Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Shake Me Down ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three

The black hedgehog appeared directly in front of the master emerald. Expecting to see the ornery echidna lounging around, he was surprised to find the guardian absent from his usual post. He kept a watchful eye out however; as he knew the red creature could be lurking anywhere, ready to strike at any moment. Though Shadow was always down for a fight, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible; he had important things to do before the party that night.

Squinting his eyes, he scanned the area for any signs of life. Not seeing anyone anywhere, he looked up to the glowing gem. For a few seconds he harbored a thought...it would be so easy to grab it and run, Knuckles would never even see it leaving… The gem sparkled in the sunlight as if it knew what he was thinking. Shadow edged back as his thought flew away as fast as it came. He was hardly as tempted as Rouge, and even she had discontinued her quest for her once priceless emerald.

He turned around and surveyed the area once more, noting how everything was damp from a recent downpour, finding it odd that it had been raining on Angel island, but was bright and sunny back on Earth. Knuckles really did live in a completely separate world.

With a sigh, Shadow descended the stairs of the shrine; spotting a small house partially concealed by the surrounding foliage as he got closer to ground level. In no time at all, he reached the front door and knocked sharply.

No response-though it sounded like there was a motorboat running inside. Weird.

Shadow clenched his jaw and shook his head, hoping this trip didn't become harder than necessary. He twisted the doorknob and wasn't surprised to find it unlocked. It wasn't as if Knuckles had to worry about someone barging in and robbing him when his only treasure in the world was located on top of the shrine. Shadow snorted at the absurdity of it all and let himself in, his ears immediately recognizing the motorboat engine noise as the sound of someone snoring. He wondered how he didn't hear it when he was standing in front of the emerald. It was thunderous! He perked his ears up and pinpointed the noise to be coming from the room to the right of the entranceway.

He smirked. Someone was about to get a rude awakening.

Practically tiptoeing into the room, Shadow spotted Knuckles sprawled out awkwardly across a couch, somehow able to sleep with the lower half of his body dangerously close to falling off the edge, while his face was smushed into a cushion; a small puddle of drool accumulating in the cloth. Knuckles leg spasmed in his sleep and brought him even closer to the edge.

Maybe he could help things along? The black hedgehog approached the couch from behind and peered down at the echidna, who had a distressed look on his face as he mumbled something in a strange unintelligible language.

Well if he's having a bad dream, what kind of a guy would I be if I didn't wake him up?

Shadow took a deep breath and bellowed.

"THE MASTER EMERALD IS GONE!"

…Have you ever snuck up on a squirrel? Since they are such nervous, jumpy creatures, their natural reaction to being startled is to jump about three feet in the air before landing, scrambling to regain their footing to try and run away. How does this have any relevance you wonder?

Knuckles eyes immediately flew open, comical in their size. Secondly, since he was so close to the edge of the couch, his body's natural startled movement from being shocked out of sleep caused him to tumble over the edge with a loud thud. He could feel numerous grapes popping from his weight as he scrambled to try and get to his feet. The floor was becoming very slippery due to the grape juice, causing Knuckles to continuously fall on his ass or his face with every attempt of getting off the floor on his feet to attack the intruder.

Shadow surveyed the scene, his jaw slowly dropping. He couldn't decide if he should laugh or help the poor guy as he watched him slide around on the ground like a cat running on freshly cleaned tile. Five seconds later, Knuckles was still struggling. Shadow couldn't hold it in anymore. He clutched at his midsection, attempting to hold in the loud guffaws that were bursting to get out but failing miserably to contain them.

"HAHAHA!" he exploded. So out of character for him he knew, but even he could laugh deeply at times, especially for something like this.

"Shhgguuuut uprpa!"

This only made Shadow laugh even harder, now clenching one fist to his midsection while the other was holding on to the back of the couch for support. If he let go, the force of his laugher would cause him to end up on the floor like Knuckles, and then they'd both be shit outta luck, snarling and growling at each other. You see, Knuckles being in isolation for so long caused him to neglect his vocal cords. He had no one to talk to but himself and the master emerald, and even he wasn't crazy enough yet to start talking to an inanimate rock…. though he came pretty close to being pathetic enough a few times. Because of this, his "shut up" sounded more like snarling and growls, his voice rusty due to lack of use.

After what seemed like ages, Shadow's stomach now very sore from abnormally laughing so hard, Knuckles found his footing by punching his fists into the floor for support. He brought his legs up to his chest and stood up slowly, panting heavily, cheeks red from embarrassment as well as from exertion. Shadow's laughter dwindled down to a tiny chuckle as he tried to catch his breath. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed so hard. Had he ever? Shaking his head, he let go of the couch and straightened up. He heard Knuckles clearing his throat.

"…what…are you doing….in my home?"

Even though his voice was still raspy, Shadow could now make out what he was saying. He crossed his arms and glared.

"I was sent to retrieve you. Sonic and Amy are throwing a party tonight and for some reason, you're invited, though I don't really know why…" he trailed off as he rolled his eyes.

Knuckles crossed his arms and turned his nose up. "Well thanks for the invitation but I'm not leaving the emerald. You can go home now."

Shadow rolled his eyes some more. Apparently this trip was going to become harder than necessary.

"You're coming with me even if I have to drag you off of this island myself."

"You don't have the guts."

"Oh yes I do. Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way, take your pick."

"Over my…dead…body," Knuckles enunciated every word, grinding his teeth in aggravation.

"That can be arranged, no one specified that I had to bring you back alive," Shadow smirked.

"Why you!"

Knuckles bared his teeth and shook his fist at the black hedgehog ready to fight. Meanwhile, Shadow was taking a really good look at the red echidna noting numerous differences from when he last saw the rabid animal. His fur, normally a bright vibrant red, was now a dull muddy copper. His once admired dreadlocks hung down low due to the added weight of mud and other filth. However, at least Knuckles didn't look starved. In fact, it looked as though he had been training nonstop for the past three years. He was much more muscular than Shadow remembered. What bothered Shadow the most however, were his eyes. The amethyst irises looked dull and lifeless, as if he had endured so much in such a short timespan up on the island by himself. There was no hope in those eyes. He was just about to open his mouth to speak when something foul crossed his nostrils.

Shadow sniffed the air.

"What is that awful smell?" he grimaced, holding his nose.

Knuckles lowered his fists.

"What smell?"

Shadow sniffed once more, detecting that the smell was stronger in Knuckles direction.

"Holy shit…it's you!"

Knuckles blushed, "How could you possibly know that? You're not even near me!"

Shadow chuckled, "I don't have to be near you to smell you…I could detect your horrible scent when I first arrived here, I just didn't know where it was coming from. Have you been rolling in shit or something?"

Knuckles stared.

Shadow stared back.

Knuckles eye twitched.

Shadow braced himself.

Knuckles lunged.

Shadow sidestepped, grabbing onto Knuckles arm as he flew by.

"I'm going to kill you!" Knuckles roared, embarrassed and enraged.

The black hedgehog grabbed onto his other arm, pulling him in close so he couldn't break his hold. "Now now, no need to get uppity. Lets go."

Knuckles started snarling a response, "No the master emer…." He was cut off as Shadow chaos controlled them back to his apartment. They landed upstairs right in front of the hallway bathroom.

"In you go stink bomb." Shadow threw Knuckles in, and braced himself against the door so Knuckles couldn't escape. He heard a few things crash, more snarling mixed with a few curse words, then all was still.

He cleared his throat. "Take a shower, I'll be downstairs. You better not try anything stupid-like trying to escape, or I'll find you again, and next time our reunion won't be so pleasant."

He felt the door rattle against his back as Knuckles threw himself against it. Shadow lost his patience.

"FOR CHAOS SAKE WOULD YOU JUST COOPERATE?" He yelled.

The rattling stopped.

He exhaled, "Okay, there are clean towels under the sink, use one." He heard Knuckles hmph behind the door, but didn't move away just yet…just in case there was a round two. When he heard the water turn on he left his post to go downstairs and watch some mindless television in order to calm his nerves before all hell broke loose. There was a half crazy, possibly even insane echidna in his bathroom. He was sure no one wanted to deal with an equally insane, maniacal hedgehog as well.

Meanwhile, Knuckles stood in the shower watching the water swirl around the drain. The water rolling off him was a muddy brown color. He hesitantly grabbed the soap, holding it in his palm for a minute as the hot water beat down on his back. He had to admit, it did feel good, and from what he could see, his fur was starting to turn back to the color it should be once again. Now, about the smell… shaking his head, he stared at the green bar of soap once more before holding it up to his nose and sniffing…not too bad. His eyes darted to the side, inspecting the tile. He sighed. Time to get clean.