Knouge - Love is Blind - C.2

Knouge ~ Love is Blind

Chapter 2 - Setting the Mood

The underground tunnel walls would shake every once in a while and dust would fall from the unclean ceiling but other than that, Angel island was still in good condition considering it just lost its power supply to stay afloat in the air. In these dirty passageways that were crumbling at a snail's pace, Knuckles was kneeling next to his high flying rival who only moment ago stole the Master Emerald yet again and is usually so vigorous and on the go, however in this circumstance he's discovered that Rouge is blind and hurt for reasons unknown...

"So you're blind? Can't see anything at all?" Knuckles enquired as he waved a hand in front of Rouge's face to see if it was a trick.

Rouge signed with impatience and stated sarcastically "Yes, that's kind-of what I meant when I said 'blind'..."

Ignoring her cynical tone, Knuckles desist the waving and skipped right ahead to the relevant question on his mind at this moment, "So how'd this happen then?"

"Oh Knukie, I thought you'd never ask" Rouge said with a girly smile yet sardonically again, she winced as she adjusted her injured arm a bit and then turned to the direction of Knuckles' voice to explain what happened before he showed up.

"Well when I flew away with my Emerald, I thought to myself that the subversive tunnels beneath the island would be the perfect way to make my exit, you wouldn't have been cunning enough to look for me there and besides the emerald was really weighing me down" she lectured, unaware of Knuckles' eyebrows joining together in annoyance towards her mocking tone.

"Anyway as I hurried through these grimy burrows, I saw a way out where I could have flown safely down to the city. I rushed to the light when all of a sudden, I was grabbed by a bizarre over-sized hand, and only seconds before it threw me into the wall did I realize that it was an ape's hand. The emerald hit the floor next to me and my arm was pretty badly cut whilst I tried to get up but then I looked up to see a group of rogues standing in front of me, four in total", This is where Knuckles' interest in the story triggered.

"The biggest one was an ape, had an ugly mug but appeared as if he could snap a car in two with his bare hands. The second tallest was a male giraffe, muscular stature but effeminate face, probably in love with himself and thinks he's a gift to womankind. The next was the single female of the squad, a green lizard with white hair tied back in one big ponytail, she seemed like the leader of the pack, and lastly there was a dwarfish koala, the brains of them all, wore giant specs and had numerous gizmo attach to his belt."

Rouge carried on telling her story, "They must have been a team since they wore matching espionage suits and they seemed to know about the Master Emerald which made me want to attack them first before they got any ideas. I went to perform a descending kick on the short koala however he whip out a gadget and shot me in the eyes which made me blind. I must have hurtled to the floor because that's when I heard them make off with the Emerald, I tried to stop them but it was a losing battle, they manage to get away and left me wandering aimlessly until I had to rest."

Rouge simply stayed silent after she finished her tale to hear Knuckles' reaction but the longer he prolonged his speech, the more she could tell he was angry. He had come to a point where calming himself down was too much to ask for, he held his warm fore head, deliberating his choice of action while Rouge waited quietly.

After taking a deep breath, Knuckles finally spoke nonchalantly "...so... now there's a cluster of thieves who I barely know, have no idea what their strategy is but they have the Emerald and are probably making their move off the islet at the present?"

Rouge seemed unsure whether to answer, she could predict what was going to happen but what else could she do, "....Yes..." she responded cautiously.

Knuckles stayed perfect still for a moment when she replied, his fake smile dissolved and then he got up and walked away, not quite what Rouge anticipated but given a bit more time...

"Where're you going?" she asked, sensing his body warmth fading and hearing his footsteps fade as well.

Knuckles turned to face her once more and started with a calm tone of voice but at the end lost his restraint, "I'm going to find the thieves who now have MY EMERALD! THAT YOU STOLE AND THEN LOST!!" Rouge instantly felt offended but also thought to herself 'there it is, took longer than I thought but here's Knuckles' fury.'

Despite the walls of the tunnels shuddering once more and her lack of vision, this didn't stop Rouge from standing up; she struggled at first while stating "First of all! You left the Master Emerald completely exposed and I didn't lose it, I was ambushed!" She was now on both leg and looked fuming.

"And Second of All!! Are you really such a callous wimp and so pathetically smitten with your beloved gem that you'd abandon me down here? Possibly with a broken arm and blind! I mean what kind of man are you!?" she bellowed at the echidna who dared to raise his voice at her first.

"You have done it to me plenty of times before in the past; I'm just returning the favour!!" The echidna yelled back at her as he went to continue walking but was then struck with another point to articulate and turned back quickly to speak.

"Oh! And another thing! You would have never been hurt or attacked if you didn't steal from me, or better yet even intruded on my island in the first place!! All you every do is just steal and manipulate people!! You wreck everything you touch!! Why can't you just leave me alone!?" Knuckles shouted at Rouge, letting his angry gush through him and allow him to show his true feelings.

The subways juddered again but the two were too involved in the feud to recognize this, Rouge was just as enraged and furious as Knuckles was and after he just ripped into her like that, she didn't care anymore about this current situation, "OKAY FINE!! FINE KNUCKLES!! I WAS GOING HELP YOU BUT NOW YOU CAN JUST STRUGGLE BY YOURSELF!!  WITH MY SIGHT INTACT OR NOT, I CAN TRACK 'EM DOWN WAY FASTER THAN YOU CAN!! AND AS A BONUS, I HAVE MORE INTELLIGENCE AND SMARTS IN MY TOES THAN YOU DO IN YOUR BIG, AIR-FILLED HEAD!! SO ENJOY YOUR FAILURE AND SOLITUDE PAL 'COS I WON'T VISIT YOU ANYMORE!!!"

Lots of dirt and powder started trembling from the ceiling as if to be a warning for the upcoming event, but it fell on deaf ears.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST THING YOU'VE EVER SAID TO ME!!IN FACT I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE PLEASURE OF NOT HAVING YOUR COMPANY AND NOW I LOOK FORWARD TO NOT HAVING TO DEAL WITH YOU ATTITUDE!!" Knuckles hollered finally looking happy for once but a crazy sort of happy.

"NO, I SHOULD BE THANKING YOU FOR THAT PLEASURE!!"

"WELL THANK YOU!!"

"NO, THANK YOU!!!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME!!!-"

Knuckles' last insult was cut short suddenly when the entire island began to rumble and tremble violently. The island was falling from its planetary motion towards the ocean surface and the seismic activity was so spontaneous and forceful, it took Knuckles and Rouge completely off guard. They both hit the ceiling as the island plummeted, the atmosphere of antagonism and fighting for control radically escalated into panic and hesitation about what was happening.

Rouge was especially fretful because she quite literally had no idea what was going on, "What on earth is going on!?" She screamed as the island showed no sign of decreasing its strength and adrenaline kicked in.

Knuckles adapted a serious manner and, only to be heard over the sound of earth trembling, yelled to inform her "the island is falling!"

Rouge's expression was full or worries and fear as Knuckles continued, "...and if we don't get out of these tunnels soon, we're gonna drown!!"

"OH, GET ME OUTTA HERE!!" Rouge cried with a distressed voice.

Just as she howled that, the crash of waves echoed throughout the vicinity and the race for survival had began the minute water began entering the underground mines. Knuckles and Rouge both slammed against the muddy floor as gravity worked in order and Rouge whimpered as her arm was undergoing excruciating pain, being tossed about everywhere brutally.

Knuckles was a bit dazed, haven been flipped up and down too but he happened to witness new droplets of blood oozing from her nasty scratch, he also imagined how vulnerable Rouge was in this circumstance, having no sight and a sore arm.

He had planned to simply leave Rouge here and carry on his search for this group of thieves a few minutes ago, but he changed his mind at this instant. Call him a sucker but he wanted to believe that Rouge was genuinely injured and that if she got over her self-worth, she'd had reached out to him for help. With the water rushing to send the two to an early, wet grave, Knuckles had no time to think as he scooped up Rouge, who was very bewildered, close to his chest and ran as fast as he could back the way he came.

As soon as she grasped the predicament, that Knuckles (despite making out to not care about her) was carrying her to safety, she reached out her good arm to hold on to his shoulder and just tensed in his arms, waiting for the nightmare to come to an end. A small amount of water had already manage to cover the entire floor of the passageways so that Knuckles' footsteps had a terrifying splash as he dashed through passages and around corners which only made the situation more nerve-racking. Knuckles was huffing for air as he persisted on the move whilst thinking of which route is the best to take, he briefly looked down to Rouge and noted that even though she was scared, a flush had developed on her cheeks.

Almost like a chill down the spine, the noise of large bodies of water were now filling up the burrows where Knuckles and Rouge previously were and it wouldn't be long before the water would definitely catch up to where they were now. Luckily Knuckles was familiar with this direction he was taking and on cue, Knuckles ran into a rather extensive hole that led up to the apex surface of the island, but unfortunately Knuckles now had to consider the best way for them both to reach the top.

Knuckles seemed nervous but then he urgently asked Rouge, "Do you think you could fly just directly upwards if you have to?"

Rouge raised her head and shrieked "I can hardly tell what's happening!! Of course I can't!!"

Knuckles' anxiousness doubled after that idea didn't work, Rouge wouldn't be able to climb either because of her hurt arm. This was the only way up but if two people had to get up it, would they get out in time?

The rush of ocean water, smashing and slamming against the walls sounded only a short distance away and Rouge was honestly petrified for her life now, she cried hysterically "KNUCKLES!! HURRY UP!!"

"WORKING ON IT!!" He answered back in justification.

Knuckles was having a hard enough time thinking under pressure but Rouge just threw him right of course, he had to be impulsive now. He called out to Rouge, "Hold on to me" as he swung her around on his back, she clumsily almost fell off but she managed to wrap her arms around the echidna's neck and drape her leg around his waist like a piggy-back. Suddenly she felt Knuckles already hiking up the wall to freedom, she held on tighter to her hero as she prayed they'd make it in time.

Knuckles made it halfway before the sea water had now reached their location and was now rising up the hole towards them. The sunlight shining from the exit above was more of a reassuring sight to the Rouge, she turned her body posture around while on knuckles' back to down at the rate the water was raising, she turned back and noted Knuckles' great efforts to scale the wall while carrying her all at once, she naturally began to feel empathy for him.

"Keep holding on!" He panted as he dug one hand in front of the other to continue the climbing motion, Rouge was unable to actually react to his appeal but she was surprised that he'd so easily forgotten that a while ago they were at each other's throats.

The upper world seemed all the more clear as they elevated upwards and the water was slowing down and losing its might until one of Rouge's legs that appeared hooked around Knuckles unexpectedly unhinged and she was left dangling by her lock she had surrounding Knuckles' neck, she gasp as she swayed in the air and Knuckles began to choke now that Rouge was restricting his air tube.

This made things a whole lot difficult for Knuckles, he had to really push himself to go that extra mile of climb to the top without air. In spite of his hard breathing, he desperately scrambled to the top of the ledge with Rouge and made it. He crawled over the edge and jadedly lied on his front, as Rouge's grip loosened and she lied on top of him, thankful to be on the earth floor.

The sun's heat showered down on them as Rouge rolled of Knuckles and felt the fertile grass underneath her when she spread herself like a star, the tropical atmosphere of the outside world was enchanting, even without vision she could tell it was beautiful. The two were wheezing jointly as they relaxed, it took Rouge about five minutes to calm herself from the calamity they scarcely escaped but she was wondering how long Knux needed to convalesce.

She sat up gradually; carefully not irate her cut, and observed the red echidna just facing downward in the soil, delicately rising up and down with every inhale and exhale he made. For some reason she adapted a grin all of a sudden.

"How much longer are you gonna take to catch your breath, knucklehead?" She questioned with a giggle.

Knuckles turned his head sideways to face the bat who was in fine health while he was exhausted, and looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"What!?" he whispered to the unappreciative girl. He sat up with her and looked at her small pink pupils that confirmed her blindness was still there.

"Well if you want a chance to catch those crooks, you're going to have to get up at some point so we can start looking" Rouge announced.

Knuckles was so confused with Rouge right now, what kind of game is she playing with him?

"We?" he asked.

"Yes, we" She validated

"...you mean you want to come along me with me?" he curiously verbalized.

"Hey, Said I was going to help didn't I?" she replied smiling.

Knuckles looked doubtfully at her then got up on his feet, "Yeah right, I suppose you want to help me find the Master Emerald and you except me to believe that you won't double-cross me when we obtain it?" he sneered.

Rouge still seemed content as she answered, "Look, all I want is to set those jerks in their place, they're gonna pay dearly for blinding me, and what's more if someone going to steal the Master Emerald it's got to be me, I can't have anyone else pinching that title."

Knuckles still didn't trust her as he gave her a sceptical glare.

Rouge finally gave Knuckles what he wanted in hopes that he would believe she was being honest.

"Okay, okay, consider my assistance as a... thank you, for rescuing me back there" she uttered with a bit of reluctance to actually express gratitude towards him.

The echidna's expression soften when she technically thanked him and he felt a bit more satisfied inside. She reached out her hand for him to hoist her up but Knuckles was unconfident whether to clutch it.

'I do need all the help I can get if I even want to attempt to get the Master Emerald back now...' he assumed in his head. He held her hand and pulled her up to his level as they stood in the humid and flower-infected area.

"I don't want any fun business if you going to accompany me, that means no acting suspicious, no teasing and no suggestive comments" he demanded firmly which only nourished Rouge's naughty side.

"Awww, Knukie, I can't help it if I find your goofiness adorable" she flirted intentionally.

Rather than get cross, Knuckles let that insult slip away and actually smiled with humour at her remark and then asked "So where do we start then?"

Rouge thought to herself and retorted "Hmmm... if the group has a ship then we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that they taking their time loading the emerald on board. We'll have to get through this forest to get to the peak of the island."

Knuckles took a hold of her hand without any meaningful intention and lead her through the wildness like a private guide, showing her where to step.

"So what are the chances of you giving me a piggy-back ride again Knukie?"

"Not likely" Knuckles responded dryly.

To be continued...