AGREE WITH SHADE
You nod your head in agreement. "Sorry, Rouge," you say, "But you are way too hard on Knuckles. He's not perfect…"
Knuckles snorts at that.
"… But he's a great guy, and you don't give the credit he deserves."
Rouge rolls her eyes at you. "Typical that you'd take his side," she sneers, "You boys always gang up against me."
Shade crosses her arms. "I'm not a boy, you know…"
"You could pass for one," Rouge retorts, "You don't have an ounce of femininity inside you..." She then gives a teasing grin, "...or OUTSIDE, for that matter."
"Say that again!" Shade raises her Leech Blade, activating its powers, but you quickly jump in between.
"Ladies, easy!" you cry, "Let's not get violent here. We're guests… AND we're on the same team, right?"
Rouge narrows her eyes at Shade, who returns the same gesture. Finally, Rouge shakes her head and struts out. "Whatever," she mumbles, "Believe what you want to. But don't come whining to me when rock brain frustrates you to no end."
Once she's gone, Shade turns to Knuckles. "What the heck do you admire in her?"
Knuckles sighs and shakes his head. "I like her fighting style and her determination," he responds, "But she really makes it hard to tolerate her, let alone LIKE her…" He looks up to you. "Thanks for having my back, Sonic."
You give your friend a thumbs up. "No problem," you grin, "You've always got mine."
Shade smiles at the two of you. "You have an interesting friendship," she says,
The both of you look over. "Hm?"
"You argue a lot," she continues, "You don't always see eye to eye. You even exchange fists at times… Yet, you both go to great lengths to protect each other." She gives a small smile. "It's… cute."
You both are flabbergasted. "Cute?!" you spat simultaneously.
Shade nods. "Very. You almost remind me of brothers."
Knuckles scratches the back of his head and turns away from you. You can't help but smirk at this. "What can I say?" you grin, "Nobody picks on Knuckles except me."
Knuckles glares back at you… but you can see there's no malice behind it. It makes you smile more.
Knuckles then turns more serious. "Rouge is right about one thing, though," he sighs, "I was stupid enough to forget all about the Master Emerald because I was caught up in all that fighting. If Eggman, or whoever's in charge now has it, he'll have more ultimate power than even Shadow can imagine."
You place a hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "Don't sweat it, buddy," you say, "The Master Emerald's basically been gone for 200 years now. The new Eggman won't have a clue how it works."
"That doesn't mean we should just wait around twiddling our thumbs," Knuckles mutters.
"We'll get it back," you nod your head, "You know it."
HEAD OVER TO CHAPTER 8: "SILVER & AMY"