The Guardian's Rose_Part Three_Chapter Three

The Guardian's Rose_Part Three_Chapter Three

“You act like you’ve seen a ghost.” Said ROUGE THE BAT. Knuckles gulped, and then looked back to his Mother, who giggled a bit.
“How fun on your date you two!”
“Duh....duh…DATE?” he stammered.
“Come on.” Said Rouge.” We’re going to be late for our lunch reservations.”
Knuckles gulped, and decided to let instinct kick in. And instinct told him to get the hell out of there. So he turned around and ran as fast as feet would take him, back into his room-which conveniently had a window-and leapt out of the window, and continued running. He heard his mother and Rouge shouting after him, but he didn’t slow down. He was in Echidnaoplois, but he knew something was wrong. The citizens would usually glare or make remarks when he was around. But no one even seemed to notice he was there, like he was some ordinary regular echidna.
“This can’t be happening.” he thought. “THIS CANT BE HAPPENING!” he continued running, and bumped into some people. Usually when that happened, the one he bumped into would apologize like “Forgive me, Guardian” or give him a sneer with “Pardon me, guardian.” But now it was “Whoops. Sorry.” or “Pardon me.” and even “Watch where you’re going!” He even tried asking complete strangers if they remembered his name, Angel Island, the Master Emerald, but they gave him weird looks and asked if he was seeing a therapist. Panic filling him, he ran to the EST office, bursting through the front door. EST members stared at his arrival, and Knuckles saw Constable Remington sitting at a desk, drinking some coffee. Knuckles ran to him, and began shaking him.
“REMINGTON! PLEASE TELL ME YOU KNOW WHO I AM!” he said in fear. Remington looked at him blankly, and shoved him a bit, to get out of his grasp. He silently walked over to a file drawer, and flipped through some files. He then picked out one and began reading from it.
“Knuckles, son of Locke and Laura–le, no criminal record-”before he could finish, Knuckles ran out. Not even the constable knew directly who he was! He had no idea where the Chaotix would be, so Sonic came to mind. Hopefully he would be able to explain what happened to Angel Island and say where Amy was. He got out of the city, and headed to Station Square.

Sonic, Tails and Amy weren’t in their houses, so he began looking everywhere possible, finally ending up at the park. Knuckles ran around the park, franticly, searching. He couldn't believe what had happened that morning, and was nearly unwilling to believe it. Living with his mother, dating ROUGE?!?
"Dear gods..." he thought, still looking. "What did those past guardians DO?”
Soon he heard noises to what he was looking for. He glanced to a nearby playground. There was Sonic, Tails, and Amy. Sonic was stretching, and Tails was talking with Amy.
Amy.
Knuckles didn't think he could BE any happier as he ran with nearly as much speed as Sonic, getting up behind her and wrapping her in his arms.
"AMY! Thank gods your ok, I was so worried..."he said, nuzzling his face against hers.
The boys stared at him in bewilderment. Amy blinked, then screamed.
"PERVERT!"
"What?"
"Hands off, pal!" said Sonic, punching Knuckles in the head, causing him to let go of Amy, who ran behind Sonic to hide.
"What the HELL was that for, Sonic?!" said Knuckles, rubbing his head. The three stared at him again.
Sonic snarled to Knuckles. "Just who are you?!?"
Knuckles lower lip quivered. “No…no, you guys have to be kidding. You KNOW who I am!!! IM KNUCKLES!” he looked to Amy. “YOU’RE MY WIFE!!!!”
“Stay back guys.” Said Sonic. “I’ll handle this lunatic.”
“COME ON!” yelled Knuckles. “PLEASE AMY! Don’t you remember?? Sonic yelled at you, and Volt tricked you to try and make me love you and I did anyway and we both were in love and we fought Trixie and we got married….WE GOT MARRIED!” he ripped off his glove. “SEE? Our wedding-” he stopped himself. His hand was bare. No ring. His hand shook, and he felt like screaming. He looked to the others. Sonic was glaring at him with confused hatred, Tails was next to him, also confused but looking ready to fight, and Amy was confused and terrified. He could see clearly in each of their eyes that they had no idea who he was. “No…” he said softly. “No…no…NOOOOOO!” he cried, and, unable to take their looks, ran off.
They all blinked.
“What the hell was that about?” said Sonic, scratching his head.
“Ya got me.” Said Tails, tilting his head.
Amy said nothing. Sonic looked to her.
“You ok? He didn’t hurt ya or anything?”
She shook her head. “No….he was…gentle. Very gentle. And he looked kinda familiar.”
“You know that weirdo?” asked Tails.
“I dunno….it’s just…I have no idea why, but it’s like I’ve seen him somewhere before. Maybe it’s just me.”
“Probably.” said Sonic. “I mean really, claiming that you two were MARRIED, you’re not even the same species.”

It had begun to rain. It was an hour, maybe two, Knuckles couldn’t tell, after the horrible confrontation. He was lost in the park, sitting under the shade of a tree, letting the leaves drip water onto him. He didn’t mind. His face was already wet, with tears. He buried his face between his knees.
“If I’m not the Guardian anymore, then maybe mom and Dad are still together…” he thought, trying to think of some way, ANY way, that there was a positive side to this hell. “…..No, even without the responsibility of guarding the Master Emerald, they would have split up…they weren’t that much in love…not like me and Amy.”
He winced. Now just thinking about Amy ripped him up inside. All those years together, every sweet kiss, all the times she whispered “I love you”…they were gone. Like it never happened. It was like someone erased it all….
He jerked his head up.
Someone.
Some people.
Some echidnas.
“So, you don’t want to guard this ‘stupid jewel’ anymore? Well then we’ll make sure you won’t! And never DID!”
He gritted his teeth. “Those…BASTARDS…” he thought. “They made it so I never guarded the Master Emerald…and because I didn’t, I never needed to leave Mom…and I never needed to meet Sonic, or the Chaotix, or Amy! THOSE BASTARDS!” He got up, filled with rage. “I’LL KILL YOU!” he screamed. “YOU HEAR ME, KALA? AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! YOU’LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID, YOU HEAR ME? YOU’LL PAY!”
“Who’s Kala?”
He turned around, to see Rouge hanging upside down from the tree.
“Sheesh, I’ve been looking for you everywhere, and here I find you, screaming about murders. Sheeeeeeeeeesh.” She said with a roll of the eyes, jumping down in front of him. “You’ve got SOME explaining to do, mister.”
Knuckles rolled his eyes as well. Goody, the one person he wanted to see. But she might come in handy. “Listen, Rouge, I need some help.”
“Help? Why should I help you, after ditching our date?”
“Just answer me this.” He said, holding in a snarl. “Do I have a job, who are my friends, have I always lived with my mother, are my parents divorced, and how in gods name did you and I become...” he shuddered at the thought “..Together?”
Rouge raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms, but closed her eyes to remember it all. “Ya got amnesia or something? Well, all right….you’re currently working for the Echidnaopolois paper-you’re chief editor, I’m your only friend, you recently had to move in with your mom due to you’re house being burnt down, you’re parents have been divorced for…10 years, I think…and we went together when you saw me at a mall and hit on me.”
Knuckles felt like puking. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“About which part?”
Knuckles groaned. There was no way THAT could be his life.
Rouge grabbed his arm. “Come on, you have a lot of making up to do.”
“Don’t touch me!” he barked, shoving her off.
“What? How DARE you talk like that to me? You better apologize right now, bucko!”
Knuckles tried to hide a grin. Oooooo, this would be FUN. “All right, I apologize.” He said smugly. “I’m sorry….that I EVER hit on you, knew you, and have been with you, you disgusting little whore bat. I’d rather carve my eyeballs with forks than ever go on a date with you, and if we’ve been as long as we have as you’re suggesting, I need to wash my mouth with soap to get rid of all your maggot-tasting kisses. And if you’ll now excuse me, Miss way-too-much-make-up, I’m going to see if there’s a way to win back my TRUE love, who is a lot more beautiful inside and out than YOU’LL ever be.” With that, he turned around and walked off, leaving a VERY stunned Rouge.

“Is it alive?”
“Let’s poke it.”
The next day, morning, Knuckles felt a stick being stuck into his eye several times. He groaned, opening his eyes, seeing two little human children, who yelped with fear and ran off. He blinked, yawned, and sat up, to yawn some more. He surveyed his surroundings. He was in the city, and it seemed he had fallen asleep in the alleyway of a diner. He got up, and stretched his arms. He was exhausted. He has NO IDEA where Amy’s apartment was. Hell, he’d never even been to Station Square. He was as lost as echidna could get. He sighed, leaning against a wall.
“Even if I did find her, what would I say?” he said to himself. “ ‘Hey, I’m sorry about the hugging and such, it’s just that we used to be together but some magic old echidnas erased my life so you don’t remember a thing!’ Oh, yeah, that’d work GREAT.” He sighed, and walked out of the ally, and back onto the sidewalks of the city. He dug into one of his vest pockets. No money. Another sigh. How was he going to eat? And his mother was probably worried sick about him. No doubt that Rouge told her what he said. So he wandered aimlessly about the city. Some humans stared, and some Mobians (females, of course) tried flirting with him. Ok, he was good-looking, he’d admit that. He didn’t pay the girls any mind. There was only one woman in his head, and no doubt she’d never want to see him again. She’d probably be chasing that blue idiot and-
He stopped.
He stood there, on the sidewalk, a new thought entering his mind.
“Wait a minute…even if I didn’t met her, or Sonic….Amy might still annoy Sonic enough to make him yell at her…and Volt...Volt might still come after her! That thing may not want the Master Emerald now, but who knows what it DOES want now!” he thought in a panic. “I need to find Amy! Before it’s too late!!!” And he ran off, trying to remember which way to the park.

Amy Rose The Hedgehog skipped happily through a park in Station Square. Why was she so happy? It was because she planned to win over Sonic’s heart. Or at least she would try, like the other 364 days a year she did. Skipping on the park path, she saw her beloved blue boy stretching in front of a tree, looking ready to do his daily run. His best bud, Miles “Tails” Prower, stood next to him, holding a stopwatch, ready to time him.
“A few more should do it.” Said Sonic, twisting his waist.
“Maybe you’ll beat your record-again!” said Tails.
“SONIKUU!” cried out Amy, going to them both. Tails sighed, shaking his head, while Sonic froze in a panicked state. “Guess what today iiiiiissss!” she sang.
“Thursday?” asked Tails.
“The day you stop adding things to the shrine you made of me?” asked Sonic.
Starting to sound familiar?
It should.
“No and no!” said Amy with a giggle. “Today is the day YOU, Sonic, are going to take me out on a date!” she lunged at him, grabbing his nearest arm and tugging on it. Sonic tried to rip her off.
“It will NEVER be that day, Amy. I’m busy!!”
“Oh no you don’t! We’re going to have a romantic dinner, then see a romantic movie, then have a romantic walk in the moonlight!” she insisted, pulling more.
“What’s this ‘we’ BS?!?!?” Sonic shouted, getting his arm free.
“This won’t end well.” Muttered Tails.
Knuckles finally found his way to the park. He scanned the area, and heard familiar voices.
“Come on Sonikuu! We’ll be late for our dinner reservations!!”
“AMY. LEAVE. ME. ALONE.”
Knuckles’s eyes widened. Amy had described this scene to him tons of times. He knew, in a matter of seconds, Sonic would make the speech to devastate her.
Knuckles loved Amy.
But he could not let this happen to her.
Not again.
“STOP!” yelled Knuckles, trying to run fast enough in time, but his plea fell on deaf ears.
“Come on, you know you want to!!” she giggled, and tried pulling at his arm again.
Knuckles saw Sonic grit his teeth, his muscles tighten, his eyes narrow.
“NO! STOP!” he yelled.
But it was too late.
Sonic’s mouth opened. “AMY! FOR THE LAST GODDAM TIME, LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON’T WANT TO DATE YOU, BE WITH YOU, OR KNOW YOU! YOU’RE THE BIGGEST PAIN IN THE NECK I’VE EVER KNOWN! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD THAT WE WILL NEVER BE A COUPLE!!” Sonic roared right in Amy’s face.
Knuckles stopped.
Amy had always said that speech in the best detail. But actually hearing it made it a whole lot worse. He wasn’t that far away from the gang, and Tails saw him. Tails didn’t know what to do-comfort Amy, yell at Sonic, or tell them both that the insane echidna was back. But then Tails saw something in the echidna’s eyes. Pain. Unimaginable pain.
Knuckles stared at Amy. Stared at her eyes, welling up with tears, her lips, which quivered and couldn’t say a thing, and her legs, which wobbled and made it seem like she could break into pieces.
He clenched his fists, seeing Amy turn around and beginning to run off, bawling.
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
And that stopped her.
All eyes were on the echidna, which yelled as such. He was now face-to-face with Sonic.
“HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS TO HER? SHE’S ALWAYS POURED HER HEART OUT TO YOU, AND YOU JUST TOSS IT ASIDE LIKE TRASH! SHE’S NOT JUST SOME FANGIRL! SHE LOVES YOU, BUT I CANNOT EVEN SEE WHY, WITH HOW YOU TREAT HER!”
Sonic snarled. “Listen you, I don’t have to put up with this, just mind your own business!”
Amy looked to Knuckles. Why was this man standing up for her? No one ever did. Why did he care?
“YOU HURTING HER IS MY BUISNESS! YOU SHOULD BE THANKING THE GODS SHE CARES ABOUT YOU SO MUCH, YOU UNGRATEFUL PIG!”
“THAT’S IT, YOU WANNA START SOMETHING?” Sonic began something back. “CUZ I’LL FINISH IT!”
Knuckles was about to scream some profanities and start beating the shit out of him, but he noticed Tails and Amy watching. No. This could not be the way. He closed his eyes, clamed his breathed, and unclenched his fists.
“What, you turning chicken now?” said Sonic.
Knuckles opened his eyes, sighed heavily, and looked back to him. “Just apologize to Amy.”
“What FOR?”
Well, that did it.
In less than a minute Sonic was on the ground with a big ol’ black eye, and was also knocked out. He slowly turned around, and began walking off.
“When he wakes up…” He said slowly. “…tell him if he ever hurts Amy again, it’ll more than that eye that’ll be black.”

Lost again. Dam.
He looked up to the buildings. Lost in the city…it was not nice.
“Have I passed this building already?” he thought. “I don’t even know where I want to go anymore.” He sat on a bench. “I can’t go home, to that life Rouge described…and I can’t stay here, where I’m an unknown outcast…”he closed his eyes. “….All alone…again…”
“Excuse me, are you ok?”
Amy’s voice. Great, now he was going insane.
“I just wanted to thank you.”
Wait, that was real.
He opened his eyes and looked to the right, where the voice came from. Amy stood right there. He stared.
“No one’s ever stood up for me before...”She said, blushing a bit. “And I guess I never really stand up for myself…so thanks, a whole lot.”
Knuckles opened his mouth. Nothing came out. There were a million things he wanted to say.
“Anytime. Oh, I’m Knuckles.”
“Well, think of it as a ‘I’m Sorry’ for yesterday.”
“AMY! YOU’RE TALKING TO ME! IM SO GLAD!”
And he closed his mouth, since no sound was made. There was an awkward silence.
“…So…no offense, but what was up with yesterday?” Said Amy quietly.
Knuckles looked away. “….um….I…..I thought…you were someone else.” He said, just as quiet.
“Oh. Well, I hope you find that person. You sounded like you loved her a lot.”
“You have no idea.” Was what he thought, and what he said was “I don’t think I can find her.”
“Huh? Why not?” She sat next to him on the bench.
“….Because….everything’s changed.”
“Oh?”
“….Yes. It’s changed so much, and there’s nothing I can do…She doesn’t love me anymore.”
“Oh come on, you can’t give up that easily!”
Knuckles glanced to her.
“If you really think you’re love is true, then no matter what’s changed, you two can be together!” said continued with a smile. “I mean, really…I’m a complete stranger to you and you defended me with such vigor, so I can’t even begin to imagine how you treat the one you love!”
He didn’t reply. At that moment, more than anything, he wanted to take her into his arms and give her such a deep kiss. He swallowed, and said in a murmur “I suppose.”
Amy smiled again. “Good. Now, are you lost?”
He gulped, and chuckled nervously. “Uh...how could you tell?”
“I was following you from the park to thank you, and you’ve passed by this spot 6 times.”
Knuckles blushed hard.
“Do you even live around here?”
“Uh, well, no.”
“Where do you live?”
“…I…um…I guess you could say I don’t really have a home at the moment.”
“Oh.”
Silence again. Amy then slid off the bench. “You could stay at my apartment for a while.” He said with an innocent smile.
Knuckles blinked. Come to think of it, he had never been to her apartment. “Well….I…I, uh…” he was trying to think of a way to say ‘yes’, but other thoughts came into his mind. Mostly the fact that if he did go, they would be alone. In her apartment. Together. His tail wagged at the idea, but he tried to think clean thoughts. “Erm, uh…ok. Thank you, thank you very much.” He finally squeaked.
“No need for thanks, you’re the one who defended me.” She said sweetly. “Follow me.”

Far (hella far) from Station square, in a thick, dense jungle, a figure got on her hands and knees, panting, out of breath.
“No...I cannot stop now...I need to get there…I have to help the Guardian and his mistress…”

“…It’s nice.” Said Knuckles, after fully examining the room.
Which was covered in Sonic stuff.
Posters, plushies, DVDs-you name it, this woman had it.
Amy gulped, and scratched the back of her head. “I guess I don’t need all this anymore.”
He looked to her. “Oh?”
She sighed. “Yeah…I don’t need all this, after how he treated me. I guess I was being stupid, acting like this...”
“Amy, no.” said Knuckles gently. “It wasn’t your fault, you can’t control how your heart feels.”
She looked to him. “Thank you. You’re so sweet.”
He blushed.
“So what’s your name?”
He had his heart ripped in two.
“Knuckles.” He said in a near whisper.
“Knuckles, huh? That sounds cool! Like some famous fighter!”
He smiled a smidge.
“So you think you can help me put all this Sonic stuff away?”
“GLADLY.”
So for the next few minutes they stored away the Sonic toys and games, and ripped down the posters and wallpaper. Afterwards, Knuckles sat on Amy’s bed-the only bed there-,and turned on the TV, to see if anything good was on. Amy walked into the kitchen, and came back in with a bottle and two cups.
“Hey, how about a dink for a hard days work?” she said with a smile.
“Thanks.” He said, pouring himself a glass. He glanced to the bottle. “Wait, that’s-”
“Oh, c’mon, a bit of alcohol won’t do anything if we’re careful.” She interrupted, sitting next to him.
Knuckles blinked, and looked to his drink. He shrugged, and began gulping it down. “I guess she’s right.” he thought. “…how much harm could it do?”
Famous last words.
So 2 hours, and 30 drinks each, later, both were laughing like hyenas, sitting on the floor.
“(Hic) And didja know that Tails is (hic) afraid of a lil’ lightin’?” Slurred Amy, giggling wildly.
“(Hic) No, I (hic) didn’t.” Replied Knuckles, sloshing a glass of the stuff around. “But I (hic) know alotta stuff…cuz ya know, things used to be reeeeeal different..(Hic).”
“How so?”
“Yuh see, a while back, sonic yelled ta ya, and ya were sad, and this monster took advantage of ya and used ya ta get at me, and I (hic) fell in love with ya, and you fell in love with me, and I kicked its ass!” He said, bursting into laughter.
Amy giggled, and crawled onto the bed. “Really now?”
“Yuuuuuuuuup. And ya stayed with me, and ya kicked this girl’s ass named Trixie, and then we got (hic) married! Sonic was the best man!” he said, now roaring with laughter.
Amy laid on her back, squealing. “Sounds (hic) awesome!”
“Yeh yeh, but…” Knuckles sat on the bed. “These really bad guys, they zapped us and stuffs, and made everyone forget everythin’!”
“Everthin’?”
“Everythin’!”
“That (hic) explains a lot.”
Knuckles looked at her. “You know, you’re really (hic) beautiful.”
“Hmm?” she replied, sitting up.
“I said you’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She said, putting on a silly smile.
“I mean it...” He said, lifting up his right hand and removing a stray quill in front of Amy’s face. “So beautiful…inside and out.”
Amy closed his eyes, letting the touch go by. “Mmmm.”
Knuckles then wrapped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close to him. “I wish you (hic) remembered…”
Amy slowly opened her eyes. “….Me too.” She whispered.
“I love you...so much...” he planted his lips on hers, in a passionate kiss. Amy put her arms around his neck, going through his spines. Amy fell on her back on the bed, and Knuckles stayed on top her, continuing the sweet kiss.
Then one of his hands began slipping down her dress sleeves…

Take a jackhammer, a regular hammer, a cannonball, a giant rock, and Big himself, and throw them at your own head, and you'd have gotten a slight idea of the headache Knuckles was having when he finally managed to wake up. He laid in the bed, staring at the ceiling.
"I can see why I never saw any sake around Echidnaopolis." he thought, feeling ready to hurl. How much HAD he drunk last night? He glanced to the nearby room, where he saw many bottles of beer and sake.
"Shit." he thought.
He knew he shouldn't have drunk any of it, but he was so happy that Amy wasn't freaked out about him anymore, that he didn't care. Gods, he needed a break from the horror of a life he was living now.
"Shit." he thought again, remembering almost nothing from last night. He concentrated, still lying in the bed. He had gone to Amy’s, they had chatted, she offered something to drink, they both drank, and drank, and drank, and drank..
"Shit." he thought once more, unable to recall anything else. It was all a blur.
He believed he had the strength to sit up, and he did so, and doing so made him realize an arm clinging around him. He looked to the right, to see a pink body.
In bed.
Next to him.
"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit."
He went into absolute panic mode, and tore the blanket off the person next to him, which was obliviously Amy. She was in a deep sleep, wearing only her bra and panties.
“Phew...” he thought, looking at her. “For a minute there I thought-GAH! I SHOULDN’T BE LOOKING!” he quickly covered her up with the blanket. He looked around, breathing hard.
“Oh man, oh man, what HAPPENED??” He thought. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to recall.
And he did.
He opened them quickly.
“OH. SHIT.”
He had made-out with Amy, and they had begun taking each others clothes off, but both had gotten sleepy before anything else had happened.
He laid his face in his hands. “Ohhhhhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.” What was Amy going to think when she’d wake up and remember? Slap him silly, scream at him call him a pervert?
He leaped out of bed, and grabbed his clothes, putting them on quickly. He then ran out of the room, out of the apartment, out of the building, not knowing here to go, but highly ashamed of himself.
Funny how Amy then woke up.
She blinked, and at once everything came back. She blushed heavily, and bit her lower lip.
“I dunno what’s worse...” she said to herself. “Us making out….or that it tasted familiar…”

End of Chapter Three.