"Psh, Sonic's no leader," Knuckles said. "He doesn't give orders. He just runs off to stop Eggman and we all follow him and have to bail him out."

They all laughed at this. Blaze and Silver exchanged yet another amused glance. How strange, not having a leader.

"Speaking of which," Tails said. "Silver and Blaze, can you tell us your side of the story?"

Silver nodded, and he and Blaze told their story about the Sol Emeralds being stolen and being transported here.

"Oh, right," Knuckles said, and pulled out the Emerald. "Is this one of them?"

Blaze eyed the jewel in his hand. "Yes." Knuckles handed it to her.

"Thank you for finding it."

"Actually," he turned to Rouge. "Rouge found it."

"No, Knuckie, I'm quite sure you found it," she smiled.

"Well, you picked it up."

"Yeah, you remember that don't you?" Rouge said, making Knuckles' face turn red from the memory of her bending over.

"Either way, thank you," Blaze said. "It's imperative that we find the rest of them."

"Yeah, I think they may be the key to fixing the tear in the space-time continuum," Tails said. "those and the Chaos Emeralds."

Blaze pulled out her Chaos Emerald. "These, right?"

"You have one?" Knuckles said.

Blaze handed him the Emerald. "A fair trade."

"So that's 4 Chaos Emeralds and 1 Sol Emerald," Tails said.

"Should we maybe split them up?" Amy suggested.

"No," Sonic said. "It seems like a good idea, but it's better to just let me and Knuckles hold onto them."

Amy nodded. Those two were the backbone of the team.

"Now," Sonic said. "I think it's time we paid Egghead a visit." He was getting impatient at just standing still.

"You know he moved his base, right?" Rouge said.

"Really?" Tails said.

"Yep. I think he was upset at how easy it was for us to sneak in there. Now the doc's hanging out in some flying ship."

"That's no problem," Tails said. "We'll take the X-Tornado." He turned to Silver and Blaze. "That's my plane," he said proudly.

"Can we all fit in there?" Sonic asked.

"It holds 6," Tails said, and did a quick head count. "So 2 of you will have to ride on the wings."

"No prob," Sonic grinned. "It's more fun that way anyway."

"I'll ride out there, too," Knuckles said.

"Well, let's go then," Tails said, and he went to go get his plane ready. Cream followed him, and Amy led Blaze and Silver to the runway.

Knuckles and Rouge lingered for a bit. Oddly, so did Sonic. Strange. Usually he'd be the first one on the runway, impatient to get going.

"Rouge," Sonic said.

What was this now?

"Yes?" the bat asked, wondering what in the world he could want. Her and Sonic didn't exactly see eye to eye.

"Thanks for joining the team. I mean, we could really use someone with your skills."

She nodded. Was that it?

"Oh, and uh, about our little run in a while back….sorry."

Rouge looked down at her nails. "You have nothing to be sorry about."

It was her way of apologizing, Sonic realized. He could accept that.

"So we're cool?"

Rouge nodded, and Sonic took off.

Knuckles smiled. He had to respect Sonic for doing this in front of him, to make it perfectly clear he wasn't hitting on her. That Sonic…he really wasn't that bad of a guy. Just quirky. And in his own way, a leader. Knuckles looked back at Rouge. She seemed to be contemplating something.

Rouge watched Sonic go, thinking. It was strange how she oddly liked this team. It was way different from Eggman's. Sure, there was the bickering, but she knew deep down, they were all friends and would stick up for each other no matter what. There wasn't the manipulation she was so accustomed to.

She was surprised at the members. Rouge had always thought of Sonic as just some crazy, cocky hero with ADHD, but she knew he actually cared about others, even though he hid it under a carefree exterior.

Rouge had always respected Tails, though she saw him as immature. She was now seeing that despite him being the youngest, he might be the most mature on the team.

And Amy? Why, she had just been a lovesick short-tempered brat, and in a way she still was. But she definitely had a sweet side to her. As did Cream.

And then there was Knuckles. Who would have thought such a tough, hot headed bozo had such a tender side to him? And who would have thought his affections would be toward her? And not just for her body, either?

"Well, Rouge, you just gonna stare or you going to say something?" Knuckles said, reminding them both of their "talk" a while back.

Rouge looked at her man and smiled, then walked over to him and planted a kiss on his lips. Knuckles put his arms around her waist to pull her into a deeper kiss, which she gladly obliged. The couple made out for about a minute, enjoying this simple pleasure.

Knuckles thought it was great to have someone to share affection with before a battle. Yes, he'd daresay he needed it.

"We better get going before they wonder about us…" Knuckles whispered in Rouge's large ear.

"Mmmm," the bat purred. "You're right."

They reluctantly parted, but still walked hand in hand out to meet their friends.

**********

WOW, I loved writing this chapter. So much stuff...

I thought it was funny about the initiation thing, because it seems like whenever there's a new character in a game, they go through the "Amy test." If they're a girl, she has to accuse them of being after Sonic, and if they're a guy, she has to mistake them for Sonic. And Silver and Blaze really went through that in the games, as did Cosmo and Shadow.

Just my random thought for the day, don't let it distract you from the story.

So did you all love this chapter as much as I did, or am I just overreacting? Please leave a review...