Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ The Case of the Golden EMERALD ❯ Chapter 2: In the Shadows ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon as I pulled in the driveway.
"God, it's been a long night" I said aloud as I got out of the car. I got the robot and its head and shut the door.
Before I got inside, I ran into Sonic. He was leaning on the brick wall, staring into space chewing on a toothpick. He looked over at me, got up and spit out the toothpick.
"Gosh, take a lifetime to get here!"
"I'm sorry my hunk-of-junk can't drive faster than the speed of sound!"
"Good, you should be!" Sonic said with an obnoxious grin.
"Shut up and take this upstairs!"
I threw the robot's head at him, and he almost dropped it. Typical Sonic.
Tails' office, just like Mine and Sonic's, was on the fifth floor. It was usually never a big deal to climb the stairs, I was used to it. But being sleep deprived, and carrying a robot that was heavier than I was up ten flights of stairs was a bit tough.
"Hurry up, Knuckles! Tails is waiting!" Sonic yelled from two-flights up.
"Shut up Sonic! You just have to carry the head!"
"What? I can't hear you, you are too far down!"
"SHUT UP, SONIC! THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE THAT ARE SLEEPING!!!"
"Sorry, Knuckles, I can't hear you! But tell me when you get up here, there are still people that are sleeping!"
"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!"
"What?!"
"I SAID, THAT'S WHAT I SAID!"
That's when I heard someone down below yell "Shut the hell up!", with the addition to a couple of other choice words.
Stupid Sonic, always getting me into trouble. Then again, he always got me out of trouble as well.
I finally got to the fifth-floor (Halleluja!). By this time, I was dragging the robot by the leg and was almost crawling to Tails' office.
"Welcome back, Knuckles!"
"Yeah; thanks Tails"
I could barely talk. I was so exhausted I was about to collapse.
"Okay, let's take a look at that robot!"
Tails got out of his chair and excitedly ran over to me.
Tails was always very odd to me. He always reminded me of a mad scientist. He would wear nothing but lab coats and pants. And he usually had those weird looking protective goggles. He was one of those people who had the really annoying high-pitched voice, and would rant on and on about nothing. But, overall, he was a good guy.
"Ugh, this thing is heavy! Can you help me take this to the lab?"
"Sure..."
I picked the robot back up and headed next door to Tails' lab. I would have given my soul for a cup of coffee right then.

Tails' lab was exactly what you would suspect. It looked like it belonged to a mad scientist. There were beakers and vials filled with liquids of any color you could think of. One of the walls was a huge chalk-board, which had some equations that looked like Hebrew to me.
I threw the robot on the examining table, probably harder than I meant to because Tails gave me a dirty look.
"Oh my God! Where's his head!" Tails yelled as he glared at me.
"I got it, Tails!"
Sonic ran in the room and threw the head on the table.
"Woah, you guys need to be more careful! You can mess up the hardware!"
"Yeah, yeah. Just look at it so I can go to bed!" I realized that I said that in a very hateful tone, but I was too tired to care.
"Well, fine! I'll try to hurry this up!"
He took this laser pen thing and started to cut into the robot. He examined its insides for about five minutes, then stopped.
"Well, this is a newer model, but it looks like it was just thrown together without much thought. Something interesting I found was the robot was set to explode forty-five seconds after the bomb at City Hall. So I guess it is a good thing that you broke it, Knuckles; or you would have blown to smithereens!"
"That's nice, can I go to bed now?"
"Just one more thing, I found that... blah, blah, blah, blah, internal mechanism, blah, blah, blah"
That's pretty much all I got out of that.
"Okay, I'm going to bed now"
I started for the door, when someone started to knock.
"Sonic, are you in there!?"
"Aw, shit! I forgot I had a date with Amy this morning!" yelled Sonic as he tried to hide.
"Don't let her in, Knuckles! She's gonna be super pissed that I didn't meet her at the diner"
"Well, that's your problem, Sonic, not mine! I'm going downstairs to my apartment, and going to sleep"
I unlocked the door it swung open and hit me in the face. I fell and hit the floor hard.

The next thing I knew I was looking up at Sonic, Amy, and Tails.
"Well, Knuckles... I guess you got your nap after all!"
I really wanted to punch him, but I couldn't really move very well at that moment.
"I am so sorry, Knuckles!"
"I know Amy, it's OK"
What can be said about Amy Rose? She's a cute pink hedgehog with a slightly annoying personality. She is absolutely head-over-heels for Sonic. Although he doesn't admit it, he feels the same way about her. I'd feel sorry for the guy who messes with her, they would either get bitched out by Amy or get knocked out by Sonic (I don't know which is worse).
I finally got up off of the floor. I guess I was okay, except for the throbbing headache. I went over and sat in Tails' chair.
"Sonic, you promised me that you would meet me at the SS Diner this morning!"
"I-I'm sorry, Amy! I lost track of time"
"That's the excuse you used last time!"
"I'll make it up to you!"
"Can we go right now?"
"Ummm"
"UMM, WHAT!?
"I mean yes, let's go!"
"That's what I thought you said!"
You would never think that Sonic would ever meet his match, until you've met Amy.
"But we have some things to discuss before we leave, so can you wait outside the door for like, five minutes?"
"No I can't!They can come too! You guys would like to come, right?"
"Umm, I don't really like being the third wheel... so I'm gonna pass!"
"Don't be silly, Tails! I brought one of my friends to hang out with us!"
"Who?"
"Cream, of coarse!"
When Amy said that, Tails' face turned ruby red.
Cream was Amy's best friend and Tails' "secret" crush. He always denies it, but him and his awkward self makes it obvious that he likes her. And I guess I don't blame him. She's a cute little rabbit girl that is always cheerful and polite. She's definitely not my type, but she'd be good with Tails.
"Hello, everybody! Sorry I'm late, I was picking flowers at the park for my mom"
Tails looked like he was going to pop out of his skin. The poor kid was so nervous.
"It's fine, Cream! We were just heading out to the Diner
now. Tails is coming so you guys can catch up!"
"Can we go now, Amy? I'm hungry!"
"Okay, Sonic! Let's go everyone! You Coming, Knuckles?"
"Nah, you guys go ahead and have a good time!"
"Aaww, I don't want you to be by yourself!"
"Come on, Mr. Knuckles; it'll be fun!" said Cream in her soft little voice.
"I don't know if I should"
"Knuckles, we need to talk about the R. Gang!"
"...Okay I'll come"
"Thank you!"
I knew Tails just wanted me to come so he wouldn't act so awkward around Cream, so I thought I would humor him.

The SS Diner was a pretty nice place. I mean sure, it wasn't a five-star joint, but it wasn't a dump.
"what will it be, dears?" asked the old waitress.
I told her I just wanted a cup of black coffee and some pancakes. Amy ordered a water and a cup of fruit (she said she was dieting, but she was already thin enough). Cream ordered some hot chocolate and french toast. Tails wanted an omelette and a glass of tea. Then there was Sonic that ordered the heart-attack special.
"I'll have two orders of chocolate-chip waffles, three eggs sunny-side up, five strips of bacon, and do you have chili dogs for breakfast?"
"I'm sorry, we don't dear"
"Bummer! I guess I just get a chocolate milk to drink too"
"Okay, coming right up!"
"Sonic, how can you eat so much food?"
"I'm hungry, Knuckles! Leave me alone!"
After our food came out, Tails and I started to talk a little about the previous night.
"So, why do you think they wanted to blow up City Hall? That just doesn't sound like there style"
"I don't know, but it seems to me that there is more to it than that" tails said, practically whispering it.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the robot was set to explode too; that just sounds odd to me"
"Who knows... but what I do know is that it's not over yet"
"I hope you're wrong, Knuckles!"
I was too, I really did. The Robotnic Gang was the reason this City had the greatest crime rate in the nation. We had hoped that they were over with, but this recent incident proves that they are still around.
It didn't seem to bother Sonic, though. He was enjoying himself as he vacuumed up his whole plate in a matter of minutes. It was so bad that half of the diner was staring.
"Wow, that was good; now what's for desert?"
"Sonic, are you serious?" asked Amy in disgust.
"Only half serious, babe!"
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. She turned bright red and giggled.
I nudged Tails and whispered in his ear.
"Why don't you order another hot chocolate and share it with Cream?"
Tails stared at me for a couple of seconds then smiled.
"Good idea" he whispered.
"Hey, Cream, wanna split another hot chocolate?"
"Sure, Tails! I would love to!"
Ah, young love... young awkward love.

After breakfast, we headed back to the office. It was almost noon, and I still hadn't had any sleep (if you don't count getting knocked out by the door).
When we reached the building, something caught my eye. There was a black motorcycle with red flame designs on it.
"No way!" I though to myself.
"It can't be him"
The others had already gone inside.
I ran up after them.
"Guys, wait!"
I yelled as I sprinted up the stairs.
I managed to reach the fifth floor before they opened the door to Tails' office.
"What is it, Knuckles?" Sonic asked, confused.
"Don't let the girls in there yet, we need to check something out!"
"Like what?"
"Just trust me! Girls, can you stay out here for a couple of minutes?"
"What's going on, Knuckles?"
"Just do it Amy! Keep Cream out here too!"
"Okay, okay! Come on, Cream, let's go get a soda or something"
Amy took cream and went downstairs.
"What's with you, Knuckles?" asked Tails.
"I'm probably just being crazy, but we might have a visitor, one that we haven't seen in years"
I reached for the door and slowly opened it. It was pitch black in the room, the blinds were blocking the light coming through the window.
"I think you are right, Knuckles, I didn't put the blinds down" Tails had a slight sense of fear in his voice.
I walked in the room, and heard a deep, dark voice coming from the corner of the room.
"Hello, Knuckles! Long time no see!"
I turned on the light switch and looked over at the corner. Nobody was there.
I felt someone grab my shoulder and it sent shivers down my spine. I turned around and saw the figure standing there, staring into my soul, grinning an evil grin...